Collections

From Prehistory to Present Day...

Heritage Eastbourne cares for a number of incredible objects. Preserving and recording the stories of Eastbourne dating back millions of years, some of these stories can be found at The Beachy Head Story.

Whether your interest is local history, archaeology, military history or historic photographs, use our research service to reveal the stories from the collections. Contact us to find out more or book an appointment.

To buy a print from our photographic archive or to donate an object, please contact us for more information.

Heritage Eastbourne curates collections with objects that date back thousands or even millions of years. But we always have an eye on the present as this will soon become our past and we are here to provide the means for us all to learn from history. The comedian, writer and all round National Treasure, Stephen Fry sums this idea up so well:

"How can we understand our present or glimpse our future if we cannot understand our past?

How can we know who we are if we don't know who we were? …
History is not the story of strangers, aliens from another realm; it is the story of us had we been born a little earlier."

With this in mind and because of the tumultuous times we are currently living through due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, we want to collect memories, images and experiences form you so that the future generations and indeed our future selves can remember and learn. Some experiences will stay with us forever but others and the physical traces of them will fade as we emerge into what is being called ‘the new normal’.
We will curate your experiences whether written, filmed, created, collected or photographed in physical or digital form and put together a collection unique to the Eastbourne area of this period of our lives, which will soon become an important part of our history.

Whether you’re homeschooling your children, a key worker, working from home, unable to work, unable to go to school, or a business owner, whoever you are and however this has affected you we want to hear from you. If you have a diary you would like to share, photographs representing the changes the Town has undergone during this period, a piece of art created in response to Covid-19 or even just some thoughts or experiences you would like recorded for the future, get in touch
If you would like to take part please contact localhistory@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk.
 

Guidance Notes
 

What is your story? Create A Museum of You! Here’s what you need to do:
 

•  Write a list of up to 10 objects that would be in an exhibition about you - write a short label for each one saying why you think they should be part of your display.

•  Create your own art gallery - draw, paint or make up to 10 of your own creations that represent the objects or people that are important to you. Write a short label to explain why you chose them.

 Then:
 

•  Name your exhibition - keep it simple by naming it after you, or be more inventive!

•  Design a poster - every great exhibition has a brilliant poster to go with it, to entice visitors to come and see it. Design something eye-catching!

Share your museum with us through Facebook or email us localhistory@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk.