© Sevket Hylton Akyildiz, All Rights Reserved January 2019, first edition. Open Access Working Paper.

Eurasia Studies Society of Great Britain and Europe.

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Bexhill-on-Sea Mosque & Muslims

Researcher & author:

Sevket Hylton Akyildiz1

Bexhill is a seaside town in South-East England long associated with retirement,2 a

‘genteel’ British holiday experience, and the splendid Art-Deco De La Warr Pavilion.3
Since the 1990s, this medium-sized coastal town, like other towns in the United
Kingdom, has become more culturally and socially diverse. This short paper explores
one strand of this diversity: Bexhill’s small Muslim community and the social and
cultural function of the mosque.

Photograph 1 Bexhill Mosque & Islamic Centre

(photographer S. Akyildiz, winter 2016).
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Town

Bexhill-on-Sea is a medium-sized coastal town in East Sussex county with a total

population in 2013 of nearly 46,256 people.4 In terms of the natural landscape, Bexhill
is without the low green hills that partly surround the neighbouring towns of Eastbourne
and Hastings. The town centre and seafront are built on flat land (with a gentle slope
into Bexhill along the eastern coast road from Hastings). In Bradshaw’s Descriptive
Railway Handbook of Great Britain and Ireland (1858), it says of ‘Old Town’ Bexhill –

The village of which name is situated on a rising ground not far from the sea. It is a quiet,
retired place, having some good springs, and is situated in a beautiful country…
Many persons prefer the retirement of Bexhill, with its bracing air…’5

Maev Kennedy (2009) says of Bexhill’s town centre and seafront:

Bexhill-on-Sea was the brash Victorian offspring down the hill from Bexhill Old Town, which
is really quiet.6

In Bexhill town centre there is no shopping mall, and for this reason, it looks and feels
very different from the main shopping centres found in the neighbouring seaside towns
of Hastings and Eastbourne. Indeed, Bexhill’s town centre has a relaxed feel to it, with
clean and tidy streets.

In the main shopping area (of Western Road, Devonshire Road, and Station Road),
car traffic is busy but not congested. Among the expanding coastal towns of South-
East England, Bexhill is an interesting town because the central high street is
populated by a mix of chain stores and local shops, small stores, and family-owned
businesses. Shoppers walk along streets exposed to seasonal weather and sit at
tables placed outside cafés to watch the passing flow of townspeople and tourists. It
is reminiscent of Eastbourne’s high street in the 1970s before the large Arndale
Shopping Mall was built in that town.7

One newspaper article in the conservative-leaning Daily Mail (February 2015) writes
of Bexhill: ‘Is this the charity shop capital of Britain?’ The story reports that the town
has approximately 24 charity shops open to bargain hunters—8with many affordable
household items waiting to be bought.
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Local Muslim Population

Bexhill is part of Rother District Council (20 wards in total, including Rye and Battle).
In 2011, the Office for National Statistics data reported that the total population of
Rother was 90,588 people. In consideration of this, the population statistics (see Table
I below) refer to individuals living across the Rother District. The following statistics
refer to ‘residents of the UK, and anyone who had stayed or intended to stay for a
period of 12 months or more’ (for instance, international students).

The first Muslim residents in Eastbourne and Hastings arrived over 50 years ago
during the mid-1960s (the author met an Indian restaurant owner from Eastbourne and
a National Health Service doctor from Hastings). In 2011, the number of ‘Muslim’
residents in Rother District was 460 or 0.5 per cent of the total population. However, it
is incorrect to assume that all Muslim heritage people regularly visit a mosque or
observe Islamic practices. One category called ‘cultural Muslims’ refers to religiously
unobservant individuals. Still, they might retain some attachment to Muslim culture
based upon personal, family, or social connections and lived experiences.

Table I:

Office for National Statistics 2011 Census:

Religion for Rother Local Authority (which includes Bexhill, Battle, and Rye)

Area Name All Christian Buddhist Hindu Jewish Muslim Sikh Other No Religion
categories: religion religion not
Religion stated
Persons Persons Persons Persons Persons Persons Persons Persons Persons Persons
Number Number Number Number Number Number Number Number Number Number
Rother 90,588 58,706 290 171 170 460 12 525 22,864 7,390
64.8% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.5% 0 0.6% 25.2% 8.2%
Source: Adapted from data from the Office for National Statistics licensed under
the Open Government Licence v.2.0. 2011 Census: ‘Religion, local authorities in
England and Wales’ (QS210EW).

