Explore Sussex England

As you are a visitor to this beautiful part of England we would like to take this opportunity of showing you some of the more interesting sights to be seen in this County and also to briefly tell you a little of the history attaching to the various pictures included. We hope you find this of interest and if you are surfing in from overseas, we do hope it will whet you appetite to visit this "Sceptred Isle" and savour its glorious countryside and historic past

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Arts & Crafts House

Visit Standen to discover the best example of an Arts & Crafts house open to the public in this country. Built between 1892 and 1894, as a country home for London solicitor James Beale, Standen is a superb example of the work of architect Philip Webb, lifelong friend of William Morris, and a leading exponent of the Arts & Crafts movement.

Morris & Co were chosen to decorate the interior of Standen and, as a result, it is one of the finest surviving examples of the company's work in all its variety of pattern, colour and texture, from printed wallpapers to tapistries and furniture. Margaret Beale and her daughters were talanted needlewomen who were inspired by Morris to work elaborate embriodery hangings after his designs. Located 2 miles south of East Grinstead on the B2110.

Long Man of
Wilmington East

The Long Man of Wilmington

An ancient monument, perhaps a fertility symbol, certainly a potent image of the Sussex Downs, the Long Man of Wilmington is carved into the permanent chalk of the Downs, and is the largest representation of a human figure in Western Europe at over 230ft long. The earliest known reference to the Long Man is in a late 18th Centry manuscript in which the staffs are shown as a rake and a scythe. This points to the Long Man being an Iron Age agricultural fertility figure, but similarities with Roman coins and a 7th Century Buckle suggest later origins. Air photos show that the true shape is elongated so when the figure is viewed at ground level an optical illusion is created and he assumes normal human proportions.

Batemans Burwash

Rudyard Kipling's "Good and Peaceable Place". This 17th century Jacobean house is made from local sand stone and has oak panelling in most rooms with the dining room walls covered in hand-painted leather panels.

The house has been kept as it was in Kipling's day with much memorabilia around. Restaurant serving teas and hot meals using local produce. Well stocked gift shop with the largest collection of Kipling's books in the area. For further information email batemans@ntrust.org.uk

Arundel Castle

Mermaid Street Rye

The Birthplace of England on the Beautiful Sussex Coast. BATTLE includes Battle Abbey and Buckleys Yesterday's World. BEXHILL offers the De La Warr Pavilion and Museums. RYE contains the Town Model, Treasury of Mechanical Music, Castle Museum and Rye Art Gallery and Farmworld on the outskirts. HASTINGS provides Hastings Castle, the East and West Hill Cliff Railways, Smugglers Adventure, The Flower & Leaf Museum, Shipwreck Heritage, the Embroidery, Museum and Art Gallery, Underwater World, Clambers Play Centre, White Rock Theatre, The Stade Family Fun Park, Guide Friday Bus Tour. PEVENSEY and HERSTMONCEUX are home to Pevensey and Herstmonceux Castles and Thomas Smith Trug Shop. Also in 1066 Country are the Kent & East Sussex Steam Railway; Great Dixter, Merriments and Pashley Manor Gardens, Bateman's House at Burwash

home of Rudyard Kipling

The Jewel in the Downs. This great castle, ancestral home of the Dukes of Norfolk, dates from the Norman Conquest. Containing a very fine collection of furniture dating from the 16thC and paintings by Van Dyck, Reynolds, Gainsborough etc., Arundel Castle is still a family home reflecting the changes of nearly a thousand years, of particular interest is the Great Hall and the Fitzalan Chapel. In 1643, during the Civil War, the original castle was very badly damaged and it was later restored by the 8th, 11th and 15th Dukes in the 18th and 19th centuries. Among the historically famous members of the Howard family are Lord Howard of Effingham who with Drake repelled the Armada; the Earl of Surrey, the Tudor poet and courtier and the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard both wives of Henry VIII.

For a revealing arial view of the castle

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Bodiam Castle

The Museum open since 1982 tells the story of Military Flying from the earliest days to the present time with special emphasis on the Royal Air Force at Tangmere and the Air War over Southern England from 1939 to 1945.

It is divided into four halls (1) The Main Museum Hall. (2) The Tangmere Hall. illustrates in pictures, words and models the history of Tangmere from 1917.

