Bexhill-on-Sea History
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Along the front, the first hotel enterprise was that of The Sackville, and it is instructive to note that all the major hotel building in Bexhill was completed in the 12 years that followed The Sackville's opening in July 1890, an extraordinary period giving much food for thought in the realisation that so little has been done since. This is not to say that other establishments have not been successfully started and maintained, but the last major purpose-built hotel was The Granville, completed in 1902. |
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| Few names or buildings are more closely bound up with the history of the town or are more nostalgic in memory than The Sackville. This once splendid establishment, which for years enjoyed a world-wide reputation, where the Marquess Curzon spent a convalescence while Viceroy of India, was almost better known in many quarters than the town of which it was an ornament. Taking its title from the De La Warr family name, it was an enterprise of the 7th Earl, and was developed from a small row of houses, a corner one of which was the home of his son, Viscount Cantelupe, until the restoration of the Manor House in 1892. |
| In May 1897 The Sackville was sold to Frederick Hotels Ltd, in whose control it remained for 60 years. The new proprietors were early faced with the necessity to compete with the prospective Metropole Hotel, begun that year, and after much delay extensive improvements and additions were put in hand in 1890 at a cost of some £50,000. These, completed in 1900, gave The Sackville its splendid public rooms and made it for many years one of the principal hotels on this part of the coast. |
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| The contract was entrusted to Messrs Holloway, builders of the Great Central Hotel, London, and who had just completed the rebuilding of the Royal Pavilion Hotel at Folkstone. The plans provided for a lounge to accommodate about 250 people, and a covered-in Winter Garden in the centre. The lavish furnishings and decorations were carried out by the well-known London firm of Maple & Co. On completion of the work a farewell dinner and concert was held for some 70 workmen who had been engaged on the extensions, and Mr. E. Davey, the foreman carpenter, was presented with a handsome marble clock by the carpenters, labourers and friends, a happy proof of the good relationship which had marked the undertaking. |
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The opening of the enlarged hotel took place in a 'modest and unostentatious manner'
but the Bexhill-on-Sea Observer noted that the dimensions of The Sackville had assumed
quite palatial proportions, and 'Mr. Sydney Mills, the general manager, now finds
himself in possession of an establishment that in point of accommodation and interior
luxury and comfort requires a lot of beating along the coast.' In this fashion, The
Sackville continued its majestic way until the closure enforced early in the Second
World War, when it was requisitioned first for the Royal Air Force and then for the
Army, so that many local men who had never supposed they would enter its portals as
guests were accommodated in the building at no expense to themselves.
For 20 years until his retirement in May, 1947, the hotel was under the managership of Mr. E. E. Fisher, and it is largely in connection with his conduct of the establishment that many of its most delightful occasions remain in memory. |
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| During its first years from 1927 the Bexhill Lodge of Freemasons was also accommodated at The Sackville. It was greatly due to Mr. Fisher's work that so soon after the war he was able to hand over to his successor a hotel almost restored to its pre-war glory. |
| While the Air Force were in occupation Mr. Fisher remained to assist with the catering, and during the tenure of the Artillery he occupied for several months a room over the ammunition store before one was built in the front garden. A prominent target, the building was several times struck by bombs, and a serious fire threat was averted when an incendiary, which had lodged in a difficult spot on the fifth floor, was extinguished by Company Officer A.J. Stevens of the National Fire Service, formerly the well-known captain of the town's highly efficient local brigade. |
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When easier travel conditions and new leisure fashions did so much to bring about a change from the traditional seaside holiday, no establishment was more affected than the Sackville Hotel, which was also for many years a favourite rendezvous of parents of pupils at the town's independent schools and who used to stay there on their half-term visits. Nevertheless, it was a great blow to the town when, in the summer of 1956, the proprietors announced that the 155-bedroom hotel would close during the following winter 'for economic reason,' only the licensed bar remaining open. |
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So serious was the decision felt to be for Bexhill that it led to a full-scale
debate by the Town Council. However, The Sackville re-opened for the summer of 1957,
but in November that year it was bought by Mr. John Higgins, whose prompt announcement
that it would be kept open that winter was received with great satisfaction. Mr. Higgins,
who was in his eighties, and who came to Britain from the west of Ireland as a boy,
had a long career in advertising, including publicity for the famous Dublin Horse Show.
He first attracted local attention in 1957 when he advertised on prominent London
poster sites three Bexhill hotels which he had then acquired, the Riposo, Links and
Capitola. All later passed from his ownership, and ceased to be hotels; two were
eventually demolished to make way for flats.
Under Mr. and Mrs. Higgins' control the Sackville enjoyed an Indian summer until, for health reasons, they decided to sell the property in the autumn of 1959. It subsequently passed through several ownerships and was the subject of various development proposals until bought in the summer of 1963 by Mr. Michael Burstin for conversion into flats. In 1960 the whole of the contents were auctioned in more than 3,000 lots. |
| The Sackville as we see it today has been skillfully converted into 100 luxury service apartments with a bar, restaurant and function suite below. It has been the subject of considerable expenditure over recent years, with the addition of the Penthouse floor, double glazing, a new roof, two lifts and entry phone security which makes it a delightful place to live. Residents enjoy all the modern conveniences and live in a building steeped in history of which they can be justifiably proud. |
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