East Sussex County Hall is a modern building in St Anne's Crescent,

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

. It is the headquarters of

East Sussex County Council East Sussex County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex. East Sussex is divided into five local government districts. Three are larger, rural, districts (from west to east: Lewes; Wealden; and Rother). T ...

History

After being based at County Hall in the High Street in Lewes since its formation in 1889,

relocated to Pelham House in Lewes in 1938. After deciding that Pelham House was too restricted for future expansion, county leaders chose to procure a new purpose-built county headquarters: the site they selected was open land located between St Anne's Church and the Old Southover Rectory which became known as St Anne's Crescent. The new building, which was designed by the county architect, Jack Catchpole, in the

modern style The Modern Style is a style of architecture, art, and design that first emerged in the United Kingdom in the mid-1880s. It is the first Art Nouveau style worldwide, and it represents the evolution of the Arts and Crafts movement which was native ...

, was opened by the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom ...

on 31 October 1968. The opening ceremony also involved a dedication service which was led by Roger Wilson, the

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's seat ...

, assisted by

John Habgood John Stapylton Habgood, Baron Habgood, (23 June 1927 – 6 March 2019) was a British Anglican bishop, academic, and life peer. He was Bishop of Durham from 1973 to 1983, and Archbishop of York from 18 November 1983 to 1995. In 1995, he was ma ...

, the Rector of St. Anne's Church. The design involved a three winged structure joined by a north-facing entrance block; each of the three wings had a continuous band of glazing on each of the six floors with flintwork panels above and below the glazing. The two-storey entrance block featured a glazed entrance on the first floor with a large decorative panel designed by William George Mitchell on the second floor extending right across the entrance. The abstract design of the wide decorative panel, which was made from coloured

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, was intended to recognise the diverse activities of the county council. Although most county council departments were co-located at St Anne's Crescent, the chief executive's department and the legal and community services department remained at Pelham House; the county council also continued to use the council chamber at Pelham House for full meetings of the county council for the rest of the 20th century. A new council chamber was created on the first floor at St Anne's Crescent, so allowing most activities to be consolidated at that location, in October 2003. Exceptions included the County Archives which were moved from Pelham House into temporary facilities before being transferred to The Keep in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in October 2013.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in East Sussex County halls in England East Sussex County Council Lewes Government buildings completed in 1968