The Home was officially opened on 30 June 1938 as a replacement for St Agnes’ Home, Croydon. It was to function as a convalescent home for children with disabilities. Property records indicate that the building was built around 1922, and that it was purchased by The Children’s Society in 1936.
The Home was evacuated in 1940 because of the Second World War and according to the 1940 Annual Report, St Agnes’ relocated to near Oxford as a war nursery. However, it is unclear which war nursery is being referred to. The building at Pevensey Bay itself was reopened as a Home after the war.
In 1964 residents of St Agnes spent their annual holiday on Hayling Island, Hampshire.
The Home closed in 1972 and residents moved to Harvey Goodwin House Home, Cambridge.
The building briefly reopened in 1974 as a holiday home for small groups of children in the care of The Children’s Society.
text source : Hidden Lives Revealed—A Virtual Archive—Children in Care, 1881-1918
image source : Ref: AR92_0121_049 Title: St Agnes’ Home, Pevensey Bay: Date: 1962 : The front of the Home.
This photograph was taken by the Society’s Estates Department. Rights: © The Children’s Society