(3) The Merston Hall. The largest this hall houses two actual historical aircraft, both of which held the World Speed Record in their day.

R.A.F. Tangmere

(4) The Battle of Britain Hall. This well displayed hall concentrates on the critical air battles of 1940, and houses remains of aircraft and personal effects of both British and enemy flyers. Visit the website CLICK HERE

The walls of Bodiam Castle rise from a lake-like moat beside the River Rother looking much as they must have one when the castle was originally erected in 1385. As well as offering protection against possible attacks by the French, Bodiam was one of the earliest castles which made some provision for comfortable living accommodation to be included

When Christopher Robin Milne remembered his childhood in his book "The Enchanted Places" he recalled his weekly trips to the village with his nanny, "Alice" and their visit to the shop for"bulls-eyes" which were their favourite sweets. They live at Cochford Farm, a mile up the road, so his nanny would bring the young Christopher Robin on the back of the family pet - a donkey called Jessica.

Known since 1978 as Pooh Corner the shop specialises in Winnie-the-Pooh. With literally thousands of items and souvenirs. it is only right that it should be situated in the village where A.A. Milne wrote the stories - High Street, Hartfield, East Sussex

Pooh Corner

Christians have worshipped on this site since the 7th century and in this Cathedral for over 900 years. Begun in 1079 in the Romanesque style, it is at the heart of King Alfred's Wessex and a diocese which once stretched from London's Thames to the Channel Islands.

The Nave is the longest medieval nave in Europe and is filled with beautiful art and spectacular music.

The Close is a beautiful tranquil area containing the Deanery parts of which date back to the 13th century.

Cathedral
Deanery

Winchester
Cathedral

The Crypt is an evocative, secret part of the Cathedral now usually floods in the winter months. It forms the perfect location for Anthony Gormley's statue "SOUND ll". The Winchester Bible is the finest of the great 12th century illuminated bibles. Distinguished by its sheer size and sumptuous decoration, using over 250 skins of calves it took 15 years to complete using pure gold and lapis lazuli from Afghanistan.

For further details on most of the above please click the button

Royal Pavilion, Brighton,

Built for King George IV the Pavilion was also used by William IV and Queen Victoria. Originally a farmhouse in 1787 architect Henry Holland created a neo-classical villa on the site. It was transformed into the Indian style by John Nash between 1815 and 1823. Despite its exterior indian look it is principally furnished and decorated internally with a distinct Chinese theme.

FISHBOURNE ROMAN PALACE See Britain's finest collection of in-situ Roman mosaics at Fishbourne. The 1st Century palace was discovered in 1960. Twenty mosaics are on display along with the remains of hypocausts, courtyards, corridors and a bath suite. A museum displays finds, while an audio-visual presentation brings the site to life. Outside, the superb Roman garden has been replanted to its original plan. Guided tours at weekends.

Mosaic floor panel, Fishbourne

The Romans were based around Battle at Beauport from 43AD until 400AD. Battle was founded on the site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 , the name comes from the Rape of Haestingas (one of the six major divisions of the land of the South Saxons) in which the battle was fought. Hastings was little more than a fishing village at this time, though larger than other settlements in the area.

CHARTWELL (Kent)

Home of Winston Churchill, the BBC's 'Greatest Briton'

Unrivalled collection of Churchill paintings, photographs and memorabilia

Beautiful rose and water gardens commissioned by the Churchills

Countryside walks with stunning views over the Weald

The town was built up around Battle Abbey which was constructed between 1070-1094 by William the Conqueror , as a penance ordered by the pope for the loss of life occurring in the battle, and in earlier raids in the surrounding area designed to draw King Harold the Saxon King into conflict.

Battle
Of
Hastings 1066

When you do decide to visit Southern England and require bed and breakfast accommodation you could do no better than to visit the following website: - www.visitsussex.org

Brighton and Hove is the most enchanting, exciting, extraordinary seaside city in Britain. However brazen that may sound, it is no exaggeration.

With its cosmopolitan air, oodles of restaurants, feverish nightlife and abundance of culture, the place defies comparison with anywhere else this side of the English Channel.

