Development of the promised business park that should have been the 'work' element of the 'work-life' environment that formed part of the original concept has also been slow, with the first offices not opening until Since further residential development has begun to take place on three of the remaining development sites. Following the initial phases of construction, for a number of years SHRA successfully fought to prevent further development on the five remaining sites for which outline planning consent for residential development had been granted.
As a last ditch effort before the carte blanche consent expired, developers Carillion submitted five planning applications for residential development on four of these sites.
Following the refusal of these applications and following pressure by SHRA, Carillion agreed not to pursue appeals against the refusal and offered to work with residents to seek an equitable solution. Carillion then entered into discussions with SHRA, and officers and cabinet members of the then Conservative controlled EBC, on the creation of a Master Plan for the final development of all the remaining harbour development land.
These negotiations continued with the Liberal Democrat administration. Sovereign Harbour Marina. Call direct on: Tel What's Nearby. Eating Out. Harbour Reach Beaches. Outstanding views back along the coast toward the Pier. Within easy reach of toilets…. Fort Fun. Adventure for the under 13's and the family that is young at heart is the promise at Fort…. Beach Life Music Festival. Beachlife Festival ft. Princes Park. Picturesque Park situated on the eastern end of the seafront.
Variety of leisure…. Royal Parade Beaches. The sheltered position of the main town behind the cliff contributes to Eastbourne's title of sunniest place in Great Britain. The area around Eastbourne is known to have been settled throughout history. Flint mines and other Stone Age artefacts have been found in the surrounding countryside, and there are Roman sites within the modern boundaries of the town.
In , a Roman bath and section of pavement were discovered between the present pier and the redoubt fortress in the hamlet then known as Sea Houses, while in , the remains of a Roman villa were found near the entrance to the pier and lie buried near the present Queens Hotel.
The Domesday Book lists 28 ploughlands, a church, a watermill, fisheries and salt pans. A charter for a weekly market was granted to Bartholomew de Badlesmere in —16; this increased his status as Lord of the Manor and improved local industry. Evidence of Eastbourne's medieval past can seen in the fourteenth century Church of St Mary's and the manor house called Bourne Place. In the mid-sixteenth century the house was home to the Burton family, who acquired much of the land on which the present town stands.
This manor house is owned by the Dukes of Devonshire and was extensively remodelled in the early Georgian era when it was renamed Compton Place. It is one of the three Grade I listed buildings in the town. Eastbourne's earliest claim as a seaside resort came about following a summer holiday visit by four of King George III's children in Princes Edward and Octavius, and Princesses Elizabeth and Sophia. In , following a survey of coastal defences in the southeast, approval was given for the positioning of infantry and artillery to defend the bay between Beachy Head and Hastings from attack by the French.
Several of these towers survive: the Wish Tower is an important feature of the town's seafront, and part of Tower 68 forms the basement of a house on St.
Antony's Hill. Between and , the construction took place of a fortress known as the Eastbourne Redoubt, which was built as a barracks and storage depot, and armed with 10 cannons. Eastbourne remained an area of small rural settlements until the 19th century. Four villages or hamlets occupied the site of the modern town: Bourne or, to distinguish it from others of the same name, East Bourne , is now known as Old Town, and this surrounded the bourne stream which rises in the present Motcombe Park; Meads, where the Downs meet the coast; South Bourne near the town hall ; and the fishing settlement known simply as Sea Houses, which was situated to the east of the present pier.
By the mid—19th century most of the area had fallen into the hands of two landowners: John Davies Gilbert the Davies-Gilbert family still own much of the land in Eastbourne and East Dean and William Cavendish, Earl of Burlington. The Gilbert family's holdings date to the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries when barrister Nicholas Gilbert married an Eversfield and Gildredge heiress. The Gildredges owned much of Eastbourne by The Gilberts eventually made the Gildredge Manor House their own.
Today the Gildredge name lives on in the eponymous park. Encouraged by the growing appreciation of the seaside sparked by Richard Russell's assertion of its medicinal benefits in , these were to oversee the creation of what became known as "the Empress of Watering Places". An early plan, for a town named Burlington, was abandoned, but on 14 May the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway arrived to scenes of great jubilation.
With the arrival of the railway, the town's growth accelerated. Cavendish, now the 7th Duke of Devonshire, hired Henry Currey in to lay out a plan for what was essentially an entire new town — a resort built "for gentlemen by gentlemen".
The town grew rapidly from a population of less than 4, in to nearly 35, by In , it was incorporated as a municipal borough; a purpose-built town hall was opened in This period of growth and elegant development continued for several decades. World War II saw a change in fortunes.
Initially, children were evacuated to Eastbourne on the assumption that they would be safe from German bombs, but soon they had to be evacuated again because after the fall of France in June it was anticipated that the town would lie in an invasion zone.
Part of Operation Sealion, the German invasion plan, envisaged landings at Eastbourne. Many people sought safety away from the coast and shut up their houses. Restrictions on visitors forced the closure of most hotels, and private boarding schools moved away. Many of these empty buildings were later taken over by the services. Thousands of Canadian soldiers were billeted in and around Eastbourne from July to the run-up to D-Day.
