Sussex

Sussex is a traditional county in southern England, divided for administrative purposes into West Sussex and East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove.

Geography

The county is not wholly on the southward slope, for in the middle northern district it contributes a small drainage area to the Thames basin, and the river Medway rises in it.

Related Topics:
Thames - River Medway

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A line of hills known as the Forest Ridges forms the watershed. Its direction is east-south-east from the northern part of the county to the coast at Fairlight Down east of Hastings, and it reaches a height of about 800 ft (240 m) in the neighbourhood of Crowborough.

Related Topics:
Forest Ridges - Fairlight Down - Hastings - Crowborough

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The salient physical feature of the county, however, is the hill range called the South Downs. Entering in the west, where its summit is about 10 miles (16 km) from the sea, it runs east for some 50 miles (80 km), gradually approaching the coast, and terminating in the bold promontory of Beachy Head near Eastbourne. The average height is about 500 ft (150 m), though some summits exceed 700 ft (210 m), and Ditchling Beacon is over 800 ft (240 m).

Related Topics:
South Downs - Beachy Head - Eastbourne - Ditchling

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The portion of the county north of the South Downs is called the Weald. It was formerly covered with forest, and this part of the county is still well wooded.

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The highest point in Sussex is the pine-clad Black Down, close to the Surrey border at 917 ft (280m).

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About 1660 the total area under forest as estimated to exceed 200,000 acres (800 km²), but much wood was cut to supply the furnaces of the ironworks which formed an important industry in the county down to the 17th century, and survived even until the early years of the 19th.

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The rivers wholly within the county are small. All rise in the Forest Ridges, and all, except the Rother, which forms part of the boundary with Kent, and falls into the sea below Rye, breach the South Downs. From east to west they are the Cuckmere, rising near Heathfield; the Ouse, Adur and Arun, all rising in the district of St Leonard's Forest, and having at their mouths the ports of Newhaven, Shoreham-by-Sea and Littlehampton respectively. The natural trench known as Devil's Dyke is a point greatly favoured by visitors from Brighton.

Related Topics:
Rother - Kent - Rye - South Downs - Cuckmere - Heathfield - Ouse - Adur - Arun - Newhaven - Shoreham-by-Sea - Littlehampton - Devil's Dyke - Brighton

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The coast-line is practically coextensive with the extreme breadth of the county, and its character greatly varies. The sea has done great damage by incursion at some points, and has receded in others, within historic times. Thus what is now marshland, or Levels, round Pevensey was formerly an island-studded bay.

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In the east Winchelsea and Rye, members of the Cinque Ports, and great medieval towns, are deprived of their standing, the one wholly and the other in part, since a low flat tract interposes between their elevated sites where formerly was a navigable inlet. Yet the total submergence of the site of Old Winchelsea was effected in the 13th century. The site of the ancient cathedral of Selsey is a mile (1.6 km) out at sea. Between 1292 and 1340 upwards of 5500 acres (22 km²) were submerged.

Related Topics:
Winchelsea - Cinque Ports - Old Winchelsea - Selsey

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In the early part of the 14th century Pagham Harbour was formed by a sudden irruption of the sea, devastating 2700 acres (10 km²), since reclaimed. There is reason to believe that the whole coastline has subsequently been slightly raised. These changes are reflected in the numerous alterations recorded in the course of certain of the rivers near their mouths. Thus the Rother was diverted by a great storm on the October 12, 1250, before which date it entered the sea 12 miles (20 km) to the east. The outlet of the Ouse was at Seaford until 1570, and that of the Adur formerly shifted from year to year, ranging east and west over a distance of 2 miles (3 km). Submerged forests are found off the shore at various points.

Related Topics:
Pagham Harbour - October 12 - 1250 - Seaford

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Long stretches of firm sand, and the mild climate of the coast, sheltered by the hills from north and east winds, have resulted in the growth of numerous resort towns, of which the most popular are Brighton, Hastings, Eastbourne, Bexhill, Seaford, Shoreham, Worthing, Littlehampton and Bognor.

Related Topics:
Brighton - Hastings - Bexhill - Seaford - Bognor

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