With its ornate Victorian theatre, its glass-domed Winter Garden and its world-class tennis courts, Devonshire Park is the beating cultural heart of Eastbourne. Laid out in the 1870s as a genteel pleasure ground for the new resort, it has been entertaining the town for more than 150 years.
A Victorian pleasure ground
Devonshire Park dates from the early 1870s, making it Eastbourne’s oldest park. Like so much of the elegant Victorian town, it was the creation of the Devonshire Park & Baths Company, whose principal shareholder was William Cavendish, the 7th Duke of Devonshire, and it was laid out by the Duke’s architect, Henry Currey — the same man who planned much of the resort itself. From the start it was designed as a fashionable leisure ground for the Victorian middle classes, with terraced walks, a cricket ground, and facilities for tennis, racquets and even roller skating.
The historic buildings
Over the following two decades a remarkable cluster of buildings rose around the park. First came the Devonshire Baths in 1874 — at the time the largest heated salt-water baths in the country, though these have since been demolished. Next was the Winter Garden of 1875, a graceful glass-and-iron pleasure hall that still hosts concerts, functions and exhibitions today.
The jewel of the park, though, is the Devonshire Park Theatre. Designed by Henry Currey and opened in 1884, and beautifully refined in 1903 by the great theatre architect Frank Matcham, it is widely regarded as one of the finest small Victorian theatres in the country. Its ornate interior — all decorative plasterwork, scrolls and caryatids — earned it Grade II listed status, and it remains a much-loved working theatre. A fourth building, the exotic Indian Pavilion of 1891, completed the original complex.
Did you know? The Devonshire Park Theatre was refurbished by Frank Matcham, the most celebrated British theatre architect of the age — the designer of the London Coliseum and the London Palladium. To have a Matcham interior by the sea in Eastbourne is a genuine treasure.
A home for tennis
Sport was part of Devonshire Park’s appeal from the very beginning. The first tennis courts were laid out in 1880, and a tournament followed in 1881 — the seed of what would grow into one of the highlights of the town’s year. Today the park’s courts host international tennis every June, including the famous grass-court warm-up for Wimbledon, beamed to television audiences around the world. It’s a direct, living link between the Victorian park and the modern town.
The Congress and the modern quarter
The park has kept evolving. In 1963 the old Indian Pavilion was cleared away to make room for the Congress Theatre, a bold, modernist building that is now Grade II* listed and, with some 1,600 seats, the largest theatre on the South Coast. Together with the Devonshire Park Theatre and the Winter Garden, it forms “Eastbourne Theatres”, a trio with a combined capacity of more than 3,500 that brings West End shows, opera, ballet, comedy and music to the town. A major, publicly funded redevelopment completed in recent years — including a striking new Welcome Building — has restored the historic venues and reinvented the whole area as the “Devonshire Quarter”, now home to the nearby Birley Centre of Eastbourne College as well.
Visiting Devonshire Park today
Devonshire Park sits just back from the seafront, a short stroll from the Wish Tower and the Towner art gallery, which makes it easy to fold into a day exploring this elegant corner of town. Whether you’re catching a touring musical at the Congress, a pantomime at the pretty Devonshire Park Theatre, an exhibition at the Winter Garden or a day of top-flight tennis in June, you’re enjoying a tradition of entertainment that stretches right back to the birth of the resort.
Devonshire Park: FAQs
What is Devonshire Park in Eastbourne?
It’s Eastbourne’s oldest park and its cultural quarter, laid out in the 1870s by the Devonshire Park & Baths Company. It’s home to three theatres — the Devonshire Park Theatre, the Congress Theatre and the Winter Garden — and to the town’s international tennis courts.
How old is the Devonshire Park Theatre?
It opened in 1884 and was refined by the celebrated theatre architect Frank Matcham in 1903. Grade II listed, it’s considered one of the best-preserved small Victorian theatres in the country.
What are the three Eastbourne theatres?
The Devonshire Park Theatre (1884), the modern Congress Theatre (1963) and the Winter Garden (1875), all clustered in Devonshire Park with a combined capacity of over 3,500 seats.
Is Devonshire Park where the Eastbourne tennis is held?
Yes — the park’s courts have hosted tennis since the 1880s and now stage a major international grass-court tournament each June, a warm-up for Wimbledon.
Discover more: the Dukes of Devonshire who built the town, the Eastbourne tennis held in the park, and the story of the Eastbourne seafront.