Princes Park in
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
,
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 ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, is a public park east of
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
Town Centre and the
Victorian seafront.
The park consists of an 18 hole putting green, a
bowling green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...
, a boating lake (known as Crumbles Pond) and 2 small children's play areas, one of which has a paddling pool. There is also a football ground within the park, known as The Oval, which is the home of
Eastbourne United A.F.C., and a playing field which hosts
travelling funfair
A traveling carnival (US English), usually simply called a carnival, or travelling funfair (UK English), is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, ...
s and
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
es several times per year.
The park was originally called Gilbert's Recreation Ground, named after the land owner, and was leased to
Eastbourne Borough Council
Eastbourne Borough Council is the local authority for the borough of Eastbourne in East Sussex.
Eastbourne is divided into 9 local wards, which each elect 3 borough councillors as local representatives, creating a total of 27 councillors.
The B ...
in 1907. On 30 June 1931,
King Edward VIII
Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...
, at that time the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
, visited the park and planted an Evergreen Oak; the park was shortly after renamed Prince's Park in his honour.
In the mid 1940s the local council was looking to develop part of the park into a sports arena with an athletics track and grass cycle track, and in 1946
Eastbourne Old Comrades Football Club was invited to play their games at the ground after their original ground, called Lynchmere was sold for redevelopment.
In the 1970s
Eastbourne Borough played their home games on the playing field here before moving to
Priory Lane
170px, River End Stand
170px, Scoreboard
170px, Plan of Priory Lane
The SO Legal Stadium at Priory Lane is an association football stadium located in Langney, an eastern suburb of Eastbourne, East Sussex, England. It is the home of Eastb ...
.
External links
Official Website
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Eastbourne
Parks and open spaces in East Sussex