West Sussex

West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering East Sussex (with Brighton and Hove) to the east, Hampshire to the west and Surrey to the north, and to the south the English Channel. Chichester in the southwest is the county town and only city in West Sussex, with the largest towns being Crawley, Worthing and Horsham.

West Sussex has a range of scenery, including wealden, downland and coastal. The highest point of the county is Blackdown, at 280 metres (919 ft). It has a number of stately homes including Goodwood, Petworth House and Uppark and also castles such as Arundel Castle and Bramber Castle. Over half the county is protected countryside, offering walking, cycling and other recreational opportunities.

History

Although the name Sussex, derived from the Old English 'Sūþsēaxe' ('South Saxons'), is from the Saxon period between AD 477 to 1066, the history of human habitation in Sussex goes back to the Old Stone Age. The oldest hominin remains known in Britain were found at Eartham Pit, Boxgrove. Sussex has been occupied since those times and has succumbed to various invasions and migrations throughout its long history.

Findon, West Sussex

Coordinates: 50°52′06″N 0°24′26″W / 50.8682°N 0.4072°W / 50.8682; -0.4072

Findon is a semi-rural clustered village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Worthing.

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name. This ward stretches south west to Patching with a total ward population as at the 2011 census of 2,557.

Geography

The parish is on the slopes of and between two hills: Cissbury with its iron age hill fort to the east and a steep knoll Church Hill to the west. A further escarpment to the West and North stretches along the borders of the area. On the two named hills are remains of prehistoric flint mines where shafts were sunk about 40 feet (12 metres) to reach the best seams of flint which were mined from radiating galleries. The village is now bypassed by the A24 as it crosses the South Downs: the bypass was constructed in 1938. A modern settlement to the south of the village, inside the boundary of the Borough of Worthing is called Findon Valley. The parish is settled as a nucleated village at between 39 and 84m above sea level (Ordnance Datum) and the South Downs rise to 170 and 181 metres to west and east respectively.