In the past, the land has been used as a cricket ground for the Prince of Wales and as a setting for large-scale dinner parties to commemorate events such as the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte and the coronation of Queen Victoria.

The southern part of the park is a children's playground and also includes a café, public toilets, a pavilion which can be hired for community use, a water feature, a sensory garden and a zone for boccia and pétanque.

[8] After the town's authorities banned ball games and other traditional entertainments on the Old Steine in 1787, the Level became the focus for the early resort's sporting activities:[9] The Prince of Wales (later George IV of the United Kingdom) then laid out a cricket ground on the northern side in 1791.

[3] Other popular events included the town's annual bonfire celebrations on Guy Fawkes Night, regular circuses and fairs, and traditional activities such as bat and trap[3] and skipping.

Writing in 1883, a contributor to the Sussex Archaeological Collections journal noted that the local Good Friday tradition of skipping was still maintained at the Level, where "scores of skippers" could be seen.

A mass dinner of roast beef and plum puddings was served at 75 double rows of tables for more than 7,000 people,[11][12] and the town's authorities organised activities such as running races, stoolball, dancing and kiss-in-the-ring.

[13] On 22 April 1822, the 8.05 acres of land that today form the Level was given in trust to Brighton by Thomas Read Kemp and other landowners.

Local entrepreneur James Ireland established the Royal Gardens on this section, but the venture failed and the land was later sold again; Park Crescent was built on it from 1849.

[16] Many were uprooted in the Great Storm of 1987,[3] although at the time Brighton Borough Council was considering felling many of them because of an outbreak of Dutch elm disease.

The shortest and most direct, covering 47.5 miles (76.4 km) but requiring the most expensive construction work, would have terminated just north of the Level on the site of James Ireland's pleasure gardens.

[19] One feature of the mid- to late 19th century was a rapid growth in prostitution; it was common at the Level, when at night "the scenes ... were said to beggar all description".

These events "became well known nationally"; members included Margaret Bondfield, who was employed as a draper's assistant in Brighton at the time and who later became the first female cabinet minister in the United Kingdom.

[21] Later, local resident Harry Cowley was an organiser of the barrow boys—many of whom had been in the armed forces during World War I—on nearby Oxford Street.

[3] During World War II, the Royal Engineers requisitioned the Chichester Diocesan Training College for Schoolmistresses at Ditchling Road;[28] they put up several Nissen huts on the Level to give them more space, and these temporary buildings stayed until well into the 1950s.

[32] Following a successful National Lottery Heritage Fund grant request, the Level was substantially redeveloped from 2009 onwards, expanding MacLaren's original design: the skatepark was moved and rebuilt, taking up what had previously been a grassed area; the pavilions were regenerated; the model boating pond was restored with a fountain; the playground was reconfigured; a sensory garden was added; an area for boccia and pétanque was provided.