Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill Beach De La Warr Pavilion East Sussex UK

Bexhill-on-Sea Tourist Information

Elegant Bexhill-on-Sea with its central seafront modernist icon the De La Warr Pavilion, clean award winning beach and charming old town and spacious strolling promenade is another of the East Sussex Coast's highlights. The beach has a Quality Coast Award and this seaside town is a hotspot for sailing and kitesurfing. Both sailing and rowing clubs are in the town and kitesurfing is at Herbrand Walk.

Seafront cafes and crazy golf line the seafront promenade around the beautifully restored De La Warr Pavilion. Free parking is also available along the seafront. Around Bexhill Old Town in contrast to the modernist De La Warr Pavilion you'll find classic Georgian buildings as well as the 16th century St Peter Parish Church. Ruins of the old Sackville family home with rose garden sit within Manor Gardens.

Fairtrade town Bexhill and the nearby pretty village of Sidley contain a host of small specialist shops with ample antiques and collectables shops situated in Bexhill town centre. Outstanding golf opportunities are at Bexhill at Highwoods Golf Club and Cooden Beach Golf Club with indoor and outdoor bowls plus tennis courts at Egerton Park just off the seafront. The town also has a large leisure swimming pool on Ravenside Retail Park. Bexhill's beach is a pretty shingle beach with plenty of character beach huts lining the beach front. The central beach area faces the Grade 1 listed De La Warr Pavilion. The town holds its monthly Farmers Market on the 4th Thrusday of the month from 9am to 12 noon at Parkhurst Hall. Details on all of Bexhill's attractions plus history trails and where to eat are via the comprehensive Discover Bexhill Tourist webguide.

Bexhill Information Point, Colonnade Cafe, Bexhill East Sussex. Open Friday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm (no telephone as volunteer run).

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De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill-on-Sea

The leading light again for the regeneration of Bexhill is Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff's 1935 modernist marvel the De La Warr Pavilion. A recent eight million pound investment has seen this magnificent structure restored to its original function to serve as an accessible centre for art and culture. This was the reason why the building was commissioned initially in 1935 by the 9th Earl De La Warr.

The building's architect Erich Mendelsohn (1887-1953) is credited not just with spearheading the style of expressionism but also as a major influence on art deco and streamline moderne. A German Jew, Mendelsohn left Germany and a successful career there in 1933 for England after witnessing the rise of anti-semitism. He was later struck off the German Architects Union and his money was seized by the nazis. In later life from 1941 he emigrated to the US where he taught at Berkeley University. Alongside the De La Warr Pavilion at Bexhill, other famous buildings by Mendelsohn include the Einstein Tower in Potsdam.

The De La Warr Pavilion was Britain's first public building built in the modernist style and since its regeneration and reopening in 2005 has served as a hub meeting place for the town with on-site cafe and restaurant. The building is also today one of the South's top contemporary art galleries, hosting ever changing prestigious art exhibitions. The De La Warr is one of the largest contemporary art galleries in the South East with recent artists featuring including Ben Nicholson and Nathan Coley. As well as art, the Pavilion is also a centre for events, workshops and performance including music and comedy. Outdoor concerts are frequently hosted in the vast space in front of the pavilion. Twice monthly on Sundays guided tours of the building start from 3pm at the information desk. See the De La Warr Pavilion's webguide for forthcoming tour dates. Sitting alfresco style on the De La Warr balconies gazing out to sea and sipping one of the finest coffees you'll find in the South is a special experience not to be missed!

De La Warr Pavilion, Marina, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex TN40 1DP. For Booking and Information Tel.01424 229 111.

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Bexhill Museum & Motoring Heritage Centre.

First opened in 1914, the Bexhill Museum in Egerton Park is essential viewing for digging deep into Bexhill's history from pre-historic to Napoleonic garrison and popular seaside resort.

The museum began life with a focus on natural history, rapidly accumulating a vast archive over the decades. Particular themes explored in the museum include Bexhill's role in the Birth of Motor Racing in Britain. It was here in Bexhill that the 7th Earl De La Warr hosted the first automobile race in Britain in 1902. The event really propelled Bexhill on to the international stage.

The town's outstanding architecture is also given due attention in the museum This includes details and history not just on the spectacular modernist De La Warr Pavilion but also Bexhill's glemaning white seafront architecture inspired by the town's links with the Indian Raj in the early 20th century. The rise of the resort during the Victorian and Edwardian period also features strongly. Guided walks, including the popular 'Stepping Out' walks are also organised by the museum. An extensive Costume Collection is also held by the Society of Bexhill Museums. The Bexhill Motoring Heritage Centre sits on the De La Warr Parade facing the seafront to the east of the pavilion. Here you'll find photography and historic artefacts detailing Bexhill's role within motor racing with a focus on the races between 1902 and 1904.

The Society of Bexhill Museums, The Lodge, 250 Turkey Road, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, TN39 5HT. Telephone 01424 787950. The Bexhill Museum reopens in Spring 2009 after extensive regeneration. See the museum's webguide for up-to-date details.

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