Eastbourne: the back story

About Eastbourne: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Brighton Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Eastbourne grew into one of the most elegant resorts on the south coast, between the chalk of Beachy Head and the shingle of Pevensey Bay. Its pier opened in 1872, its seafront bandstand in 1935, and Sovereign Harbour, at the eastern end of the front, in 1993.

Eastbourne is where the South Downs meet the sea. Walk west along the front and the town ends at the foot of Beachy Head; walk east and you pass the pier, the bandstand and the Martello towers to a modern marina. In between lies one of the best-kept seafronts in England.

Between the Downs and the sea

The chalk cliffs west of the town carry the South Downs National Park to the sea. On the clifftop stands Belle Tout, a lighthouse built in 1832 and now a bed and breakfast with six rooms, and in October 2026 the Beachy Head Experience opened as a visitor centre for the headland.

Check opening times and trains on the official sites before you travel.

The Victorian seafront

Eastbourne Pier opened in 1872 and is one of the finest Victorian piers in England. After a fire in 2014 it gained a new walkway, and it still has its domed pavilions, shops, tea rooms and fishing; it has appeared on film and television, from Poirot to Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. The grand white hotels of the Grand Parade and King Edward’s Parade face it across the Carpet Gardens.

Music by the sea

The Bandstand was built in 1935 to the designs of the borough engineer, Leslie Rosevere, in a Neo-Grec style of cream faience with touches of blue, green and black. The first concerts, on 28 July 1935, drew 10,400 people, each paying threepence; it was listed in 1998 and still hosts concerts through the season.

Defending the coast

Like the rest of this shore, Eastbourne prepared for a Napoleonic invasion that never came. Several Martello towers still stand on the beach towards Sovereign Harbour.

Eastbourne today

Sovereign Harbour opened in 1993: in Visit Eastbourne’s words, northern Europe’s largest composite marina, with four linked harbours, twin sea locks and the Waterfront’s restaurants. In the Devonshire Quarter, Towner Eastbourne has been collecting and showing art for nearly a hundred years, beside the Congress, Devonshire Park and Winter Garden theatres and the tennis courts of Devonshire Park.

Our advice: walk the whole seafront, from the foot of Beachy Head past the Carpet Gardens and the pier to Sovereign Harbour, and finish with a concert at the Bandstand on a summer evening.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Eastbourne: the back story before you go.