Eastbourne, East Sussex

The charming town of Eastbourne is situated on the south coast. Eastbourne’s most commonly known as the Sunshine Coast as it holds the record for highest amount of sunshine in the month of July way back in 1911. Immediately to the east are the highest chalk sea cliffs in Great Britain … Beachy Head.

Eastbourne is predominately a tourist town, being home to many exquisite Victorian hotels, a pier, military museum and of course the enchanting seaside coast. As Eastbourne is a fairly new town, modern architecture is prominent, however archaic buildings are mingled within.

Wish Tower, one of the network of Martello towers, was built around 1804 to protect against Napoleon and sits on the west end of Eastbourne seafront.

Nearing the end of the 16th century Eastbourne was known as a market town as in 1232 they were agreed to hold markets and fairs, this would attract buyers and sellers from far and wide. However they were still only home to a small population, less than 1,000. In the late 18th century it was fashionable to live beside the seaside as it was said that bathing in seawater would cure diseases, so in 1780 George III’s children stayed in Eastbourne.

Things began to dramatically improve for Eastbourne in the second half of the 19th century. In 1849 the railway connected to Eastbourne, this resulted in the town being very accessible for visitors to reach the area. The two co-owners of Eastbourne, the Duke of Devonshire and a man called John Davies Gilbert, both built a mass of new houses and the population thrived as Eastbourne was now home to over 10,000 people!