Hampden Park, Eastbourne

Hampden Park
St Mary's Church
Hampden Park  Hampden Park shown within East Sussex
OS grid reference	TQ605022
District	Eastbourne
Shire county	East Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	EASTBOURNE
Postcode district	BN22
Dialling code	01323
Police	Sussex
Fire	East Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Eastbourne
List of places UK England East Sussex

Coordinates: 50°47′49″N 0°16′41″E / 50.796861°N 0.278083°E / 50.796861; 0.278083

Hampden Park is a suburb of Eastbourne. It is notable for its unique railway station, where local trains on the East Coastway Line stop twice, and is thought to be the busiest level crossing in the country.^[1] This station, now known as Hampden Park station, was once named 'Willingdon Halt'.

Attractions

Hampden Park itself is a large pleasant space with a fair sized lake. There is a park cafe called Lakeside Cafe, a children's playground, outdoor tennis courts, playing fields and plenty of routes for joggers and strollers, as well as a large area of sports fields. The area is the home of Eastbourne Rugby Club and two bowls clubs are nearby. Its main inhabitants are the grey squirrel, and several species inhabit the lake, notably mallard ducks, Canada geese, mute swans, moorhen, herons, gulls and the rock pigeon.

Currently (April/June 2011) there is a large pond enhancement program being carried out on the Decoy Pond. This has been funded by Eastbourne Borough Council and a large grant obtained from the Big Lottery Fund by The Friends of the Hampdem Park.

History

Prior to 1901 the land now called Hampden Park was part of the Ratton Estate owned by Lord Willingdon. Ratton is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1087 and for a long time the woodland and lake had been a decoy attracting wildfowl for the estate kitchens. By the end of the 19th century the lake had probably fallen into disuse. Lord Willingdon agreed to sell 78 acres (320,000 m²) to Eastbourne Corporation on condition that a new main road, Kings Drive, was built from Eastbourne to Willingdon. Hampden Park, named after Lord Willingdon’s grandfather, Viscount Hampden, was opened by Lord Rosebery on 12 August 1902 and was the first Corporation-owned park in Eastbourne.^[2]

St Mary's Church is the Anglican parish church of Hampden Park. Edward Maufe's Perpendicular Gothic Revival building of 1952–54 replaced a church of 1908 which had been destroyed by a bomb in 1940.^[3] It is a Grade II listed building.^[4]

References