He was one of the most brilliant literary critics of his age — the schoolfriend of Orwell and Beaton, the founder of Horizon, the author of Enemies of Promise. And Eastbourne bookended his whole life: Cyril Connolly was a schoolboy in the town, and he came back to spend his final years here.
The St Cyprian’s schoolboy
Cyril Vernon Connolly was born in Coventry in 1903, the son of an army major, and came to Eastbourne as a boy to board at St Cyprian’s School between 1914 and 1918. There he formed part of an extraordinary trio, striking up friendships with two other future giants: George Orwell and Cecil Beaton. A quick, witty boy, Connolly thrived academically — he even beat Orwell into second place for the school history prize — and won a scholarship to Eton.
The school left a deep mark. Connolly later wrote about it, half-affectionately and half in horror, in his most famous book, and it was his request to the adult Orwell to help him recall those years that helped prompt Orwell’s own searing essay about the place. Between them, these old boys turned a small Eastbourne prep school into one of the most written-about schools in English literature.
A brilliant, restless talent
From Eton, Connolly went up to Balliol College, Oxford, and then into a life of literary journalism, writing for the New Statesman, the Observer and the Sunday Times. He published one novel, The Rock Pool (1936), but it was his 1938 book Enemies of Promise — a bold mix of literary criticism and autobiography — that made his name. In it he tried to explain why, for all his gifts, he had never written the masterpiece everyone expected of him.
Did you know? One of Connolly’s lines from Enemies of Promise has become genuinely famous: “Whom the gods wish to destroy they first call promising.” It was a wry comment on his own reputation as a golden boy who feared he had squandered his talent.
Horizon and The Unquiet Grave
Connolly’s most lasting achievement was as an editor. In 1940 he founded the literary magazine Horizon, which for a decade became the defining British literary journal of its era — a vital platform for new writing through the war years and after. During the war he also produced The Unquiet Grave, a haunting collection of aphorisms and reflections written under the pen name “Palinurus”. For much of the rest of his life he was a leading book reviewer for the Sunday Times, and he was appointed CBE in 1972. Though he always judged himself a failed novelist, he had become one of the most influential men of letters in the country.
A return to Eastbourne
In a neat closing of the circle, Connolly returned to the town of his schooldays. In 1967 he settled in Eastbourne, and he lived here for the rest of his life, continuing to write his celebrated reviews right up to the end. He died in 1974 and was buried in the churchyard at Berwick, in the Sussex countryside he loved, a short distance from the town. His remarkable personal library of some 8,000 books survives today in a university collection.
Remembered in Eastbourne
Connolly’s later years in the town are marked by a blue plaque in St John’s Road. Together with the plaques and memorials to Orwell’s old school and to Cecil Beaton’s schooldays, it completes a remarkable Eastbourne literary trio — three brilliant, very different talents who first met as boys on the edge of the Downs. The plaque is on a private home, so it’s one to view respectfully from the pavement.
Cyril Connolly: FAQs
Who was Cyril Connolly?
An English literary critic and writer (1903–1974), best known for founding and editing the influential magazine Horizon and for his book Enemies of Promise. He was one of the leading men of letters of his generation.
What was Connolly’s connection to Eastbourne?
A double one. He was schooled at St Cyprian’s in Eastbourne alongside George Orwell and Cecil Beaton, and in 1967 he returned to live in the town, remaining there until his death in 1974.
Did Connolly really know Orwell and Beaton?
Yes — all three were pupils together at St Cyprian’s School in Eastbourne, and Connolly wrote memorably about those schooldays. His prompting even helped inspire Orwell’s famous essay about the school.
Where is Cyril Connolly’s blue plaque?
In St John’s Road, Eastbourne, marking his later home in the town. It’s a private property, so please view it respectfully from the street.
Read more about the St Cyprian’s trio: George Orwell and Cecil Beaton, the story of St Cyprian’s School, and all the famous people of Eastbourne.