19
Nov
Current Article is A Short History Of Holywell by Doreen Valiente
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The original Holywell was in the first hollow in the cliffs west of the promenade on the way towards the Beachy Head. In the 19th Century a local writer named Baxter wrote: “half-a-mile from Seahouses [the old name for Eastbourne near the pier] is a chalybeate [iron bearing] spring, called Holy-well”.
In the early 19th century a small fishing community eked out a living here. Their main livelihood was catching crabs, lobsters, and other shellfish.
For the fisher folk the well was the chief source of drinkable water. Its existence is explained by the structure of the porous chalk cliffs, beneath which lie layers of impervious gault clay and greensand. These prevent rainwater soaking further into the ground, so that it runs out at the base of the chalk as streams and springs. The springs of Holywell were held in high esteem for their purity, which led to the fishing community being moved to the East when an improved water supply was needed for Eastbourne’s increasing population and the local waterworks company installed a pumping station.
A couple of cottages still remained perched on a ledge in the cliffs in the 1950s, but cliff erosion has meant that these, as well as the pumping station have long since disappeared. The spring water though, reliable and fresh as ever, still bubbles from the undercliff about a hundred yards or so along the beach from the café.
The Italian style ornamental gardens, known as Holywell Retreat were laid out in the long disused Gore Chalk Pit in 1905. The cost of creating the new attraction was £400, a not inconsiderable sum in those days.
A curious claim to fame is that the world’s first ever municipal bus service terminated here in 1903, the destination board reading ‘To Foot of Beachy Head’.
Holywell enjoyed Royal patronage in 1935 when King George V and Queen Mary used beach hut No. 2 while staying at Compton Place.
Nowadays the gardens provide a little oasis of calm, shady and peaceful in summer, away from the bustling seafront.
Not much disturbs the calm now: It has been several years since the Eastbourne May Queen used to be crowned here at Beltane, as part of the annual Folk Festival but occasionally in the summer the gardens are host to Shakespearian dramas staged by the Rude Mechanical Theatre Company.
