East Sussex

East Sussex is a in. It is bordered by the counties of, and , and to the south by the.

The ancient kingdom of has had separate county administrations since the, with the  of the eastern division being. This situation was formalised by Parliament in 1865, and the two parts were given distinct elected s in 1889 under the.

In East Sussex there were three self-administered s:, and. In 1974 East Sussex was made a too, and the three county boroughs became districts within the county. At the same time the western boundary was altered, so that the Mid Sussex region (including and ) was transferred to the county of.

In, the district of East Sussex became a self-administered  and was granted  in. It remains part of the ceremonial county of East Sussex.

History
East Sussex is part of the ancient kingdom of the South Saxons, who established themselves there in the 5th Century AD, after the departure of the, although the area had been populated for many thousands of years before then. 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. Earlier industries have included fishing, iron-making, and the wool trade, all of which declined, so that, in more modern times, Sussex has become popular with s, so that the main towns are.
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Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the of East Sussex ( has a separate table) at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Education
East Sussex has a comprehensive education system with 27 state schools (not including sixth form colleges) and 12 independent schools. The Wealden district has the largest school population, and most schools in the Rother, Eastbourne and Lewes districts do not have sixth forms, but the schools in the other two districts all have sixth forms (except a school in the Wealden district on the outskirts of Eastbourne). The average number of pupils gaining grades A-C, including English and Maths at GCSE in England is 45.8%; for East Sussex's 5300 pupils takng GCSE at 16 it is 41.3%. At GCSE, the best performing state school is the in Bexhill-on-Sea, followed by  in Battle (both in the Rother district). At A-level, the performance is even lower than GCSE, being one of the lowest in South East England. gets the best results for a state school, but the best results are at the independent schools, with St Leonards-Mayfield School, a girls school in, being the best, followed by the in Eastbourne. Brighton and Hove gets much higher results at A level than East Sussex.

GCSE results by district council (%)
% of pupils achieving 5 A-C grades including English and Maths.
 * Wealden 50.3
 * Rother 48.6
 * Lewes 44.6
 * (Brighton and Hove Unitary Authority 41.8)
 * Eastbourne 36.7
 * Hastings 27.5

Geology
From a geological point of view East Sussex is part of southern of the : the, a range of moderate  hills which run across the southern part of the county from west to east and mirrored in  by the. To the north lie parallel valleys and ridges, the highest of which is the Weald itself (the Hastings beds and Wealden Clay). The sandstones and clays come the sea at Hastings; the Downs at.
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Relief and drainage
The relief of the county reflects the geology.

The coast
From west to east along the coast between Brighton and Eastbourne are the gradually rising chalk uplands, with breaks at where the  enters the sea; and likewise at. The cliffs beyond here are named the, and are the remnants of dry valleys cut into the chalk; they end at , 162m (530ft) above sea level. To the east of Beachy Head lie the marshlands of the Levels, formerly flooded by the sea but now enclosed within deposited beach. At the land begins to rise again where the sands and clays of the Weald meet the sea; these culminate in the sandstone cliffs east of Hastings. Further east are the Levels, more marshland; this followed by the estuary of the. On the far side of the river is.

Inland
The southern part of the county is dominated by the South Downs; its highest point is Beacon, 217m (712 ft) above sea level. The northern part is dominated by the. Between the Downs and Weald is a narrow stretch of lower lying land, before the southern slopes of the Weald, through which the rivers mentioned above flow. The highest point in the county is, at 248m (814ft). It is also a.

Towns
Apart from, the county's administrative centre, the principal towns in East Sussex are concentrated along the coastal strip. From west to east they are: Larger towns and villages include:

Villages

 * For a complete list of the dozens of villages in East Sussex see here.
 * Website containing details (including historical) of 240 villages in East Sussex

Roads
The main roads through the county are those part of the radial pattern from London, including the to Hastings; and the  to Eastbourne. There are two coastal routes: the older, and the which begins north of Eastbourne and takes traffic away from the towns.

Railways
The railways serve the main towns in a similar fashion to the roads. Until the closures of many branch railways in the 20th century, East Sussex was well-served by rail. The services today include the ; the London-Hastings line; and the Uckfield branch. The heritage railway operates from  in Kent to. The steam  operates from Sheffield Park to Kingscote with a planned extension to.

Local government
East Sussex is divided into five, as follows: The three latter districts are further subdivided into es: see for details.

Places of interest

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