Sussex

Sussex is a historic county in the south of England, stretching along the coast between Kent and Hampshire and reaching up into the Weald, an area of rolling hills, woodland and farmland. For administrative purposes it has long been split into two separate counties, East Sussex and West Sussex, each with its own council, though the old county of Sussex still has a strong identity that people in the area recognise and use in everyday life. The landscape varies a good deal across the county, from the chalk cliffs and downland of the South Downs, which run roughly east to west and were made a National Park in 2010, to the flatter coastal plain around Chichester and the more wooded, clay-heavy ground further north. The county town is Chichester in the west, while Lewes serves a similar role in the east, and the largest city by far is Brighton and Hove, which sits on the coast and has its own unitary authority separate from the rest of East Sussex.

Sussex has a long and varied history, shaped heavily by its position facing the English Channel. It was the site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, fought just outside the town of Hastings near Battle, where William the Conqueror defeated King Harold and went on to become King of England, and the abbey built to mark the victory still stands today. Before that, Sussex was an early Anglo-Saxon kingdom in its own right, and traces of even older settlement go back to Roman times, with sites such as Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester among the best preserved Roman remains in Britain. Over the centuries the county developed a mixed economy of farming, fishing and, along the coast, smuggling, which left its mark on many of the older towns and villages. By the Victorian era, the arrival of the railway turned towns like Brighton into popular seaside resorts, a role the Sussex coast still plays today, with visitors drawn to its beaches, piers and promenades.

Modern Sussex is a mix of countryside, market towns, coastal resorts and a few larger urban centres, with agriculture still important in parts of the Weald and the Downs alongside a growing number of vineyards, since the chalky soil and climate suit grape growing reasonably well. Brighton has become known for its lively cultural scene, its university population and a reputation for being open and alternative, while towns further along the coast, such as Eastbourne, Worthing and Bognor Regis, tend to have a quieter, more traditional seaside feel. Inland, places like Arundel with its castle, Lewes with its steep historic streets, and the cathedral city of Chichester offer a different side of the county, closer to the rural and historic character that much of Sussex still has. Transport links to London are good, with regular train services from most of the larger towns, which means a fair number of people commute into the city while still living in Sussex, drawn by the coastline, the countryside and the slower pace of life away from the capital.