In terms of geographic residential distribution within Bexhill, the Muslim residents'

homes spread throughout the town (with economic class generally determining
location). Furthermore, children and teenagers from all ethnicities and religious (and
non-religious) backgrounds mix freely in the local state-funded and private schools.
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Mosque

Local environment
The mosque in Bexhill at Clifford Road is officially known as the Bexhill Islamic Centre
or the Bexhill Masjid.9 Bexhill Mosque, in terms of its external appearance, is a
twentieth-century English structure; indeed, for many years, the building was a
residential-detached town centre property. However, it is the use of its inner space
that makes the building a mosque.

The built environment surrounding the Bexhill Mosque consists of low-rise dwellings
and town centre structures: small shops, cafes, charity shops, mini-super markets, a
post office, Bexhill Railway Station, council offices, residential townhouses, the 1970s
built flats, and the Beulah Baptist Church.

Before the opening of the mosque (circa 2017-2018), the town’s Muslims and visiting
Muslims conducted their congregational Friday prayers (called the Juma prayer) at the
Bexhill Youth and Community Centre on Station Road. Conveniently, the youth centre
is situated adjacent to the new mosque. Alternatively, local Muslim worshippers
travelled to the Hastings Mosque several miles eastwards along the coast (situated in
St. Leonards).

Social & cultural function of the Mosque

In May 2010, the Rother Council permitted the Bexhill Mosque development project.
Four years later, a mosque spokesperson said in a Bangla Television fundraiser
(2014) that the mosque project had taken many years to finance and undertake.
Moreover, he said the mosque is essential for the local Muslims to fulfil their Islamic
prayers and create a local community in Bexhill. In the same television appeal, a
speaker reports that the mosque is a legacy for future generations.10

At the mosque, the five daily prayers are undertaken, and the Friday congregational
prayer (Juma), and the two annual ceremonial prayers (Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha),
and other life-cycle ceremonies. The mosque has separate prayer spaces and ablution
facilities for men and women.
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In addition, it is reported that education services at the mosque will teach Qur’anic and
Islamic studies. At other times it will be a place for intercultural and transcultural
meetings—allowing Bexhill’s townsfolk to mix.11

The local work of the Bexhill Islamic Association (a registered charity) includes –
… the advancement of education of children and adults and to relieve poverty, hardship
and distress. It also facilitates marriages and other religious ceremonies and offers support
for funeral and burial services.12
… basic education about English culture to Muslim youth, and advice about housing, legal
or other domestic matters where language or culture might be a barrier.13
Councillor Dierdre Williams commented on the Bexhill Islamic Association’s estimate
of between 15 and 20 worshippers visiting the mosque daily, ‘and up to 80 people for
congregational prayers on Friday’, she said these figures might increase in the
future.14 It is expected that some worshippers will use cars or public transport to visit
the mosque or else travel to the site on foot.

To accommodate the interests of the residents –

Opening times are restricted to between 6am-10pm.

Cllr David Vereker added: “This seems to me to be an admirable operation. It will be useful for
people to integrate into Bexhill's society.”15

The small mosque type is common among Muslim communities in Britain—a local
privately funded place of worship unsupported by the British government or state. In
the case of Muslim prayer places, these smaller mosques, like the Bexhill example,
are commonly termed masjid. In contrast, the main town or city centre mosque is used
for the mass congregational prayer, which occurs each Friday (Juma prayer) at
noontime.16 However, in the medium-sized English towns, for instance, in Bexhill,
Hastings, and Eastbourne, we find only one mosque, and, therefore, it will have a dual
role as a masjid and Friday congregational mosque.

Symbolically, the Bexhill Mosque will have no minaret due to the council’s planning
regulations, the need to conform with the local building styles, and because the small
Muslim population cannot justify one. (So, there will be no call to prayer heard outside
of the building.)

