History
Prior to 1901 the land now called Hampden Park was part of the Ratton Estate owned by Lord Willingdon. Ratton is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1087. For a long time the woodland and Decoy Pond was a working decoy attracting wildfowl for the estate kitchens.
By the middle of the 19th century the decoy had fallen into disuse.
Lord Willingdon agreed to sell almost 32 hectares (78 acres) to Eastbourne Corporation on condition that a new road, Kings Drive, was built from Eastbourne to Willingdon.
Our grateful thanks to former Chairman, William Pratt, for these images and historical information.
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Hampden Park, named after Lord Willingdon's grandfather, Viscount Hampden, was opened by Lord Rosebery on 12th August 1902 and was the first Corporation-owned park in Eastbourne.
This picture shows the opening ceremony in August 1902.
Lord and Lady Willingdon can be seen on the right.
A very good early photograph. These people were motoring in 1905 to Roedean and stopped at Hampden Park.
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The tea chalet opened around 1906 and for 20+ years was run by Bella and Albert Davis. Albert took some of the earliest photos of the park and published them as postcards with his wife Bella in them or superimposed.
He was later Chair of the Photographic Society and Chairman of the Eastbourne Education Committee, having been appointed Alderman in the Second War.
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Bella is superimposed on this pic of the Rose Walk which was a very popular Edwardian feature of the park.
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The Water Garden, now the Sensory Garden, was very popular right into living memory having been established round the time of World War I.
The park keeper from the earliest years was Mr Henty whose son died in the Great War.
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Mr Henty standing on the bridge is a popular photo taken originally by A E Davis.
A 1936 version of the photo without Bella was used by English Heritage as the cover of their “Art of Park-Keeping”
We'd love to see more photographs of the park through the ages.
If you have any photographs, or stories to share about the park, please get in touch using the form on the contact page.