History & Heritage
The history and heritage of Eastbourne: landmarks, famous people, wartime stories, and the town’s past.
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Haunted Eastbourne: Spooky Ghost Stories & Legends
A light-hearted tour of haunted Eastbourne — the town’s best ghost stories and old legends, told for fun. From the ancient Lamb Inn in the Old Town and the resident spirit of the Royal Hippodrome theatre to phantoms on the pier, the Grey Lady of Beachy Head and nearby Michelham Priory, plus how to follow…
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Pevensey Castle: 1,700 Years of English History
The epic history of Pevensey Castle, a few miles from Eastbourne — 1,700 years in one fortress. From the Roman Saxon Shore fort of Anderitum (c.AD 290) and William the Conqueror’s landing in 1066, through four medieval sieges and Lady Joan Pelham’s famous defence, to the Spanish Armada and the camouflaged pillboxes of 1940. Plus…
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Devonshire Park: Eastbourne’s Cultural Quarter
The history of Devonshire Park, Eastbourne’s Victorian cultural quarter. Laid out in the 1870s by the Duke of Devonshire’s company, it gave the resort its Winter Garden, its ornate 1884 Devonshire Park Theatre (refined by Frank Matcham), the modern Congress Theatre and its famous tennis courts — the story of the town’s entertainment heart.
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Eastbourne College: The History of a Victorian School
The history of Eastbourne College, the elegant public school founded in 1867 by Dr Charles Hayman and the 7th Duke of Devonshire as the resort of Eastbourne took shape. Its Victorian origins, its WWI memorial, its path to co-education, and famous Old Eastbournians from Nobel chemist Frederick Soddy to comedian Eddie Izzard.
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The Crumbles Murders: Eastbourne’s 1920s Tragedies
The story of the Crumbles murders — two notorious 1920s crimes on the lonely shingle beach between Eastbourne and Pevensey Bay. The killing of 17-year-old Irene Munro in 1920 and of Emily Kaye in 1924, told plainly and without sensation, and how the second case helped give British policing the forensic “murder bag.”
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Parson Darby’s Hole: Beachy Head’s Sailors’ Friend
The strange and moving story of Parson Darby’s Hole — the cave in the cliffs below Beachy Head where, three centuries ago, the Rev. Jonathan Darby sat through storms with a lantern to save shipwrecked sailors. Hero, smuggler, or both? The legend of “the sailors’ friend,” the wreckers of the Sussex coast, and what remains…
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Cyril Connolly: Eastbourne’s Man of Letters
The story of Cyril Connolly (1903–1974), the brilliant literary critic and founder of Horizon magazine, and his double connection to Eastbourne. He was schooled at St Cyprian’s alongside George Orwell and Cecil Beaton, wrote the classic Enemies of Promise, and returned to live in the town in his final years — completing a remarkable Eastbourne…
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Eastbourne’s Aviation History: The Flying Pioneers
Eastbourne’s forgotten aviation history. A century ago the town was a cradle of British flight, with the Eastbourne Aviation Company running an aerodrome on the Willingdon Levels and a seaplane factory on the Crumbles from 1911. It trained over 120 pilots and built around 250 aircraft in the First World War — the surprising story,…
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Jeffery Farnol: Eastbourne’s Bestselling Novelist
The story of Jeffery Farnol (1878–1952), the bestselling novelist who made his home in Eastbourne. His swashbuckling romance The Broad Highway was reportedly the best-selling book of 1911, and he helped found the Regency romance genre. He lived at 14 Denton Road in Meads, died in the town, and asked for his ashes to be…
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Charlie Chester: Eastbourne’s ‘Cheerful’ Comedian
The story of “Cheerful” Charlie Chester (1914–1997), the comedian born Cecil Victor Manser in Eastbourne. From winning talent contests at the Eastbourne Winter Gardens aged seven to wartime radio stardom with Stand Easy and a six-decade broadcasting career, plus the blue plaque that marks his home town connection.