Wanderlust of a Flâneur: Bexhill (England, UK)

The arms were officially granted on January 21, 1907. The martlets are taken from the arms of the East Sussex CC and the mitre denotes the See of Chichester, which held the Manor of Bexhill from the time of the Conquest until the reign of Henry VIII, when it passed to Lord Buckhurst, ancestor of the present holder, Earl De La Warr, from whose crest the black star is taken. The gold lion joined to the stern of a silver ship, from the arms of the Cinque Ports, refers to the Liberty of the Sluice, a hamlet of Bexhill and a minor limb of Hastings. The mallard is from the arms of the first Earl Brassey, Mayor of Bexhill 1907-8, Warden of the Cinque Ports 1908-13, and who presented to the Corporation a mayoral chain of office. The sun and sea stand for Bexhill's character as a health resort. The crest shows one of the many towers built along this coast in preparation for Napoleon's expected invasion. (Heraldry of the World)

City: Bexhill-on-Sea

Kingdom: United Kingdom

County: East Sussex

Interesting Facts:

- The first reference to Bexhill, or Bexelei as it was originally called, was in a charter granted by King Offa of Mercia in 772 AD. It is recorded that King Offa had 'defeated the men of Hastings' in 771 AD.

- In 1804 soldiers of the King's German Legion were stationed in barracks at Bexhill. These troops were Hanoverians who had escaped when their country was overrun by Napoleon's French Army.

- Bob Marley's first ever UK gig was at the De La Warr Pavilion in July 1972.

- It was the 8th Earl de la Warr who offered his sea front estate, because of its proximity to the ferries to the Continent, on which to host the first International Motor Race Meeting in this Country in 1902, in conjunction with the Automobile Club of Britain and Ireland, which later became the RAC.

Bexhill (March 2009)
These photos were taken on a way from Bexhill to central Hastings through the National Cycle Network Route 2. Those photos below are only inside the Bexhill area, to see the second part of route in Hastings area click here.