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In , the Lord-Lieutenant of Sussex was replaced with one each for East and West Sussex, which became separate ceremonial counties. Sussex continues to be recognised as a geographical territory and cultural region. It has had a single police force since and its name is in common use in the media. In , Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the continued existence of England's 39 historic counties, including Sussex. Essex , Middlesex and Wessex.
The South Saxons were a Germanic tribe that settled in the region from the North German Plain during the 5th and 6th centuries. The monastic chronicler who wrote up the entry classifying the invasion seems to have got his dates wrong; recent scholars have suggested he might have been a quarter of a century too late. The flag of Sussex consists of six gold martlets , or heraldic swallows , on a blue background, blazoned as Azure, six martlets or. Officially recognised by the Flag Institute on 20 May , its design is based on the heraldic shield of Sussex.
The first known recording of this emblem being used to represent the county was in when cartographer John Speed deployed it to represent the Kingdom of the South Saxons. However it seems that Speed was repeating an earlier association between the emblem and the county, rather than being the inventor of the association. It is now firmly regarded that the county emblem originated and derived from the coat of arms of the 14th-century Knight of the Shire , Sir John de Radynden.
Sussex by the Sea is regarded as the unofficial anthem of Sussex; it was composed by William Ward-Higgs in , perhaps originally from the lyrics of Rudyard Kipling 's poem entitled Sussex. The county day, called Sussex Day , is celebrated on 16 June, the same day as the feast day of St Richard of Chichester , Sussex's patron saint , whose shrine at Chichester Cathedral was an important place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. Sussex's motto, We wunt be druv , is a Sussex dialect expression meaning "we will not be pushed around" and reflects the traditionally independent nature of Sussex men and women.
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The round-headed rampion , also known as the "Pride of Sussex", was adopted as Sussex's county flower in The physical geography of Sussex relies heavily on its lying on the southern part of the Wealden anticline , the major features of which are the high lands that cross the county in a west to east direction: the Weald itself and the South Downs. Natural England has identified the following seven national character areas in Sussex: [11]. At m, Blackdown is the highest point in Sussex, or county top. Ditchling Beacon m is the highest point in East Sussex.
At kilometres 70 miles long, the River Medway is the longest river flowing through Sussex. The longest river entirely in Sussex is the River Arun , which is 60 kilometres 37 miles long. Sussex's largest lakes are man-made reservoirs. The coastal resorts of Sussex and neighbouring Hampshire are the sunniest places in the United Kingdom. Most of Sussex lies in hardiness zone 8; the exception is the coastal plain west of Brighton, which lies in the milder zone 9.
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The climate of the coastal districts is strongly influenced by the sea, which, because of its tendency to warm up slower than land, can result in cooler temperatures than inland in the summer. In the autumn months, the coast sometimes has higher temperatures. In winter, the east winds can be as cold as further inland. Most of Sussex's population is distributed in an east-west line along the English Channel coast or on the east-west line of the A The exception to this pattern is the 20th century north-south development on the A23 - Brighton line corridor , Sussex's main link to London.
According to the ONS urban area populations for continuous built-up areas, these are the 5 largest conurbations population figures from the census :. In the census this urban area included Reigate and Redhill in Surrey but in the census it did not. East Grinstead was part of this urban area for the census but it was not for previous censuses.
The combined population of Sussex as of is about 1. The earliest statement as to the population of Sussex is made by Bede, who describes the county as containing in land of 7, families; allowing ten to a family a reasonable estimate at that date , the total population would be 70, The census found that the population was , The decline of the Sussex ironworks probably accounts for the small increase of population during several centuries, although after the massacre of St Bartholomew upwards of 1, Huguenots landed at Rye, and in , after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes , many more refugees were added to the county.
Finds at Eartham Pit in Boxgrove show that the area has some of the earliest hominid remains in Europe, dating back some , years and known as Boxgrove Man or Homo heidelbergensis. At a site near Pulborough called The Beedings, tools have been found that date from around 35, years ago and that are thought to be from either the last Neanderthals in northern Europe or pioneer populations of modern humans. Later in the Neolithic period, the area of the South Downs above Worthing was one of Britain's largest and most important flint -mining centres. Flint tools from Cissbury have been found as far away as the eastern Mediterranean.
