Let’s Move to: Pevensey and Pevensey Bay. The locality makes the national press. Local resident, NHS nurse, Jane Marter comments,“Pevensey and Pevensey Bay have a community vibe, with lots of clubs and societies.” Writer Tom Dyckhoff says “The seafront at Pevensey Bay might not be Malibu, but it is splendidly eccentric, with Edwardian town houses cheek-by-jowl with shacks and the 1930s-50s bungalow estate of Beachlands..”
This article titled “Let’s move to Pevensey and Pevensey Bay, East Sussex” was written by Tom Dyckhoff, for The Guardian on Friday 18th September 2015 15.30 UTCWhat’s going for it? We may be few, but our numbers are growing: bleak geeks, or aficionados of picturesque melancholy. (Pretty, unthreatening melancholy, not the post-apocalyptic kind; we’re very particular.) Our homeland – Dungeness in Kent, with its power station and permanently autumnal skies – is for sale at £1.5m. There’s money in mournfulness. A few miles west, though, is my tip: the Pevensey Levels, beached between Bexhill and Eastbourne. This is a rare breach in the south coast’s line of cliffs, one spotted by William the Conqueror: Norman’s Bay is where 1066 and all that began. Here, you get all we bleak geeks could possibly desire: big skies, quiet, forgotten-about towns, roads with names like Sluice Lane, shingly beaches fronted by settlements straight out of an Ealing comedy (Peter Sellers used to visit his mum at Pevensey Bay) – just not for £1.5m, or anything close.
The case against To some fools, bleak is just bleak. The only road out is the coast road, so escape routes are few and often bumper-to-bumper. The railway is welcome, but cuts off the beach rather.
Well connected? Trains: half-hourly to Bexhill and Eastbourne (9 minutes), Hastings (25) and Brighton (just under an hour); hourly to Gatwick (75 minutes) and Victoria (one hour 43 minutes). Driving: 15 minutes to Eastbourne and Bexhill, 30 to Hastings, 45 to Brighton.
Schools Primaries: Herstmonceux CofE , Ninfield CofE, Little Common and Hankham are all good‚ Ofsted says, or you can edge in on the catchments of schools in Bexhill, Hailsham and Eastbourne. Secondaries: Bishop Bell CofE in Eastbourne and Hailsham Community College are both good.
Hang out at… The Lamb in the pin-drop-quiet village of Wartling is just the ticket.
Where to buy Pevensey is delightful, a tiny ancient town/village of tile-hung, weatherboarded or flint cottages. The villages of Pevensey Levels are worth exploring: see Wartling, Herstmonceux and Hooe. The seafront at Pevensey Bay might not be Malibu, but it is splendidly eccentric, with Edwardian town houses cheek-by-jowl with shacks and the 1930s-50s bungalow estate of Beachlands. Detacheds and town houses, £275,000-£1m. Semis, £150,000-£400,000. Terraces and cottages, £150,000-£270,000. Flats, £130,000-£175,000. Rentals: not much – a two-bed terrace might go for £800pcm.
Bargain of the week Squint and convince yourself you’re living on Route 66 with a Chevy out front at this two-bedroom “oyster-style” bungalow, in need of modernisation, £189,950, with Mason Bryant.
From the streets
Philipa Coughlan “Two diverse communities: historic Pevensey has the castle, while near the caravan parks is Pevensey Bay and The Moorings restaurant, which is really good value with large plates of well-cooked food.”
Jane Marter “Pevensey and Pevensey Bay have a community vibe, with lots of clubs and societies.”
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