Needing a bit of inspiration to help VisitEastbourne re-discover our roots, we decided to find out more with the help of Nicholas and Janet at the Heritage Centre who kindly gave us a guided tour.
This little gem of a museum sits opposite the Winter Garden with its stunning castle-like hexagonal turrets, and to my shame I have never visited. Once part of the Devonshire Baths complex – yes, even the Victorians had a leisure centre, this stunning building was the home of the baths manager.
Having homed a vast but unstructured array of historical artefacts, the centre has recently undergone a refurbishment with a complete redesign of its exhibition.
Being a graphic designer, Nicholas has done a great job of providing a stylish gallery style format for the information and the exhibition takes you on a chronological journey through Eastbourne’s beginnings as a series of small villages through to the arrival of the Victorian railway, which of course signalled the first seaside holidays in Eastbourne.
A selection of maps show Eastbourne’s planned expansion through this period of rapid growth and you can see the impact of the famous British architect Henry Currey and landowners such as William Cavendish - the Duke of Devonshire and John Davies-Gilbert whose family is still here today.
Following the exhibition upstairs, even the stairwell is put to good use with an array of ornate sand blasted iron work, showing off some of Eastbourne’s Italianate style villa architecture.
Upstairs a fabulous display of then and now photographs shows how Eastbourne has changed at various iconic locations around town, and the photo of the shoreline packed full with Victorian bathing huts made us chuckle. Next time you’re on a packed beach, give a thought for the Victorians who probably couldn’t even see the sea for all the bathing huts.
However the real surprise for me was the temporary exhibition ‘Crime, Punishment and Local Justice’. Being a huge fan of historical crime drama, this was a fascinating insight into detective work through the ages. Dr John Bodkin Adams is of course the most famous case, but I had no idea of the others or even that Eastbourne had regular riots!
Next stop – the basement theatre with two fascinating films from the 60’s and 70’s, showing Eastbourne as a holiday resort, which of course promoted fond laughter and discussion.
We ended the tour in the very reasonably priced shop, which includes a great array of gifts, postcards and books, and even included stuff for the kids.
Eastbourne Heritage Centre is currently open for winter hours only from 2 – 4pm Mondays and Thursdays tel 01323 411189 or visit the website.
Tracey
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