As noted above, the building's internal space has been redesigned in a traditional
Islamic design and style. In terms of accommodating worshippers, the internal prayer
area of the mosque is carpeted. A niche (mihrab) is situated on the wall to point
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worshippers in the direction of Mecca, Arabia.17 A small pulpit (minbar) has been built
for sermons (khutba) by the imam or preacher (khatib) for use during the Friday prayer.

The Bexhill Islamic Association raised money through donations, gifts, and charity
appeals.18 In June 2015, a Bangla Television appeal requested donations from its
audience to complete the project. A further television fundraiser was organised in May
2018 to help repay building costs and to establish the general social services provided
by the mosque community.19

The story of cultural and social diversity in Bexhill displays the civilised and hospitable
nature of British society and the integration of Muslim communities. Equally, it portrays
urban spaces and places as dynamic and exist in a state of ‘constantly becoming.’

By the same author

1) Hastings Mosque and Muslims in “1066 Country”:

Seaside Resort Town Muslims of Hastings & St. Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, United
Kingdom (circa 1985 to 2015).
https://www.academia.edu/20257970/Hastings_Mosque_and_Muslims_in_1066_Country_East_Susse
x_Seaside_Resort_Muslims
Or
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316862077_Hastings_Mosque_and_Muslims_in_1066_Cou
ntry_Seaside_Resort_Town_Muslims_of_Hastings_St_Leonards-on-
Sea_East_Sussex_United_Kingdom_circa_1985_to_2015

2) Brighton: Muslim and Western Cultural Fusion in ‘London-on-sea’ (East Sussex).

https://www.academia.edu/32914527/Brighton_Muslim_and_Western_Cultural_Fusion_in_london-
on-sea_East_Sussex_
Or
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316776768_Brighton_Muslim_and_Western_cultural_fusio
n_in_'london-on-sea'_East_Sussex

3) The History of Eastbourne Mosque Community: East Sussex Muslims.

https://www.academia.edu/6797333/The_History_of_Eastbourne_Mosque_Community_-
_East_Sussex_Muslims

4) The Rediscovery of a Freshwater Spring beside the Sea: a Local Holy Well?
https://www.academia.edu/1030111/The_Rediscovery_of_a_Freshwater_Spring_beside_the_Sea_a_L
ocal_Holy_Well

5) Wannock Glen, Eastbourne: Nature, Chalk Stream, Wild Garlic, & Tea Dance Pavilion.
https://www.academia.edu/31105665/Wannock_Glen_Eastbourne_Nature_Chalk_Stream_Wild_Garli
c_and_Tea_Dance_Pavilion
 © Sevket Hylton Akyildiz, All Rights Reserved January 2019, first edition. Open Access Working Paper.
Eurasia Studies Society of Great Britain and Europe.
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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Copyright, 2021 second edition.

Or
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316862253_Wannock_Glen_Eastbourne_Nature_Chalk_Str
eam_Wild_Garlic_and_Tea_Dance_Pavilion

6) Bexhill Mosque and Muslims.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322992900_Bexhill_Mosque_Muslims
Or
https://www.academia.edu/38221520/Bexhill_Mosque_and_Muslims

7) Bexhill, Sussex, England -- Seafront Architecture & Interculturality: Mixing British Secular
& Mughal Indian & Muslim North African Styles.
https://www.academia.edu/37269235/Bexhill_Sussex_England_--
_Seafront_Architecture_and_Interculturality_Mixing_British_Secular_and_Mughal_Indian_and_Mus
lim_North_African_Styles
Or
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327137575_Bexhill_Sussex_England_Seafront_Architectur
e_Interculturality_Mixing_British_Secular_Mughal_Indian_Muslim_North_African_Styles

8) Saracen Sussex: Sarsen Stones, Morris Dance and Tipteer Plays: Three English Folk
Customs with links to the Saracens, Moors, and Seljuk Turks.
https://www.academia.edu/43267092/Saracen_Sussex_Sarsen_Stones_Morris_Dance_and_Tipteer_Pl
ays_Three_English_folk_customs_with_links_to_the_Saracens_Moors_and_Seljuk_Turks
Or
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341945669_Saracen_Sussex_Sarsen_Stones_Morris_Dance
_Tipteer_Plays_Three_English_folk_customs_with_links_to_the_Saracens_Moors_Seljuk_Turks

