50 Years of Tennis - 150 Years of The Devonshire Park

It’s Love All this summer as Rothesay international tennis returns to the Devonshire Park marking the 50^th anniversary of international tennis in Eastbourne.

Although Tennis and Eastbourne is a love affair that extends well beyond that 50 years, the Devonshire Park site which is famed for hosting tennis events in the town, has been open for 150 years this autumn and there’s activities being served to ensure this courtship is fully celebrated. Read on for more.

Tennis

Tickets are currently available for Rothesay International tennis but be QUICK– if you miss the centre court tickets other ticket options are available right up until the day so you can still be a part of the love!

To celebrate 50 Years of International Tennis look out for…

• Free Tennis Fan Zone in Terminus Road right in the middle of the town centre from 22nd – 29th June 10am until 6pm. Have a go tennis courts, deck chairs and big screen to watch the televised action from the Devonshire Park - all free!

• 50th Competition - In partnership with Rothesay, locate the giant 50 installation at Dev Park and guess the number of tennis balls to win a prize.

• Golden Ball Catch - After the first match on Centre Court each day, the winner will hit a golden ball into the crowd. Catch this ball and present it to the information point for a prize.

• Window Shop Dressing Competition – Look out around the town centre as local businesses will be branding their windows for the best dressed window competition.

• Unsung Heroes – 50 tickets are being given away pre-event to local unsung heroes via Eastbourne Herald for more information see here.

• Wightman Cup Centenary Anniversary – Centre Court ticket holders on the 29th June will be able to enjoy an additional match on Centre Court and see some special guests, to mark the centenary of the Wightman Cup that ran annually between GB and USA until 1989. This celebration on Centre Court will commence at 11am for approximately one hour.

• Legends of tennis will be joining the team on site on Finals Day as part of the celebrations – will your favourite tennis player be one of the legends?

150 Years of Devonshire Park

Autumn 2024 marks 150 years of the Devonshire Park site, part of the Devonshire Quarter, to commemorate this join a guided heritage tour of the park and come and take a look at the brand new Burlington Bower.

Join a walking tour led by Heritage Collections Officer, Kelly van Doorn. Discover how trespassing led to the creation of Devonshire Park, what the FA Cup has to do with tennis, how a trip from Shoreham ended in a plane crash and which building was hidden in plain sight for over a century! Along the tour, you will be shown rarely-seen objects from our archives and photographs showing the development of the park over the years. Booking will go live in August so keep an eye on our socials to be the first in the know!

After considerable work and fundraising by The Eastbourne Society the Burlington Bower has been built - a reconstruction of a miniature temple that was once in the park but had to be removed in the 1980’s. Originally built by James Hook a local master plasterer who created it for The Workman’s Fair in 1895, it so impressed the Duke of Devonshire at the time it was reconstructed a year after the fair and became a focal point of the park until it removal was necessary due to safety issues. Local here-say alludes to the possibility that the temple was relocated and used as a mausoleum to one of the Duke’s beloved dogs as a story circulates that a brass plaque was found during the demolition of the site in the 1980s but this isn’t confirmed! The Bower is a tribute to the 7^th Duke of Devonshire who originally paid for the park to be built.

Situated on the eastern bank of the park this new feature will be officially opened by Lord Burlington in September, but tennis visitors and those accessing the park can see it now!

The Devonshire Park was opened in 1874 and originally laid out with terraces and walks featuring a cricket ground, and then later racquet courts and skating. The first tennis courts were laid in 1880 with tournaments from 1881. Covered stands were built in 1921, additional courts added in 1933 and in 1998 the tennis centre was completed.

For a more detailed description of the Devonshire Park and the history of this site see here and for further information on Eastbourne Society see here.