By Lyn Funnell
Bexhill-on-Sea is the official name of the Sussex seaside town, but it’s now always known as just Bexhill.
King Offa of Mercia referred to Bexhill as Bexelei in 772 in a Charter that he granted, and like many English towns and villages, the name has developed and changed through the centuries.
Although we live in Sussex and we’d driven through the town many times, we’d never stopped to explore it.
We parked on the seafront next to the De La Warr Pavilion.
A plaque was laid in May 1935 by the Earl De La Warr and it was opened to the public by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) and it became a Grade 1 Listed Building in 1986.
The 9th Earl persuaded Bexhill Council to build a public building on the seafront site and the competition was announced in The Architects’ Journal in February 1934. The rules were that the building must have an entertainment hall that seated at least 1500 people, a restaurant seating 200, a reading room and a lounge.
There were over 230 entrants, but the competition was won by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff, who were leading architects in the Modern Movement.
It’s a very eye-catching building with lots of glass windows showing views of the seafront.
There are always lots of shows and events taking place, so it’s worth checking up what’s happening there.
https://www.dlwp.com/whats-on/
The UK’s first motor race was held along the seafront in May 1902 and there are plaques celebrating The Birthplace of British Motor Racing.
The Bexhill 100 Festival of Motoring was held from 1990-2002, and the final Festival celebrated the Centenary of the first race.
Although the Festival no longer exists, the Bexhill 100 Motoring Club holds their Classic Car Show in the Polegrove every August Bank Holiday Monday.
The seafront is clean with plenty of seats and shelters. Well-tended gardens run along the coast road and, apart from several restaurants, the buildings are uncommercial, giving an atmosphere of calm with no loudly blaring music or Kiss Me Quick shops.
Two roads of shops and restaurants run parallel to the seafront, leading up to Bexhill Station.
Along from the station is Wetherspoons in the old cinema, the Picture Playhouse. It’s one of the largest Wetherspoons in the country, and one of the newest.
After lunch, we walked to the Bexhill Museum. The volunteer staff are friendly and enthusiastic.
It opened in 1914 and three more galleries have been added since then.
Dinosaur footprints were found on the beach and there are plaster casts of them on display.
There is a replica of the car that won the 1902 race along the seafront. It’s known as the Easter Egg because of its shape, and it won at 54mph!
One of the most famous Bexhill residents was Eddie Izzard and he’s a patron of the Museum.
He donated his childhood train to to the Museum, and you can press the buttons and play with it.
It’s well worth visiting the Museum to see their model of Bexhill during the war, snow-covered in December 1940. It was built by volunteers and took 3 1/2 years to build.
We were enthralled. I must say that it’s one of the most amazing things that I’ve seen in a Museum anywhere! It has lots of working parts, with church bells ringing, noises of explosions and lights coming on.
I’ll definitely go there again, just to play with that model!
