Hampden Park is a suburb of Eastbourne

Eastbourne

Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...

. It is notable for its unique railway station, where local trains on the East Coastway Line

East Coastway Line

East Coastway is the name used by the train operating company, Southern , for the routes it operates along the south coast of Sussex and Kent to the east of Brighton, England. Those to the West of Brighton are named the West Coastway Line...

 stop twice, and is thought to be the busiest level crossing

Level crossing

A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...

 in the country. This station, now known as Hampden Park station

Hampden Park railway station

Hampden Park railway station serves Hampden Park in East Sussex. It is on the East Coastway Line, and train services are provided by Southern. It was originally called "Willingdon Halt". It is one of two stations serving Eastbourne, the other being Eastbourne railway stationThe station is located...

, was once named 'Willingdon

Willingdon and Jevington

Willingdon and Jevington is one of the civil parishes in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The two villages lie one mile south of Polegate. The two parishes, two decades ago, were separate; the merger of the two has produced a parish of over 6,000 people...

 Halt'.

Attractions

Hampden Park itself is a large pleasant space with a fair sized lake. There is a park cafe called Lakeside Cafe, a children's playground, outdoor tennis courts, playing fields and plenty of routes for joggers and strollers, as well as a large area of sports fields. The area is the home of Eastbourne Rugby Club and two bowls clubs are nearby. Its main inhabitants are the grey squirrel

Eastern Gray Squirrel

The eastern gray squirrel is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to the eastern and midwestern United States, and to the southerly portions of the eastern provinces of Canada...

, and several species inhabit the lake, notably mallard ducks

Mallard

The Mallard , or Wild Duck , is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia....

, Canada geese

Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....

, mute swans

Mute Swan

The Mute Swan is a species of swan, and thus a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is native to much of Europe and Asia, and the far north of Africa. It is also an introduced species in North America, Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less...

, moorhen

Common Moorhen

The Common Moorhen is a bird in the Rallidae family with an almost worldwide distribution. The North and South American Committees of the AOU and the IOC have voted on or before July 2011 to split the American forms into a new species Common Gallinule, however, no other committee has voted to...

, herons, gull

Gull

Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...

s and the rock pigeon

Rock Pigeon

The Rock Dove or Rock Pigeon, is a member of the bird family Columbidae . In common usage, this bird is often simply referred to as the "pigeon"....

.

Currently (April/June 2011) there is a large pond enhancement program being carried out on the Decoy Pond. This has been funded by Eastbourne Borough Council and a large grant obtained from the Big Lottery Fund by The Friends of the Hampdem Park.

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 and for a long time the woodland and lake had been a decoy attracting wildfowl for the estate kitchens. By the end of the 19th century the lake had probably fallen into disuse. Lord Willingdon agreed to sell 78 acres (315,655.1 m²) to Eastbourne Corporation on condition that a new main road, Kings Drive, was built from Eastbourne to Willingdon. Hampden Park, named after Lord Willingdon’s grandfather, Viscount Hampden

Viscount Hampden

Viscount Hampden is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1776 for the diplomat and politician Robert Hampden, 4th Baron Trevor...

, was opened by Lord Rosebery on 12 August 1902 and was the first Corporation-owned park in Eastbourne.

St Mary's Church

St Mary's Church, Hampden Park, Eastbourne

St Mary's Church is the Anglican parish church of the Hampden Park suburb of Eastbourne, a town and borough in the English county of East Sussex. Originally linked to the church at nearby Willingdon, it later became a separate parish church...

 is the Anglican

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

 parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of Hampden Park. Edward Maufe

Edward Maufe

Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe KBE, R.A, F.R.I.B.A. was an English architect and designer, noted chiefly for his work on places of worship and remembrance memorials. He was a skilled interior designer and designed many pieces of furniture...

's Perpendicular Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

 building of 1952–54 replaced an church of 1908 which had been destroyed by a bomb in 1940. It is a Grade II listed building.