SUSSEX is a maritime county in England, duo south of Greenwich, the meridian of which passes very nearly through the centre of the county. It is bounded N.E. by Kent, \V. by Hampshire, N. by Surrey, and S. and S.E. by the British ChanneL It lies between 43' and 51' 0' N. lat., 0' 49' E. and 58' W. long. The extreme length, from Lady-Holt Park due east to the Kent Ditch, is 76 miles; the greatest breadth, from Beachy Head to Tunbridge Wells, 27 miles ; and the average breadth a little less than 20 miles. The area is 1401 square miles, or 934,851 acres. The population in 1841 was 300,075 ; in 1551 It was 336,841.
Surface; Coast ; Rirers.—Tbe principal feature in the surface of Sussex is occasioned by the intervention of the high ridges of chalk hills generally known as the Downs. These hills rise from the marsh of Povenscy to the bold promontory of Head; they then trend westward as far as Shoreham, occupying a surface of about 26 miles in length, and shoat 6 miles in breadth, containing about 100,000 acres. This tract is denominated the South Downs. From Shoreham the Downs gradually recede from the coast and traverse the western part of the county, entering Hampshire between West Harting and Stanatead near Pcterafield. Their extreme length in Sussex is 53 miles, their greatest breadth 7 miles, and mean breadth 4{ The average height is about 500 feet above the level of the sea ; but Ditchelling Beacon is 858 feet, Firle Beacon 820 feet, Chanctonbury Ring R11 feet, and Beachy Head 561 feet above that level. The Downs have a rich covering of a short and delicate turf containing large portions of Thymus serpyllans, and occasional patches of the common furze, the (Ilex EurepaLus, lu patches of 30 or 40 acres. l'ho district is in general without trees. The surface of the Downs is gracefully undulating; the northern escarpment is precipitous, whilst the southern declines gently, and westward of Brighton gradually blends with the low land of the coast.
The maritime district lien between the Downs and the sea, and extends from Brighton westward to Emsworth, a distance of 36 miles. At first it is narrowed to a point, but gradually extends to the breadth of a mile between Brighton and Shoreham; towards Arundel it widens to three miles; and finally, as it approaches Mini,. shire, it becomes in many places seven miles wide. This district is of remarkable fertility. Here, in Saxon times, many salt-pans for procuring salt from sea-water by evaporation existed.
The centre of the county is occupied by a woodland tract, denomi nated the Weald (Saxon, would,' a forest); it extends from the Downs, to which it runs parallel, to the Surrey hills. The Weald was once an immeuee forest, inhabited only by hogs and deer, but has been gradually cleared and brought into cultivation. This district within the county now contains about 425,000 acres.
The Forest Ridge is that portion of the county which, gradually uniting with the Weald, forms the north-eastern division, It stretches from Fairlight Down on the south by Crowborough to St. Leonard's Forest, and theuco westward, terminating in an angle formed by the sand-hills of Petworth on one aide, and by Blackdowu and Leith hills in Surrey on the other. In this district are two great forests, St. Leonard's Forest, containing 10,000 acres, and Ashdown Forest, con taining about 18,000 acres. Pine, fir, beech, and birch all grow well, and portions of the two forests have been planted with success. The whole ridge is broken into hill and dale, and is very elevated. Crow borough Beacon, the highest and moat central eminence, is 804 feet above the level of the sea. The marsh-land extends ACMES the eastern division of the county from Eastbourne into Kent, with the exception of five miles taken up by the Forest Ridge of Fairlight and the Hastings hills. Marshy tracts also exist on the borders of all the rivers.