Towards the end of the Iron Age in 75BC people from the Atrebates , one of the tribes of the Belgae , a mix of Celtic and German stock, started invading and occupying southern Britain. At the time of the Roman conquest in AD43, there was an oppidum in the southern part of their territory, probably in the Selsey region.
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According to this theory, the Romans were called to restore the refugee Verica , king of the Atrebates, who had been driven out by the Catuvellauni , a tribe based around modern Hertfordshire. Sussex was home to the magnificent Roman Palace at Fishbourne , by far the largest Roman residence known north of the Alps. The Romans built villas, especially on the coastal plain and around Chichester, one of the best preserved being that at Bignor.
Christianity first came to Sussex at this time, but faded away when the Romans left in the 5th century. The nationally important Patching hoard of Roman coins that was found in is the latest find of Roman coins found in Britain , probably deposited after AD, well after the Roman departure from Britain around AD.
He was probably the most senior of the Anglo-Saxon kings and led the ill-fated campaign against King Arthur at Mount Badon. By the end of the 7th century, the region around Selsey and Chichester had become the political centre of the kingdom.
The South Saxons fought off the West Saxons in and again in At the end of the 8th century, Ealdwulf was perhaps the last independent king of Sussex, after which Sussex and other southern kingdoms came increasingly under Mercian rule. Mercia's grip was shattered in at the battle of Ellendun , after which Sussex and the other southern kingdoms came under the control of Wessex, which later grew into the kingdom of England. In September , William of Normandy landed with his forces at Pevensey and erected a wooden castle at Hastings , from which they raided the surrounding area.
It is likely that all the fighting men of Sussex were at the battle, as the county's thegns were decimated and any that survived had their lands confiscated.
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Sussex experienced some of the greatest changes of any English county under the Normans, for it was the heartland of King Harold and was potentially vulnerable to further invasion. Castles were built to defend the territories including at Arundel, Bramber, Lewes, Pevensey and Hastings. The subsequent treaty, known as the Mise of Lewes , led to Montfort summoning the first parliament in English history without any prior royal authorisation.
A provisional administration was set up, consisting of Montfort, the Bishop of Chichester and the Earl of Gloucester. These three were to elect a council of nine, to govern until a permanent settlement could be reached. Also at this time, Amberley and Bodiam castles were built to defend the upper reaches of navigable rivers. Demands grew more radical in Sussex in when John and William Merfold advocated rule by common people and the deposition of Henry VI , publicly inciting the killing of the nobility and clergy.
The shrine to St Richard at Chichester Cathedral was also destroyed. In the reign of Queen Mary , 41 people in Sussex were burnt at the stake for their Protestant beliefs. Elizabeth re-established the break with Rome when she passed the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity.
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Under Elizabeth I , religious intolerance continued albeit on a lesser scale, with several people being executed for their Catholic beliefs. Sussex escaped the worst ravages of the English Civil War , although in there were sieges at Arundel and Chichester , and a skirmish at Haywards Heath when Royalists marching towards Lewes were intercepted by local Parliamentarians. The Royalists were routed with around killed or taken prisoner. Amongst those whom he carried to Pennsylvania as colonists were people from Sussex, mostly Quakers, [42] [43] who founded settlements with Sussex names including Horsham Township and Chichester in Pennsylvania and in Sussex County , Delaware the towns of Lewes and Seaford, Delaware.
In Thomas Paine moved to Lewes, where he developed his political ideas, before leaving in and writing Common Sense which was influential in the American Revolution. The Sussex coast was greatly modified by the social movement of sea bathing for health which became fashionable among the wealthy in the second half of the 18th century.
In the post-war era, the New Towns Act designated Crawley as the site of a new town. Boundaries were changed and a large part of the rape of Lewes was transferred from the eastern division into West Sussex, along with Gatwick Airport, which was historically part of the county of Surrey. For most of the 20th century Sussex was a Conservative Party stronghold; until the general election the only seats won by other parties were in the constituencies of Brighton and Brighton Kemptown.
