Shelter No.4 (and No.3) was built in 1921 by Frederick William Parker, a builder and undertaker in Bexhill who took over the family business established by his grandfather. Parker’s workshop and house was on Belle Hill at the junction with Barrack Road, the site is now underneath King Offa Way. His larger projects include the Cemetery Chapel, Cemetery Lodge and the New Club, Marina. It is of note that he carried out the last burials at St. Peter’s churchyard and the Barrack Road cemetery and the first funeral at Bexhill Cemetery when it opened in 1902.
Reopening
On the 19th April 2025, we invited local residents and BH members to watch the opening event. Chairman of Rother District Council, Richard Thomas and Mayor of Bexhill, Paul Wilson praised the work of our volunteers before cutting the ribbon.
A new ‘Heritage Gallery’ at the eastern end of the shelter is now on display. This showcases historic photographs of places around Bexhill contrasted with the same scenes today. You can view more details on the project here: bexhill-osm.org.uk/thennow.
Read more:
– Sussex World: Restored historic Bexhill seafront shelter reopens
– Bexhill News: Bexhill shelter opening celebrates 3,000 hours of volunteer efforts
Thanks to Justin Lycett and Margaret Hales for the video and photos.
Restoration
Starting in November 2023, more than 3,000 hours were spent restoring the second of the rectangular Grade II Listed shelters. Rother District Council started the project in 2021 by removing the old paint.
It took some a few months to allow the whole building to dry out before we could start sanding down the surface ready for undercoating.
The Bexhill Men’s Shed helped us with the bench slats by stripping them down and repainting them. We had the arms sandblasted down to bare metal and 5 coats of paint applied. The shelter’s wood work similarly had 5-6 coats of paint with 3 coats of gloss.
320 windows had 4 pieces of beading with 3 tacks in each – that’s 3,840 tacks each inserted by hand!
Thanks to Justin Lycett for the photos.
Precondition
Our initial survey took place in 2018, items of urgent attention included loose roof tiles; rotted and missing panels; dry rot in posts and mouldings; deteriorated paintwork.
