St Elizabeths Church
St Elisabeth’s Church was built in 1935/6 following the donation of a generous bequest from a local parishioner. As a result of that bequest - which was very large and earmarked for a new church in the Eastbourne area - St Elisabeth’s was constructed on a scale that even now seems disproportionate to its location in the Old Town area of Eastbourne. The adjoining vicarage and church hall were built as a group at the same time and as part of an overall design concept.
The bold design had strong parallels with the work of outstanding architects such as Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, and Sir Edward Maufe at Guildford Cathedral and its architectural merits were recognised in 1994 when it was included as a Grade II Listed Building.
However, the church had serious design problems from the outset due to the use of ferrous rods as wall ties, instead of the non-ferrous rods that had been documented:
Even before its consecration in February 1938, difficulties were emerging with the construction of the building and there were signs of water penetration. Over the years this has steadily got worse. The parish has looked at a number of schemes during this time to demolish the building, or to move in with the neighbouring Roman Catholic Church, or to reduce the height of St Elisabeth’s but without any success. They have now come to the conclusion that that the neighbouring parish hall would satisfy their needs much more fully in the community they serve and have asked the Diocesan Pastoral committee to start the process of declaring the church building redundant.”
The church has two sets of murals which have important historical and artistic value. The Conservation of Wall Painting Department at the Courtauld Institute of Art was asked to report on the value of both sets of murals - by Hans Feibusch in the crypt, and by E W Tristram in the sanctuary.
To find the cache find the following information A= Number of Bells visible from the front, B= Number of metal fleur de lis in the main front window, C= Number of Vertical rails on the LH rail up to the main door.
D=C+B, E=(A*2)+C, F=D-E, R=A+B, S=C-A, T=A.
N50 46.DEF E000 15.RST.
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