County Dossier
Sussex
A county of downs, coast and Saxon kings.
Sussex is a maritime county on England’s south coast, with a history spanning 1,500 years. Its coastline features seaside resorts including Brighton, Hove, Bognor Regis, Worthing, Eastbourne, Hastings, and Bexhill-on-Sea.
At a glance
Sussex at a glance
A county of downs, coast and Saxon kings.
- Kingdom of the South Saxons 6th Century
- Absorbed by Wessex 9th Century
- Domesday Book (1086): Suthsexe
- Area: 1,466 sq mi
- Population: 1,612,454
- County Top: Black Down
County Geography
Sussex meets Hampshire on the west, Surrey on the north, Kent on the east, and the English Channel on the south. The county is organised by the long South Downs ridge, the river gaps that cut through it, and the broad Weald lying behind the coast.
Coast, downland, and Weald give Sussex a clear county shape. The Arun, Adur, Ouse, and Cuckmere lines reinforce that shape by tying the inland country to the coast within one county frame.
Map Reference
View Sussex on the map
Sussex is the county. The map also shows lieutenancies and council areas that use the county name.
The county.
The lieutenancy.
Council areas.
Places and routes
Lewes, Brighton, Horsham, Worthing, and Eastbourne show the county from downland crossing and coastal centre to Wealden market town, resort coast, and chalk-headland shore. Together they explain Sussex as one county better than the east-west split does.
Connections
Sussex’s routes have long run along the coast, through the gaps in the Downs, and northward across the Weald. They link the western coast, eastern Downs, and inland Weald without breaking the county frame.
Names
- Sussex
- County of Sussex
County of Sussex is the formal historical style.
Anglo-Saxon charters already refer to Suthseaxe, and Domesday records Sussex as Suthsexe.