Hotels in Sussex

Hotels in the old English county of Sussex are often required because many people need accommodation in the county. Some may require a luxury or cheap hotel in the county. Some may want a hotel that offers good views, exclusivity a good location, coastal views or views of hills and over looking cities or town in the old county.

Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West Sussex and East Sussex and the City of Brighton and Hove.

The physical geography of Sussex relies heavily on its lying on the southern part of the Wealden anticline. The major features of that are the high lands which cross the county in a west to east direction: the Weald itself, and the South Downs. The former consists of clays and sands; the latter chalk. Between those two ridges, mainly in West Sussex, lies the ‘’Vale of Sussex’’; at the eastern end of the county is the valley of the River Rother, which flows into what was a long sea inlet to reach the sea at Rye Bay.

The Weald

The Weald runs in an easterly direction from St Leonard’s Forest, south-west of Crawley; and continues to Ashdown Forest. Its eastern extremity is in two sections, divided by the River Rother valley. The northern arm reaches the sea at Folkestone (in Kent); the southern at Fairlight Down east of Hastings,

Within the Weald lies Sussex's highest point, the pine-clad Black Down, close to the Surrey border at 917 feet (280 m). Another high point is in the part called Forest Ridges: a height of about 800 feet (240 m) is reached at Beacon Hill in the neighbourhood of Crowborough.

The High Weald, as the main area is known, gets its name from wilderness or forest, and it retains the highest proportion of ancient woodlands in the country. Around 1660 the total area under forest was estimated to exceed 200,000 acres , and supplied the furnaces of the ironworks which formed an important industry in the county until the 17th century, and which survived even until the early years of the 19th century.

South Downs

The South Downs start from a point near Petersfield in Hampshire . On entering Sussex, their summit is about 10 miles from the sea. They run east for some 50 miles, gradually approaching the coast, and terminating in the bold promontory of Beachy Head near Eastbourne. Their average height is about 500 feet though Ditchling Beacon is 813 feet (the third highest summit) and many other summits exceed 700 feet.

Vale of Sussex

The Vale of Sussex is the lower undulating land which came into being when the softer clays between the Weald and the Downs were worn away. Crossing the Vale are most of the rivers in Sussex: those rising on the slopes of the Weald and cutting through the Downs to reach the sea (see Drainage).

Coastal plain

This is a fertile narrow belt from Chichester to Brighton. Once noted for market gardening, it is now heavily built-up into a sprawling coastal conurbation. The beaches along the coast vary from sandy to shingle: that factor, together with the mild climate of the coast, sheltered by the hills from north and east winds, have resulted in the growth of numerous resort towns, of which the most popular are (east to west) Hastings, Bexhill, Eastbourne, Seaford, Brighton, Shoreham-by-Sea, Worthing, Littlehampton and Bognor.