Eastbourne - Religious Life

Religious Life

See also: List of places of worship in Eastbourne and List of demolished places of worship in East Sussex

As well as the medieval parish church of St Mary in Old Town, another remarkable church building in Eastbourne is the redbrick St Saviour's and St Peter's. Originally consecrated under the former name in 1872, it was designed by George Edmund Street but merged with St Peter’s in 1971 when the latter was made redundant and demolished. The Catholic Church of Our Lady of Ransom is a generously proportioned building with a tall Gothic interior. One of the windows commemorates the exiled Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, Prince Lev Sapieha, who lived in the town, and there is much other artwork in the building. The recently-formed Personal Ordinariate of Anglicans reconciled to the Catholic Church meets at St Agnes, another Victorian Gothic building. The tall flint tower of St Michael's at Ocklynge is one of Eastbourne's landmarks. The church was consecrated in 1902 and built on the site of the mission hall where the nonsense writer Lewis Carroll (the clergyman CL Dodgson) is known to have preached during his holidays in the town. All Souls, in Italian style, is a finely proportioned building with an Evangelical church tradition. Holy Trinity also has a strong history of Evangelism, particularly during the early 20th century when Canon Stephen Warner was the vicar for 28 years. There is a Greek Orthodox Church converted from a 19th-century Calvinistic chapel. The Strict Baptist Chapel in Grove Road is an interesting building, despite its rather grim street frontage. The United Reformed Church in Upperton Road has tall rogue Gothic windows set in red brick walls. Several other denominations have similarly interesting church buildings, including some of 20th century design, such as the Baptist Church in Eldon Road. The copyrights of many well-known hymns used in the English-speaking world are handled by Kingway's Thankyou Music of Eastbourne. There is a tradition of Judaism in Eastbourne, and a Jewish rest home. The Islamic community uses a small mosque that was formerly the Seeboard social club.