All Souls, Eastbourne
All Souls, Eastbourne
All Souls on Susans Road is a Grade II* town-centre church in Eastbourne, in the Diocese of Chichester. It is the only Victorian church in Sussex with a free-standing campanile.
- Location
- Eastbourne, Sussex
- Country
- England
- County
- Sussex
- City / town
- Eastbourne
- Address
- Susans Road, Eastbourne, Sussex, BN21 3TH
- Postcode
- BN21 3TH
- Built
- 1882
- Consecrated
- 6 July 1882
- Architect
- A P Strong of Parr Strong and Parr
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- All Souls
- Diocese
- Chichester
- Parish
- Eastbourne All Souls
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Italo-Byzantine; Italian Romanesque exterior
- Materials
- Red, white and yellow brick with terracotta dressings
- Grid reference
- TV 614 992
- Opening hours
- The church is open on weekdays for a variety of scheduled events.. Arrangements for a visit can be made by contacting us.
- Access
- Accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas. Ramp or level access available on request
Overview
Historic England dates the church to 1882 by Alfred Strong, in a Byzantine style of red brick with white brick decoration, twisted columns on the porch, and a campanile. The interior has foliated capitals to a six-column arcade derived from Byzantine prototypes, and a painted apse. The parish records that Lady Victoria Wellesley, great-niece of the Duke of Wellington, commissioned the church in memory of her aunts Dorothy and Emma Tilney Long. A. P. Strong of Parr and Strong, London, based the interior on the sixth-century basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna. The Bishop of Chichester consecrated the church on 6 July 1882.
Sussex Parish Churches notes butter-coloured brick with dark red terracotta dressings and foundations 17 to 20 feet deep on poor ground. Nicholas Antram in Pevsner describes a combination of Italianate, Byzantine and Romanesque, with a seven-bay nave and chancel and apse arches. A 2021 extension added new toilets.