For centuries it has been regarded as a pleasure dome', and that's not about to change. If you love life, welcome to Brighton and Hove.

The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra is back home in the Dome Concert Hall where its performances have thrilled concert-goers every season since 1928. Conductor Barry Wordsworth and the Orchestra present superb Sunday matinee concerts to celebrate their long- awaited return to the dome following the completion of the hall's £22 million refurbishment.

As the co-resident orchestra in the Brighton Dome with a full programme of performances in the forthcoming season, the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra continues as the mainstay of professional orchestral music in the City of Brighton & Hove.

Dome

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Founded in 1934 by John Christie and his wife the singer Audrey Mildmay, the Glyndebourne Festival's first Artistic Directors were the conductor Fritz Busch and the director Carl Ebert. Except during the war, performances of the highest international standard have continued to be given every summer in the opera house built by the Christies on their country estate in Sussex, some 50 miles south of London. For the first four seasons, the repertoire was confined to the works of Mozart, but it has broadened over the years and operas from the earliest baroque to modern works are now performed.

The new Opera House

In 1990 it was decided that the original theatre (by then expanded to hold 830) should be demolished and replaced by a new one. The final Festival in the old theatre took place in 1992, and the new Opera House opened to universal acclaim on 28 May 1994 - 60 years to the day from the inauguration of the Festival.

Visit http://www.glyndebourne.com/about/ab0000.cfm

To the North West of Sussex is an area of England outstanding for both its architectural beauty of a bygone age and its intimate links with much of England's history and literary heritage. Reached in 2 hours of driving on first class motorway from Sussex it lies within a triangle bounded at each corner by Birmingham in the north, Oxford in the east and Gloucester in the west and is known universally as "THE COTSWOLDS" after a range of low hills central to the area.

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Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, Stratford is steeped in culture and history. Set in the beautiful rural Warwickshire countryside, on the banks of the river Avon, it is one of the most important tourist destinations in the UK. With easy road, rail and airport access, it is the perfect place for a vacation or short break. Come wander through this lovely town and get a taste of Olde England

Using the Stratford district as a base, you can enjoy the delights not only of Shakespeare's hometown, but also the nearby surrounding shire counties of Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Enjoy Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds to the south, Worcester and the Malverns to the west, Warwick Castle and Henley in Arden to the north, and all within an hour's journey of Stratford itself.

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

The principal town in the south west of the area is Cheltenham which became a spa town in 1716. According to tradition, the first medicinal waters were discovered when locals saw pigeons pecking at salty deposits which had formed around a spring. The town received Royal patronage in 1788 when King George III came to drink the waters.

This led to the rapid development of Cheltenham as a fashionable spa between 1790 and 1840. The heritage of those bygone times can be seen in the town's Regency architecture, with intricate ironwork a feature of distinctive townhouse facades. Cheltenham is the most complete Regency town in England.

The principal feature of THE COTSWOLDS is the many beautiful "chocolate box" villages rich in thatched roofs with honey-coloured weathered stonework. Also worth viewing are the stunnning traditional "cottage" gardens which despite their apparent haphazard planting are in fact carefully planned and immaculately maintained. they are a joy to even the most discerning eye. The most famous of the Cotswold show villages are:-

Bibury

Broadway

Chipping Campden

Bourton-on-the-Water

Blockely

Stow-on-the-Wold

The Slaughters

Pictures are NOT thumbnails here.

Bourton-on-the- Water

Broadway

Chipping Campden

Lower Slaughter

BATTLE the town on the site of the famous Battle of Hastings

Cheltenham

Rottingdean, a Sussex village within the City of Brighton and Hove, developed as a small community around the pond in Saxon times and its name means ‘the village of Rota’s people’. The domesday book records that the land was given to William de Warrenne the Lord of Lewes as a reward for his support at the Battle of Hastings. For centuries it remained an isolated rural farming settlement and only became accessible as the coastal road from Brighton improved.

Towards the end of the 19th century it offered seclusion and inspiration for many artists, writers and public figures, factors which influence both residents and visitors to this day. The main attractions in the town are Kipling’s Garden, Rottingdean Windmill, St. Margaret’s Church with its beautiful stained glass windows and some traditional old inns which were once frequented by smugglers in the area.

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