List of places of worship in Eastbourne
Download coordinates as: The borough of Eastbourne, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex, has more than 50 current and former churches and other places of worship.
Until the late 18th century, the area was mostly farmland punctuated by four well-spread hamlets; but a fashionable seaside resort gradually developed from about 1780, based on a combination of royal patronage, a good climate, railway connections and the demands of rich visitors.
Church-building rapidly followed; and although the town lacks the range of "worthwhile Victorian churches" found in seaside resorts such as Brighton and Bournemouth, a wide variety of architectural themes and denominations are represented.
Historic England or its predecessor English Heritage have awarded listed status to several current and former church buildings in Eastbourne.
[3] The borough of Eastbourne covers 4,416 hectares (10,910 acres; 17.05 sq mi) of the English Channel coast and its hinterland in southeast England and is home to approximately 100,000 people.
[6][8][9] Farming, fishing and occasional smuggling were the main activities,[7] and religious worship was focused on Old Town's 12th-century St Mary the Virgin Church, a large flint and stone structure with later additions.
[10] Sea-bathing and drinking seawater for medicinal reasons, popularised by Dr Richard Russell in nearby Brighton,[11] became popular in the late 18th century at Bourne's beach, and a visit by Prince Edward in 1780 encouraged tourism.
They oversaw the development of the town, ensured architectural harmony and encouraged the construction of a range of facilities appropriate to a growing, high-class town—from theatres and private schools to churches.
[15][16] He recognised that the town needed a new Anglican church closer to the focus of seafront development, convinced William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire to donate land, and raised £2,500 (£284,000 as of 2025)[17] himself.
The architectural quality of these churches has been described—notably by Nairn and Pevsner in the Buildings of England series of books—as inferior to that of other southern English seaside resorts, in particular Brighton and Bournemouth.
[26] George Edmund Street's St Saviour's Church is considered the best by most architectural historians (including Pevsner and Goodhart-Rendel),[14][21][26][27] in particular because of its dominance of the townscape and the Spanish-influenced narrowing of the interior towards the chancel in order to emphasise that part of the building.
[22] Eastbourne was ravaged by bombs during World War II—it was the worst hit town on the south coast of England—and several churches were damaged or destroyed.
[31] Some older Anglican churches have since been demolished, although one—St Philip's in the east end of town—was replaced by a mixed-use building which retains some worship space.
The Mission was responsible for Roman Catholic worship, pastoral care and administration across a large area of East Sussex, including Eastbourne.
[37] Nevertheless, Eastbourne's 19th-century Roman Catholic community developed slowly: in 1867, when Father Charles King moved to the town and started celebrating Mass in his house in Ceylon Place, he said that around five or six worshippers typically attended.
)[38] Stella Maris Church on Junction Road, an Early English-style brick structure built in 1868–69 for £450 (£51,000 as of 2025),[17] became the congregation's first permanent place of worship.
[44] Formal Methodist worship in the Eastbourne area traces its roots to 1810 when a Wesleyan chapel was built on the present Grove Road.
[49] The Methodist Statistical Returns published in 1947[Note 1] recorded the existence of Central, Greenfield and St Aidan's Churches and a chapel of Wesleyan origin in the Willingdon area; all were part of the seven-church Eastbourne Circuit.
It was renamed New Hope Church in 2010 and shared premises until a former social club was acquired in 2015 and converted into a dedicated place of worship.
[31] Members of the Salvation Army are catered for by two places of worship: a citadel of 1890 in the east of town, and a hall built in 1927 in the Downside area to the west.
