Sussex

I

Introduction

Sussex, former county, south-eastern England, bounded by Surrey to the north, Kent to the north and east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. Under the local government reorganization of 1974, its two administrative areas, East Sussex and West Sussex, were made counties in their own right; at the same time a small part of Surrey, surrounding Gatwick Airport, was added to West Sussex. There were also some boundary changes between East and West Sussex; the border was moved eastwards in its northern section, so that East Grinstead, Haywards Heath, and Burgess Hill, and their surrounds, became part of West Sussex. Sussex was largely rural, with the main urbanization along the coast. The county was 125 km (78 mi) from east to west, and 45 km (28 mi) at its widest point north to south

II

Land and Resources

A broad chalk ridge runs across the county, forming the South Downs, north of which is the undulating country of the Weald of Sussex, based on clays and sandstones. At the coast in the far east of the county is low, marshy ground. From Brighton, westwards, a plain, built on marine deposits, gradually broadens until it reaches Selsey Bill, south of Chichester.

III

Culture

Sussex is rich in literary connections, although the only really eminent writers actually born in the county are Percy Bysshe Shelley, at Warnham, near Horsham, in 1792, and the lesser known poet, William Collins, born at Chichester in 1721. However, many authors have chosen to live and work in Sussex. They include: William Blake, who began two of his major works, Jerusalem and Milton, while living at Felpham; Edward Gibbon, who wrote part of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in the house at Sheffield Park, and is buried in the nearby church at Fletching; John Galsworthy, who lived at Bury from 1926 until his death in 1933; Hilaire Belloc, whose home was a mill at Shipley, near West Grinstead; and A. A. Milne, who lived at Hartfield, and used the surrounding area as background for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. The National Trust owns Batemans, near Burwash, which was built in 1634 and which became the home of Rudyard Kipling; Lamb House in Rye, where Henry James, and later E. C. Benson, lived; and Monk's House in Rodmell, near Lewes, the home of Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard.

The county's most notable dish is Sussex Pond Pudding, consisting of a suet pudding, the centre of which is filled with butter, demerara sugar, and a large lemon, which has been pierced all over by a skewer. A suet lid seals the pudding, which is then steamed. Sussex is also noted for Southdown lamb.

Sussex is one of the major cricketing counties. There is a famous racecourse at Goodwood, and racing also takes place at Fontwell Park and Brighton. International showjumping events are held at Hickstead, and Cowdray Park is one of the country's best-known venues for polo. International professional tennis tournaments for women are held in both Brighton and Eastbourne. Yachting is popular all along the coast.

IV

History

There is much evidence of very early settlement in Sussex, especially on the chalk uplands where early peoples lived in preference to the forests. Iron ore deposits and plentiful timber allowed the development of a prehistoric iron industry. The modern history of the county begins with the occupation of Britain by the Romans, who set up a small kingdom, centred on Chichester, and appointed a local chieftain, Cogidubnus, to govern it. In the 5th century, the Saxons invaded the area, and established the kingdom of the South Saxons (from which the name “Sussex” derives), but by the 9th century the kingdom had become part of Mercia. From this time onwards the Danes made constant attempts at invasion, until Canute II, who became king of England in 1016, established peace.

In 1066, William I, Duke of Normandy, landed at Pevensey Bay, and marched inland to a hill north of Hastings, where he defeated Harold II, king of England, at the Battle of Hastings. After the Conquest, the Normans built a number of castles in Sussex, including those at Camber, Pevensey, Hastings, Lewes, Arundel, and Bramber. It was also at this time that the alliance of the Cinque Ports, grouped for the defence of the realm, began. Hastings was one of the original five ports, while Rye and Winchelsea were added later. In 1264, Simon de Montfort, leading a revolt against Henry III, defeated the king in the Battle of Lewes, and forced upon him reforms which included the constitutional foundations of the British Parliament. The 14th century brought difficult times, and in 1381 many Sussex people joined in the Peasants' Revolt, capturing Lewes Castle, and holding it for a brief period. Another revolt against authority in 1450 ended when its leader, Jack Cade, was arrested at Heathfield. During the Civil War, Sussex was divided in its sympathies, but the royalist strongholds at Chichester and Arundel were eventually overcome.

The main industries of the county were, from the earliest times, the growing of cereals, and the production of iron. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Sussex Weald was the prime centre of the English iron industry, the legacy of which is seen not only in the many remaining “hammer ponds”, which supplied water power to the forges, but in the heathland areas of Ashdown Forest; the trees of the forest were felled to supply fuel for the furnaces. Once the value of coke for iron smelting had been discovered, production moved to the coalfields of the Midlands, and by the middle of the 18th century, the Sussex iron industry was moribund. The county then devoted itself almost exclusively to agricultural pursuits, with tourism becoming important after the early 19th century.