History & Heritage
The history and heritage of Eastbourne: landmarks, famous people, wartime stories, and the town’s past.
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Claude Debussy in Eastbourne and La Mer
The story of Claude Debussy in Eastbourne — how the French composer stayed at the Grand Hotel in the summer of 1905 with Emma Bardac, correcting the proofs of his orchestral masterpiece La Mer overlooking the English Channel. The truth behind the “he wrote it here” legend, the Debussy Suite, and the Grand’s musical legacy.
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Roman Eastbourne: The Lost Villa Beneath the Town
Discover Roman Eastbourne — the hidden ancient history beneath the Victorian resort. The lost Roman villa near the pier and its hypocaust, the Roman bath house buried along the seafront, and Beachy Head Woman, a Roman-era resident found on the Downs whose story reveals the diversity of Roman Britain.
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The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne: The ‘White Palace’
The story of The Grand Hotel Eastbourne — the Victorian “White Palace” and the only five-star hotel on the British coast. Built in 1875, where Debussy finished ‘La Mer’ in 1905, its famous guests from Churchill to Serena Williams, and dining, afternoon tea and staying there today.
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The Lighthouses of Beachy Head: Belle Tout & Beachy Head
The history of the two lighthouses of Beachy Head near Eastbourne — the clifftop Belle Tout, first lit in 1834, and the red-and-white Beachy Head Lighthouse of 1902. Shipwrecks and Mad Jack Fuller, wartime damage, the famous 1999 move, and how to see them today.
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The Wish Tower and Redoubt Fortress: Eastbourne’s Napoleonic Forts
The Wish Tower and the Redoubt Fortress are Eastbourne seafront’s oldest structures, built over 200 years ago to defend the coast against Napoleon. Discover the story of the town’s Napoleonic sea defences and how to find them today.
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Eastbourne Bandstand: History, Concerts and Fireworks
The blue-domed Eastbourne Bandstand has been a seafront landmark since 1935. Discover its history, its striking design and its packed programme of concerts and 1812 firework nights — the busiest bandstand in the UK.
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The Dukes of Devonshire and the Making of Eastbourne
The Cavendish family, Dukes of Devonshire, turned a cluster of hamlets into one of England’s most elegant seaside resorts. Meet the 7th Duke and discover how the Devonshire name came to shape Eastbourne — from Compton Place to Devonshire Park.
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George Orwell in Eastbourne
Before he wrote Animal Farm and 1984, George Orwell was an unhappy schoolboy in Eastbourne. The story of his years at St Cyprian’s, the famous essay it inspired, his remarkable classmates, and the town’s mark on his fiction.
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Eastbourne in World War Two
Officially the most raided town in the South East, Eastbourne endured 112 air raids in the Second World War. The full story of evacuation, hit-and-run bombing, the town’s darkest days and its survival.
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Eastbourne Pier: History, Fire and Future
How Eastbourne’s Grade II* listed Victorian pier was built, the devastating 2014 fire it survived, and the uncertain future it now faces — the full story of the seafront’s best-loved landmark.