Endnotes

1
Sevket Hylton Akyildiz, PhD (University of London, 2011); author’s site: https://www.sevket-
akyildiz.com/about.
2
It is reported that one in three persons is aged 65 or over. See ‘Commentary for Bexhill Locality in
Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group based on JSNA Scorecards’, January 2013.
Available at http://www.eastsussexjsna.org.uk/JsnaSiteAspx/media/jsna-
media/documents/scorecards/2013/Commentaries/Locality_Bexhill.pdf (accessed 27 Jan 2016), p. 2.
3
In the BBC television and radio comedy Dad’s Army the story takes place in Walmington-on-Sea,
Kent, a fictional seaside town said to have been influenced by Bexhill, East Sussex. Source: The
Internet Movie Database, IMDb, 2016. Available at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062552/trivia
(accessed 1 Feb 2016). Additionally, some people say that Bexhill is the home of British motor
racing. Source: Discover Bexhill, 2015. Available at http://www.discoverbexhill.com/ (accessed 25
August 2016).
4
‘Commentary for Bexhill Locality in Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group’,
Available at http://www.eastsussexjsna.org.uk/JsnaSiteAspx/media/jsna-
media/documents/scorecards/2013/Commentaries/Locality_Bexhill.pdf (accessed 27 Jan 2016), p. 2.
5
Bradshaw's Descriptive Railway Handbook of Great Britain and Ireland, London, 1858, p. 55.
6
Maev Kennedy, ‘Bexhill revels in sound of silence’ 2 April, 1991, in Ruth Petrie (ed.) Beside the
Seaside: A Celebration of the Beach, London: Guardian Books, 2009, p. 198.
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7
In reference to Bexhill’s Victorian built railway station, Tom Fort says ‘But there is a rather
handsome railway station, built of red brick, with a canopy at the front and a cheerful pyramidal roof
and lantern above.’ Source:
Tom Fort, Channel Shore, London: Simon & Schuster, 2015, p. 58.
8
Martin Robinson, ‘Is this the charity shop capital of Britain?’, The Daily Mail, 17 February 2015.
Available at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2921635/Is-charity-shop-capital-Britain-Town-
coach-loads-bargain-hunters-come-visit-24-cut-price-stores-crammed-just-three-streets-independent-
businesses-close-crippling-rents.html (accessed 29 April 2016).
9
‘Masjid’ or ‘mosque’ in Arabic means a ‘place of prostration’; a place of Islamic worship.
10
‘Documentary on Bexhill Masjid by Monir Uddin for ATN Bangla UK in 2015’, You Tube.com.
Published on 23 June 2015. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5XTk6Rc1cc
(accessed 23 July 2018).
11
‘Monir Uddin Documentary on Bexhill Islamic Centre and Masjid for ATN Bangla UK’, You
Tube.com, 13 July 2014. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG61XoFYzwg (accessed
23 July 2018).
12
‘Muslim Festival’, Bexhill-on-Sea Observer, Wednesday 05 August 2015. Available at
http://www.bexhillobserver.net/news/local/muslim-celebration-1-6884953 (accessed 27 Jan 2016).
13
‘Town’s first mosque gets the green light’, Mid Sussex Times, Thursday 20 May 2010. Available at
http://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/news/local/town-s-first-mosque-gets-the-green-light-1-1402459
(accessed 23 July 2018).
14
Ibid.
15
Ibid.
16
Andrew Rippin, Muslims Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, Volume 1: The Formative Period,
London: Routledge, 1996, p. 91.
17
In Mecca, the Kaaba is a cube-shaped structure sited at the heart of the most sacred mosque for
Muslims called Al-Masjid al-Haram, the Sacred Mosque.
18
‘Documentary on Bexhill Masjid by Monir Uddin for ATN Bangla UK in 2015’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5XTk6Rc1cc.
19
‘Live TV Appeal May 28th 2018’, Bexhill Islamic Association.org.UK. Available at
https://bmic.org.uk/2018/05/17/live-tv-appeal-may-28th-2018/ (accessed 23 July 2018).