Eastbourne is a large town in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, with an estimated population of 93,630 as at August 2005. The area has seen human activity since the stone age and remained as an area of small settlements right up until the 19th Century. The town then started to expand, assisted by the arrival of the railway, to make Eastbourne a prime Edwardian seaside resort. It has since suffered from the general trend away from taking holidays within the UK.