Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for EASTBOURNE

EASTBOURNE, a town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a hundred in Sussex. The town stands in a valley, at the eastern extremity of the Downs, and at the terminus of a branch of the South Coast railway, 1½ mile NW of the nearest part of the shore, 3 NNE of Beachy-Head, and 6 S of Hailsham. It possibly was the port of the ancient Anderida; and it was the place of Henry I. 's detention by a storm in the autumn of 1114. It figured for some time as a market-town, but went into decay; and it has recently revived, and come into much notice as a sea-bathing resort. It recently consisted of four cross streets, and was reckoned to include three neighbouring hamlets, Sea-Houses, Southbourne, and Meads, lying within a range of 1¾ mile on or near the shore; but it nearly doubled its extent during the five years ending in 1860; and a survey was made in that year for a further extension of 600 houses. The town has a head post office, ‡ a railway station with telegraph, a banking office, five churches, five dissenting chapels, a ball-room, a public library, two national schools, a work-house, and charities £12: is a coast-guard station, and the place of a military depot; and publishes two weekly newspapers. A promenade pier was projected in 1866; and the drainage, at a cost of £25, 000, was drawn 3 miles to the NE in 1867. The parish church, or St. Mary's, is chiefly early English; measures 124 feet by 50; and has a lofty nave and a tall tower. St. Saviour's church was built in 1867; St. John's in 1869. Trinity church and Christ church also are modern. An Independent chapel was built in 1863; a Wesleyan chapel, in 1864. A convalescent hospital, to accommodate 100 patients, was founded in 1867. Important Roman relics were found in 1717 and 1850. A. camp of nine regiments was formed in the neighbourhood in 1804-6. A circular re-doubt is here, mounting ten Armstrong guns; and has quarters for 182 men. The walks and the bathing facilities in the vicinity are such as to attract visitors. A chalybeate spring, similar to that of Clifton, is at Holywell. Mortimer, the painter, was a native of the town; Davies, the President of the Royal Society, had a residence in it; the Duke of Kent lived in 1780 in the Round House, now extinct; and the Duke of Sussex resided for some time in the adjacent mansion of Compton Place, now belonging to the Duke of Devonshire.

The parish is regarded as co-extensive with the town. Acres, 5, 512; of which 680 are water. Real property, £24, 445; of which 150 are in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 3, 433; in 1861, 5, 795. Houses, 1, 005. The property is subdivided; but nearly all the new houses have been erected on the Duke of Devonshire's estate. The parochial living is a vicarage, and the other livings are p. curacies, in the dio. of Chichester. Value of St. M., £424;* of Chr., £100. Patron of St. M., the Treasurer of the Cathedral; of T. and Chr., the Vicar; of St. S., G. Whelpton, Esq. -The sub-d. contains also the parishes of Eastdean, Friston, Seaford, Westdean, Littlington, Lullington, and Alfriston. Acres, 19, 145. Pop., 8, 127. Houses, 1, 468. The district comprehends likewise the sub-district of Westham, containing the parishes of Westham, Pevensey, Willingdon, Jevington, Folkington, and Wilmington. Acres, 38, 072. Poor-rates in 1862, £7, 799. Pop. in 1851, 8, 347; in 1861, 10, 721. Houses, 2, 022. Marriages in 1860, 69; births, 308, -of which 15 were illegitimate; deaths, 168, -of which 48 were at ages under 5 years, and 7 at ages above 85. Marriages during the ten years 1851-60, 553; births, 2, 724; deaths, 1, 588. The places of worship in 1851 were 15 of the Church of England, with 4, 240 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 218 s.; 1 of Baptists, with 80 s.; 1 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 300 s.; and 1 of Calvinistic Methodists, with 42 s. The schools were 12 public day schools, with 767 scholars; 30 private day schools, with 631 s.; 15 Sunday schools, with 1, 005 s.; and 2 evening schools for adults, with 26 s. -The hundred is in the rape of Pevensey, and is conterminate with the parish.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a hundred"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Eastbourne AP/CP       Eastbourne Hundred       Eastbourne SubD       Eastbourne RegD/PLU       Sussex AncC
Place: Eastbourne

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