Victorian seaside town often overlooked by larger resorts has two-mile beach and one of the UK’s best pubs
A SEASIDE town with huge beach is often passed over in favour of nearby larger resorts, despite having an important part in UK history.
Bexhill-on-Sea in Sussex is near the bigger St Leonard’s, and welcomes far fewer tourists.
This is despite having a long two-mile beach, made of shingle, and with quaint cafes, beach gardens and beach hunts along the promenade.
Some even say it’s better than the nearby Brighton – one tourist wrote: “Compare this to busy Brighton and there’s no comparison if you just want a quiet day on the beach.”
It is also one of the sunniest places in the UK, being along the Sussex coastline.
One of the main seafront attractions is the Art Deco De La Warr Pavilion, built in 1934 and one of the country’s first modernist buildings.
Costing £80,000 to build (working out to £1.8million in today’s money), it is now used as an art gallery.
Bexhill-on-Sea has also been dubbed the ‘birthplace of British motor racing’.
The town hosted the UK’s first motor race in 1902, won by French driver Leon Serpollet with speeds up to 54mph
Petrol heads can now head to Bexhill Museum to learn about it’s motor history, as well as the town’s history in general including dinosaurs and shipwrecks in the area.
While not short of pubs, there is one you should pick that was named one of the best in the country.
Brickmakers Alehouse was listed as one the UK’s top pubs by Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) this year.
Otherwise there is also the The Picture Playhouse, a Wetherspoons pub built into a 1921 cinema.
TV presenter Graham Norton previously lived in Bexhill, putting up his house for sale for £2.3million back in 2017.
Other famous celebs include Eddie Izzard and Spike Milligan.
The town is also getting a multi-million pound renovation, as part of the government’s £20 million levelling up scheme.
Fancy staying? Most of the places in Bexhill-on-Sea are B&Bs and home rentals although there are a few hotels.
There is the coastal The Relais Cooden Beach, with it’s own private beach, or the boutique The Driftwood with just six rooms.
Trains to Bexhill take just under two hours from London, with routes from St Pancras and Victoria.
Or its an hour’s drive from Brighton, for day-trippers.
Another Victorian seaside town is Frinton-on-Sea in Essex, which was loved by royals and even visited by Winston Churchill.
Or there is Matlock Bath, a ‘seaside’ town that isn’t on the beach – and we sent a reporter down to explore.