History & Heritage
The history and heritage of Eastbourne: landmarks, famous people, wartime stories, and the town’s past.
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Victorian Sea Bathing in Eastbourne: Machines, Dippers and Modesty
A Victorian dip in the sea meant a horse, a hut on wheels, layers of wool and a same-sex “dipper” to plunge you under. Discover the curious world of Victorian sea bathing in Eastbourne — the machines, the modesty rules and the traces that survive.
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The Crumbles: How a Shingle Wilderness Became Sovereign Harbour
For centuries the eastern edge of Eastbourne was a wild expanse of shingle known as the Crumbles. Discover how that pebble wilderness was quarried away for railway ballast, dug into gravel pits, and finally reborn as the marina of Sovereign Harbour.
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Eastbourne’s Municipal Buses: The World’s First Bus Service
In April 1903, Eastbourne Corporation launched what is widely regarded as the world’s first municipal motor bus service — a genuine piece of transport history. Discover the story of Eastbourne’s pioneering buses, from that first route to the end of council ownership in 2009.
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Eastbourne’s Lost Cinemas: The Picture Palaces of the Past
For much of the 20th century, Eastbourne was a town of picture palaces — the Tivoli, Gaiety, Central, Luxor and Picturedrome. Today almost all are gone. Discover the story of Eastbourne’s lost cinemas, from their grand heyday to the closure of the last Curzon in 2020.
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Eastbourne’s Suffragettes: The Fight for Votes for Women
In the years before the First World War, the campaign for votes for women reached Eastbourne. Discover the town’s part in the suffrage struggle — the militant WSPU’s south-coast presence, the local women who marched in 1913, and the fight finally won in 1918 and 1928.
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Eastbourne’s Belgian Refugees: A Forgotten WWI Story
In 1914, as German armies swept through Belgium, refugee families fled across the Channel — and some came to Eastbourne. Discover the forgotten story of the town’s Belgian refugees, the families it sheltered, and the gratitude they left behind.
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Eastbourne’s Historic Graffiti: The Secret Marks at St Mary’s
Scratched into the stone of Eastbourne’s oldest church are prayers, protective symbols and names left by ordinary people across the centuries. Discover the town’s historic graffiti, the witch marks and masons’ marks at St Mary’s, and the project that began here.
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Ancient Elephants in Eastbourne: The 150,000-Year-Old Story
Long before the pier or the promenade, giant straight-tusked elephants roamed the land where Eastbourne now stands. A 150,000-year-old elephant tooth found in the town proves it. Discover the extinct giants of ancient Eastbourne and the lost world they lived in.
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Langney Priory: Eastbourne’s Forgotten Medieval Estate
Hidden among the houses of the Langney estate stands Eastbourne’s oldest building. Langney Priory — never truly a priory, but a medieval Cluniac grange of Lewes Priory — has stood for nine centuries. Discover its history, architecture, and fight for survival.
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The Iron Age Woman and Child Found at Kings Drive, Eastbourne
Around 2,250 years ago, a woman was buried at Kings Drive in Eastbourne with her arm around a small child and two glass beads at their side. Discover the story of this remarkable Iron Age burial — who they were, how they lived, and what it reveals about ancient Eastbourne.