13 best reasons to live and work in Eastbourne

Written By Sarah Cronk

Eastbourne, on the Sunshine Coast, in East Sussex has had - let’s be honest - a bit of a historic reputation as “God’s Waiting Room”, full of old people. But is that stereotype really accurate, when the average age in the town is 43 and we have 29 primary and 15 secondary schools?

Eastbourne is certainly on the up and things are changing. According to The Guardian, “Eastbourne’s transformation has been bubbling along quietly for some years… it’s fair to say Eastbourne is having a moment”. Even Condé Nast Traveller agrees: “the sleepy Sussex seaside town has made a clever turnaround fusing old-school quirk with a fresh blast of culture”. We’re with them!

So what are the 13 best reasons to live and work in Eastbourne?

View looking west from the Pier

1. Eastbourne regularly appears in lists of the top 10 sunniest towns, with 222 sunlight hours in winter.

2. With a 3.3 mile seafront, it’s easy to escape for a walk or skate along the flat prom, or to the beach after work or at weekends. Not many places have such wonderful scenery on their doorstep.

3. Speaking of nature, Eastbourne is nestled at the foot of The South Downs, the nearest National Park to London - so we have plenty of opportunities for hill walks across the Seven Sisters near the Beachy Head and Belle Tout lighthouses.

Looking east towards Eastbourne from The South Downs

4. Eastbourne is officially a “creative hotspot” according to the innovation charity Nesta, with double the average growth for creative industries; four times faster than the UK average.

5. There’s no need to work alone, with two excellent co-working spaces in the town centre (Cohub and The Works Group) and plenty of cosy coffee shops.

6. Thanks to work being done by Lightning Fibre and CityFibre, enjoy Full Fibre connectivity for your broadband, making working from home, the office, or a coffee shop a doddle.

7. With close connections to London, Brighton, Newhaven, the Channel Tunnel and Gatwick Airport, you’re never far from wherever you need to be for work or leisure.

Court 3 at Eastbourne Tennis Tournament

8. Eastbourne enjoys plenty of events for residents and tourists alike: Eastbourne Tennis Tournament attracts 55,000 visitors annually and Airbourne is the largest free airshow in Europe. On top of that, Eastbournians can enjoy:

Towner Eastbourne: Lothar Götz has transformed the exterior walls of the gallery with his large-scale, colourful geometric artwork, Dance Diagonal (2019).

9. Eastbourne is a cultural centre and home to Towner Eastbourne, proud winner of Art Fund Museum of the Year and best known for its modern British art; VOLT, displaying emerging and mid-career artists; Makerspace with Eastbourne Pottery Studio and studio space for hire; and DC Learn, for courses, workshops and events.  Plus, with at least five theatres in the town including the recently renovated Congress Theatre, the Victorian Devonshire Park Theatre, the Royal Hippodrome Theatre, Grove Theatre and Printers Playhouse, as well as outdoor Shakespeare in the Italian Gardens in summer, there’s never a shortage of shows to watch.

Wall-to-wall books at Camilla’s on Grove Road

10. Eastbourne is great for shopping. The new Beacon shopping centre plays host to high street shops and restaurants, the Enterprise Centre supports a unique range of boutique-style independent shops, and Little Chelsea - once named by The Times as one of the UK’s “coolest places to live” - with its quirky independent shops, craft beer outlets and cafes including All Things Analogue, Chelsea Antiques Emporium and Camilla’s Bookshop.

11. There are tonnes of venues to keep the children entertained. Yes, we have the usual cinema, bowling alley, laser tag and swimming pool with a wave machine, but we also have:

TechResort’s new shopfront in Cavendish Place

The Eastbourne Wheel: often a feature at the Western Lawns in summer months

  • Ninja Warrior UK

  • My SkateWorld roller rink with roller discos and inline hockey club

  • Knockhatch Adventure Park with indoor and outdoor activities including a waterslide, crazy golf, boating lake and tractor playbarn 

  • Treasure Island with indoor soft play, adventure golf and outdoor lagoon

  • Eastbourne Miniature Steam Railway with nature walks and play area

  • Sharnfold Farm, with a farm trail, play area, and opportunities to meet the sheep, pigs, cows and goats. You can even pick your own fruit or stop off at the cafe.

  • Fresh air and free fun at any of parks in the town; great for walks or play. Try Hampden Park, Princes Park, Shinewater Park, and Gildredge Park for starters.

  • TechResort, for young people to explore coding and making

  • The Art House Creative Cafe for pottery painting (with great events for adults too)

  • Watersports on the seafront

  • The nearby Observatory Science Centre with hands-on discovery in Herstmonceux

  • Drusillas Park, a great family day out with animals, play and rides

The Sovereign Harbour: northern Europe’s largest composite marina

12. There are plenty of leisure activities for adults too. Try:

13. Enjoy all the fun of the seaside, with Eastbourne Pier and the Dotto Train trips between Holywell and the Sovereign Harbour during the summer months, and boat tours around northern Europe’s largest composite marina complex.

The next time someone says to you “there’s nothing to do in Eastbourne” or “why go there?”, send them this list. We can change the perception of our town one by one!

Eastbourne Pier at low tide

Sarah Cronk
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