Eastbourne, East Sussex: Our Lady of Ransom

Services:
(weekday Mass times may vary)

Our Lady of Ransom

Grange Road, Eastbourne, BN21 4EU

Priest: Rev Raglan Hay Will MA STL
Email: raglan.haywill@dabnet.org

Priest: Rev Tim Hunting
Email: tim.hunting@dabnet.org

2 Grange Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 4EU
Tel: 01323 723222 Fax: 01323 645605
Email: ransomagnes@ukonline.co.uk

Religious Community:
Dominican Sisters
Holy Rosary Convent, 34 The Goffs, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1HD
Tel: 01323 722435

Schools:
St Thomas a Becket Catholic Infants
Tel: 01323 726004

St Thomas a Becket Catholic Junior
Tel: 01323 737221 Fax: 01323 738580

Hospital:
Eastbourne District General Hospital
Tel: 01323 417400

Hospice:
St Wilfrid's Hospice
Tel: 01323 644500

Also serves: St Gregory, St Agnes

A Brief History of the Parish

The first Mass in Eastbourne for some 300 years took place on Ascension Day, 29 May 1867, in the Catholic Chapel in the basement of 42 Ceylon Place and was celebrated by Father Charles P King. Within a year, a chapel had been built in Junction Road, on the comer of Terminus Road and Terminus Place (near the present Barclay's Bank) at the expense of Father King, which was named 'Stella Maris' and was solemnly opened on 1 April 1869.

Although Fr King stayed on at Stella Maris until February 1893, another temporary church was opened in rented premises, formerly a market hall, off Grove Road (now the Police garage) by Father Charles Stapley. The first Mass was offered on 14 August 1890 and the Church was dedicated to Our Lady of Ransom. Attempts to find a site for a permanent church were finally successful but not until after a Catholic voluntary school, St Joseph's, had been opened in Whitley Road on 23 September 1895. A new church, together with a presbytery, was built by Fr Paul Lynch, the successor to Fr Stapley, on the comer of Meads Road and Grange Road, an important site opposite the Town Hall, and was opened on Sunday 15 December 1901 by Bishop Francis Bourne, later Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. The dedication was still 'Our Lady of Ransom'. In due course, extensions were built and the completed church was opened on Thursday, 11 February 1926 by Bishop Amigo. The debt on the church was quickly cleared, mainly by donations from generous benefactors, and the church was able to be solemnly consecrated on Thursday 8th July 1926. A new altar and refurbishment of the sanctuary were completed in 1995.

At first, Our Lady of Ransom served an area that extended as far as Hailsham and Hellingly but, over the years, other churches were built in Eastbourne and the surrounding districts and these eventually became parishes in their own right. One exception to this is St Gregory's church in Victoria Drive. A temporary church was set up in March 1934 and a permanent church was opened in December 1966. This remains today as part of the parish of Our Lady of Ransom.

In January 1959, St Richard's Secondary School at Bexhill was opened and took the senior children from St Joseph's. In September 1973, St. Thomas a Becket Infant Shool opened and a Junior School, begun in March 1973, was opened in September 1974. St Joseph's then closed and became the Catholic Centre for St Agnes' parish.