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Nestled in a wooded enclave carved into the Downs in the shape of an amphitheatre, the Italian Gardens, at the western end of Eastbourne, create an atmosphere akin to that of a secret garden. These secluded and lawned gardens owe their location to a former chalk pit where quarrying was stopped because the excavation was polluting a spring of pure water at Holywell, which was essential for the town’s water supply. In 1905, the Council laid out the area as a garden called Holywell Retreat, but after World War I, it was redesigned in an Italianate style, with the work being done by unemployed men returning from the conflict. The addition of stonework on either side of the central stage in 1922 marked the completion of the work, and from that point onwards, the area became informally known as the Italian Gardens.