East Sussex

East Sussex /ˈsʌsᵻks/ is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent to the north and east, Surrey to the north west and West Sussex to the west, and to the south by the English Channel.

History

East Sussex is part of the historic county of Sussex, which has its roots in the ancient kingdom of the South Saxons, who established themselves there in the 5th century AD, after the departure of the Romans. Archaeological remains are plentiful, especially in the upland areas. The area's position on the coast has also meant that there were many invaders, including the Romans and later the Normans. Earlier industries have included fishing, iron-making, and the wool trade, all of which have declined, or been lost completely.

Governance

Sussex is traditionally divided into six sub-divisions known as rapes. From the 12th century the three eastern rapes and the three western rapes each had separate quarter sessions, with the county town of the three eastern rapes being Lewes. This situation was formalised by Parliament in 1865, and the two parts were made into administrative counties, each with distinct elected county councils in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888. In East Sussex there were also three self-administered county boroughs: Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings.

East Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)

East Sussex (formally the Eastern division of Sussex) was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Sussex, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.

It was created under the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election, when the existing Sussex constituency was divided into two. It consisted of the rapes of Lewes, Pevensey and Hastings, an area broadly similar to but not identical with the modern county of East Sussex. The "place of election", where nominations were taken and the result declared, was Lewes.

East Sussex was abolished for the 1885 general election, being divided between four new single-member county constituencies, Rye, Eastbourne, East Grinstead and Lewes. (Lewes and Rye also absorbed the voters from the abolished boroughs of the same names.)

Members of Parliament

References

Heathfield, East Sussex

Coordinates: 50°58′N 0°16′E / 50.97°N 0.26°E / 50.97; 0.26

Heathfield is a small market town, and the principal settlement in the civil parish of Heathfield and Waldron in the Wealden District of East Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, England.

Location

Heathfield lies near the junction of two main roads: the A267 between Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne; and the A265 from Hawkhurst. It lies almost equidistant from Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne: approximately sixteen miles (26 km).

History

Historically, Heathfield lay on an ancient trackway (The Ridgeway), connecting the South Downs with the Weald. Its market charter was granted in February 1316 during the reign of Edward II. The Wealden iron brought prosperity to the town during the 16th/17th centuries; the coming of the railway (the Cuckoo Line) in 1880 gave it another new lease of life. The latter was not a financial success and the branch line between Eridge and Polegate closed in 1968. The trackbed is now named the Cuckoo Trail, part of the National Cycle Network.