In the early 21st century this gradual shift to the left has continued, especially in more urban areas. After the union with Scotland two members represented the county in the House of Commons of Great Britain from to and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from to The Reform Act led to the disenfranchisement of some of the smaller Sussex boroughs [56] and divided what had been a single county constituency into eastern and western divisions, with two representatives elected for each division.
There is also a third-tier Crown Court at Chichester. A rape is a traditional territorial sub-division of Sussex, formerly used for various administrative purposes. The rape of Bramber was created later in the 11th century and the rape of Chichester was created in the 13th century. Local government in Sussex has been subject to periodic review over time and Sussex is currently divided two counties for ceremonial purposes and for administrative purposes into two county council areas , East and West Sussex, and one unitary authority, the city of Brighton and Hove.
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There is a two-tier structure for East Sussex and West Sussex with education , social services , libraries , public transport and waste disposal carried out by the county councils and local planning and building control carried out by the district and borough councils. For the governance of a long narrow territory it became practical to divide the county into two sections. The three eastern rapes of Sussex became east Sussex and the three western rapes became west Sussex. This began in with separate administrations Quarter Sessions for east and west, a situation recognised by the County of Sussex Act Under the Local Government Act , the two divisions became two administrative counties along with three county boroughs : Brighton, Hastings and, from , Eastbourne.
Sussex has considerable variation in income and deprivation. Some areas of Sussex are in the top 5 per cent most deprived in the UK and, in some areas, two-thirds of children are living in poverty. In the most populous part of Sussex, around the Brighton and Hove Built-up area , the Greater Brighton City Deal was formed to enable the area to fulfil its economic potential, into one of the highest performing urban economies in the UK.
Tourism in Sussex is well-established, and includes seaside resorts and the South Downs National Park. Brighton and Hove has a high density of businesses involved in media, particularly digital or " new media "; since the s Brighton has been referred to as "Silicon Beach". A large part of the county, centred on Gatwick Airport has been recognised as a key economic growth area for South East England [68] whilst reasonable rail connections allow many people to work in London.
The Sussex Weald had an iron working industry from the Iron Age until the 19th century. Fishing fleets continue to operate along the coast, notably at Rye and Hastings. The Mid Sussex area had a thriving clay industry in the early 20th century. The oldest university in Sussex is the research intensive University of Sussex , founded in [71] at Falmer in Brighton, the first new university in England since World War Two. The University consistently ranks among the top 20 universities in the UK. In it was joined by the University of Brighton with campuses in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings and in by the University of Chichester with campuses in Chichester and Bognor Regis.
The Prebendal School in Chichester is the oldest known school in Sussex [77] and probably dates to when the Normans moved the Sussex bishopric from Selsey to Chichester Cathedral in the 11th century. Sussex has a centuries-old reputation for being separate and culturally distinct from the rest of England. Sussex is known for its strong tradition of bonfire celebrations and its proud musical heritage.
The county is home to England's largest arts festival, the Brighton Festival and Brighton Pride , one of the UK's largest and oldest gay pride parades. Sussex's building materials reflect its geology, being made of flint on and near the South Downs and sandstone in the Weald. Typically conservative and moderate, [87] the architecture of Sussex also has elaborate and eccentric buildings rarely matched elsewhere in England including the Saxon Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Sompting , Castle Goring , which has a front and rear of entirely different styles and Brighton's Indo-Saracenic Royal Pavilion.
Historically, Sussex has had its own dialect with regional differences reflecting its cultural history. It has been divided into variants for the three western rapes of West Sussex, the two eastern rapes of Lewes and Pevensey and an area approximate to the easternmost rape of Hastings. One of the most prolific playwrights of his day, Fletcher is thought to have collaborated with Shakespeare. In addition there are writers, who while they were not born in Sussex had a strong connection. Sussex has been home to four winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature : Rudyard Kipling spent much of his life in Sussex, living in Rottingdean and later at Burwash.