Spirit of Eastbourne

As late as 1813, Eastbourne was simply noted asa small fashionable watering place adjacent to theEast Sussex South Downs, consisting mainly of thevillage of Eastbourne itself over a mile inland andthe hamlet of Seahouses overlooking the beach.Southbourne and Meades formed two furtherisolated communities. In 1851 following theexample of Brighton along the coast, the principallandowner the Earl of Burlington ¿ later to becomethe 7th Duke of Devonshire ¿ started developmentof the entire area on an ambitious scale.Initially in a conservative Regency manner nearthe sea, this was shortly followed by distinctlyrecognisable grandVictorian and Italianate fashions.By the turn of the century red brick and tilehanging from theWeald and decorative gabledfrontages had become the more desirable style.