Eastbourne Town Hall

Eastbourne Town Hall

Town Hall designed by Birmingham architect W Tadman-Faulkes following a competition. The foundation stone was laid on 9 October 1884 and the building opened on 20 October 1886. The clock was installed by Gillett and Johnson in 1892. The cost of the prizewinning design was £40,000, and the plans were referred to Henry Currey for assessment before proceeding.

The building is constructed in Free Renaissance style. It is asymmetrical, built in red brick with moulded brick decorations, Portland stone dressings and a slate roof with three remaining brick chimneystacks. The structure comprises two storeys and attics with 16 windows throughout, mostly mullioned and transomed casements.

The principal feature is the off-central clock tower, 130 feet high, positioned in the 6th bay from the left. The tower bay projects with a triple mullioned and transomed casement to the first floor, surmounted by a Diocletian window, flanked by moulded brick pilasters and a panelled parapet with stone obelisk-shaped finials. A wooden double door with steps to the street is below. A stone portico with four stone piers, a balustrade with an attached high relief shield and four partially gadrooned urns fronts this section; this portico was not part of the original design. The clock tower itself has two stages: the lower with mullioned and transomed casements, the upper with paired round-headed openings. Four pedimented clock faces are flanked by pilasters and topped by an elongated dome with finial.

To the right of the clock tower extends a wing of two storeys and attics containing seven windows. This comprises alternating triple windows with pediments on the ground floor and Diocletian windows to the attic, interspersed with single windows, divided by pilasters and with decorated aprons below the ground floor. Three pedimented features with round-headed blank arches flanked by stone urns conceal chimneystacks. Elaborate carved double doors in moulded architrave with rectangular fanlight and moulded cornice occupy the end bay on the right. The right end terminates in a pavilion-like projection of three bays with a mansard roof, a cast iron cage for a flagpole and a central round-headed pedimented feature to the parapet. This section has central paired windows flanked by single windows, with pediments to the lower floor windows and a central doorcase similar to the others.

To the left of the clock tower is a wing of two storeys and attics containing four windows. The two central windows are triple mullioned and transomed; the remainder are double, with pediments to the ground floor windows and aprons below. Pilasters divide the windows. The two central windows have pedimented dormers; the end windows are oval. The left end terminates in a pavilion-like projection of one bay. The attic floor is canted beneath a mansard roof and contains a mullioned and transomed window. The first floor has a four-light oriel, and the ground floor has two paired mullioned and transomed windows with aprons below, with pilasters at each end.

The interior includes the original Council Chamber, featuring joinery with panelling at dado level, fielded panelling above, strapwork design above that and guilloche panels with swags to the cornice. The dais has an elaborate curved pediment with a pilastered screen and elaborate curved pediments to the doorcases.