Guided tour of the Towner Collection and its bespoke art store, with over 5,000 works from the Victorian bequest to contemporary artists.
Towner Eastbourne is opening up its art store for a series of behind-the-scenes tours, starting Sunday 15 November. It's a rare chance to get past the gallery walls and into the bespoke store where the Towner Collection is kept, rather than just seeing what's on display in the main rooms.
The collection holds over 5,000 works, and the tour takes you through that whole span. It starts with the original Victorian bequest and runs right up to contemporary artists, with Eric Ravilious, Duncan Grant, Sandra Blow, Alfred Wallis and Tacita Dean all mentioned along the way. The Towner is the custodian of the largest collection of Ravilious's work — he's the artist most synonymous with Sussex and lived right here in Eastbourne — and the Ravilious Collection brings together his watercolours, sketches, prints and ceramics alongside those of his artist wife Tirzah Garwood and friends Edward Bawden and Peggy Angus.
Beyond the art, there's a bit of the building's own history to take in. The gallery's seafront home was designed by architect Henry Currey in 1859 for a resort built 'for gentlemen by gentlemen' at the behest of the 7th Duke of Devonshire, and it hosted the Turner Prize in 2023. You can combine the tour with a visit to the café and the new shop, and if you're looking for a gift, there are vouchers for private art store tours available too.
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It runs on alternate Sundays at 2:00 pm and Tuesdays at 11:00 am, from Sunday 15 November 2026 to Tuesday 6 April 2027. Tickets are £11 for adults and £10 for concessions — full-time students, 18-25s, Disability PIP/Universal Credit, and Pension Credit — with Towner members getting a 10% discount.