The town suffered badly during the war, with many Victorian and Edwardian buildings damaged or destroyed by air raids. The situation was especially bad between May and June with hit—and—run raids from fighter—bombers based in northern France. In the summer of the town came to national and worldwide attention, when Dr John Bodkin Adams, a general practitioner serving the town's wealthier patients, was arrested for the murder of an elderly widow.
Rumours had been circulating since regarding the frequency of his being named in patients' wills times between and and the gifts he was given including two Rolls Royces. Figures of up to murders were reported in British and foreign newspapers, but after a controversial trial at the Old Bailey which gripped the nation for 17 days in March , Adams was found not guilty. He was struck off for 4 years but resumed his practice in Eastbourne in According to Scotland Yard's archives, he is thought to have killed up to patients in the Eastbourne area.
During the latter half of the 20th century, there were controversies over the loss of historic landmarks and natural features, and over particular buildings. These factors, later exacerbated in by the construction on the seafront of the 19—storey South Cliff Tower, followed by the glass-plated TGWU headquarters, caused a storm of protest which resulted in the founding in of what has since become The Eastbourne Society.
In , a large section of the town centre was replaced by the indoor shops of the Arndale Centre. Most of the expansion took place on the northern and eastern margins of the town, gradually swallowing surrounding villages.
However, the richer western part was constrained by the Downs and has remained largely unchanged. In the s, both growth and controversy accelerated rapidly as a new plan was launched to develop the area known as the Crumbles, a shingle bank on the coast to the east of the town centre.
This area, now known as Sovereign Harbour, containing a marina, shops, and several thousand houses, along with luxury flats and apartments, was formerly home to many rare plants. Continued growth in other parts of the town, and the taming of the central marshland into farmland and nature reserves, has turned Eastbourne into the centre of a conurbation, with the appearance from above of a hollow ring.
Currently under review is the demolition of much of the town centre, to be replaced by a modern shopping centre, and the adaptation of several existing roads to form an inner ring road. Beachy Head cliff, to the west of the town, is an infamous suicide spot. Statistics are not officially published to reduce suicidal mimicry, but unofficial statistics show it to be the third most common suicide spot. The lighthouse at the foot of the cliff came into operation in October Although originally manned by two keepers, it has been remotely monitored by Trinity House via a landline since June Prior to its construction, shipping had been warned by the Belle Tout lighthouse on the cliff top some 1, metres to the west.
Belle Tout lighthouse was operational from to , and closed because its light was not visible in mist and low cloud. In , it was rebuilt as a house and remains a dwelling to this day. In March , the structure was moved 55 feet 17 m back from the cliff edge to save it from plunging into the sea. Trains leave from London Victoria to Eastbourne with a journey time of 1hr 36mins. Eastbourne is a seaside town, consequently tourism provides an important source of income and employment.
The town is normally a short break resort, although hotels can be full during special events such as the International Women's Open tennis. Eastbourne Council has developed a seafront strategy in order to boost the tourism economy. Already underway are grants provided for general improvements to accommodation.
The regeneration of Seaside, the road running parallel to the coastline, is now complete. The new A22 and Polegate bypass provide a speedier link into the main town. The seafront strategy further outlines priorities for the future, improvements to online bookings and more conference hosting promotion.
The International Children's Conference is scheduled to be held in National marketing campaigns, some based on Eastbourne as a gateway to the South Downs National Park, are in progress.
The Sovereign Harbour development is a recent source of revenue for the town with an influx of visitors arriving via the harbour. The locks have recorded rates of up to boats per hour. The seafront and the iconic cliff at Beachy Head has been used for many scenes in feature films. One of the Harry Potter films also filmed scenes at Beachy Head.
Scenes from Half a Sixpence were filmed on the pier and near to the bandstand. Eastbourne has two cinemas—the Curzon Cinema and Cineworld. The Curzon Cinema is a small, family-run, independent cinema in Langney Road, in the town centre. Television too has used Eastbourne as a backdrop.
The series Little Britain had the character Emily Howard strolling along the promenade. Local radio station Sovereign Radio broadcasts to Eastbourne from nearby Hailsham. The classical composer Claude Debussy and his young lover Emma Bardac, the wife of a Parisian banker, resided in Eastbourne in after fleeing France to avoid scandal. Whilst in Eastbourne he completed the Orchestral piece La Mer. The London Philharmonic Orchestra makes regular appearances and has an annual season at the Congress Theatre.
Eastbourne Bandstand lies between the Wish Tower and the pier. There was once a second similar bandstand also built in in the "music gardens" near the redoubt fortress.
The bandstand was removed to make way for the Pavilion Tearooms but the colonnades built around it are still there behind the tea rooms. Before each of these sites had a smaller "birdcage" bandstand; the one in the music gardens having been moved from a rather precarious position opposite the Albion Hotel.
The "kiosk" in the music gardens was originally one of the toll kiosks at the entrance to the pier. The first thing that needs to be said is that this whole harbour complex has now settled down after more than a decade of being basically a building site. Retail and hospitality businesses are now well established, as well as the boaty side of things.
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