Fairly plain, and obviously in poor condition due to the cracking, but worth recording as these are now scarce items.
From Wikipedia: -
A Coal Hole Cover is a hatch in the pavement above an underground coal bunker. They are sometimes found outside houses that existed during the period when coal was widely used for domestic heating from the early 19th century to the middle 20th century. In Britain they became largely obsolete in major cities when the Clean Air Act 1956 forced a move toward oil and gas for home heating.
The coal hole allowed the easy delivery of coal into the house's coal bunker, generally in sacks and often from the horse-drawn carts of the coal merchants. The location of the coal hole on the street minimised the distance the sacks needed to be carried and meant that sooty sacks and delivery men need not enter the house.
The hatch is typically about 12 to 14 inches in diameter and consists of a cast iron ring set into the pavement, with a circular cover, often made of cast iron alone but sometimes containing concrete or glass panes or small ventilation holes. The main reason for the circular shape of the coal hole plate is that a circular disc cannot accidentally fall through its own hole unlike a square or rectangular one. Hatches have an internal latch that prevents the cover being lifted from the outside. On some streets there are a variety of types of cover, reflecting the fact that the coal holes were installed at different times by different builders after the houses were constructed.
The 1890 Pike’s Eastbourne Blue Book and Directory lists twenty-seven Coal & Coke Merchants, including: -
Bradford and Sons, 34 Terminus Road, and Railway Offices.
Butler & Co, 71 Seaside Road.
Cornwell & Co, Ashford Road.
Eastbourne Coal Co, 112a Terminus Road.
Hollands J., 51 Susans Road.
Knight, D., 1b Pevensey Road.
Rickett, Smith and Co, Railway Offices, Terminus Road.
Tosswill, J.S. 55 Seaside Road.
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