The coast at the extreme east of the county is formed of the low marsh-land, which is a continuation of the low land of Romney Marsh. At Pett the Forest Ridge breaks in for five miles, including Fairlight, Hastings, and Bexhill. The low marsh-land of Pevensey, forming I'evensey Bay, extends from Bexhill to the Downs, a short distance to the east of the well-known and bold promontory of Beachy Head. The high chalk cliffs of the Downs extend thence as far as Brighton, a distance of 19 or 20 miles coastwise, when the lowland of the maritime district intervenes and forms the coast line into /lamp shire. l'evensey Bay and Seaford Bay form good roadAcads for vessels with north or east-winds, and Seaford Bay is much frequented by vessels for water. A lighthouse of the first class was erected in 1S28 on the summit of the second cliff to the westward of Benchy head, 285 feet above the level of the sea. The lowest part of the coast from Seaford to the Kentish boundary is protected by single round towers, called Martello towers. They commence near llythe in Kent, and are continued, except where the coast is easy of defence, to Seaford, where the last tower is numbered 74. They are built on the beach, at intervals of about a quarter of a mile between each. The period of their erection was the time of the threatened Invasion of England by Napoleon I. At the same time a portion of this low
district, from Cliffe End, near Pctt, in Sussex, to Shornecliffe, in Kent, a distance of 23 miles, was protected by a canal called the Royal Military CauaL The principal rivers are the Ouse, the Bother, the Adur, the Arun, the Cucktnere, and the Levant. The Ouse begins at Rylands, a few miles north of the village of Lindfield, at the junction of two streams, whence it flows near Lindfield, and, pursuing a tortuous course to the south-east, half encircles Sheffield park; then proceeding more directly south, the stream runs by 'afield, Barcornbe, and llamscy to the Lewes levels, which it enters to the north of the town. After separating the suburb of Cliffe from the town of Leaves, it proceeds through the levels, divides the South Downs, and discharges itself into the British Channel at Newhaven Harbour. The river is for large barges as far as Lindfield. The Rother rises near Argus Hill, in the parish of Rotberfield, close under the Forest Ridge. Thence it runs to Mayfield, Etchingham, and Bodiham. It touches Kent at Wigsell, in tho parish of Salehurat, and separates the two counties. It afterwards forms for some distance the boundary, and proceeding to Noweuden and Wittersham, receives in its course several small streams from the Weald of Kent, the arms of which, together with the Bother itself, inclose the river island of Oxney. After passing this island, it quits the border, and turns suddenly southward across the eastern extremity of tho county, sending off a branch at Iden called the Kent Ditch, which parts the two counties, and empties itself into the sea in the parish of Broomhill, a mile and a half eastward of old Rye Harbour. Proceeding from this branch, the Bother flows to the south-east part of the town of Rye. Below the town of Rye the Bother receives the waters of the Brede, which rises in Ashburnharn Wood. The united stream expands into an matuary, forms the harbour of Rye, and empties itself into the sea at the bight of the bay formed by Fairlight Head on the west and Dungeness on the east. The Rather is navigable as far as the point where it first touches the borders of Kent, The Adur has throe sources, the streams from which unite near Ashurst. From Ashurst the river flows in a due southern direc tion, between Beading and Bramber to Shoreham Harbour and the sea. [Snoneusts] The river is navigable for small craft from Moak Bridge in the parish of Shermanbury, to the mouth; and it is cele brated for its mullet, pike, and eels. The Arun rises in St. Leonard's Forest, and flows due south, receiving at Stopham the waters of a small river called the Western Bother. From Stopham the Arun runs in a circuitous course, passes Hardham and Amberley, in which part the stream is celebrated for trout, through the marshes forming the rich vale of Arundel, and flowing through Arundel town enters the sea at Littlehampton. The channel is led in a southerly direction into the sea between two piers composed of piles with an extension of dicker-work. The larger vessels which enter usually remain near the river's mouth at Littlehampton, but a vessel of 13 feet draught can proceed to Arundel bridge, a distance of six miles. The lower part of the river is famous for its mullet. A canal, called the Arun and Wey Junction Canal, connecting the Arun with the Wey, completes an inland communication by water with London. The Arundel and Portsmouth Canal also enters tho Arun at Ford, connecting it with Chichester Harbour ; and a canal following the course of the Bother has made a navigable water-communication from Stopham bridge to Mid burst, with a branch to Hallingbourne, within half a mile of Petworth. The CucZmere rises in the Forest Ridge near Heathfleld Park, runs through Warbleton to Hellingley, Arlington, and Littlington, and empties itself into the sea at the opening in the South Downs, to the westward of Beach)? Head, about 2 miles S.E. from Seaford. The channel is very narrow and crooked, but at high water it is navigable for email barges to Longbridge, about a mile above Alfriston. The Larant has its source in Charlton Forest, and runs through Singleton, Binderton, and the Lavants, and, after circling the city of Chichester on all sides except the north, falls into the harbour of Chichester, and enters the rea at the extreme south-west corner of the county. Tho matuary at the mouth of the river is famous for its lobsters ; and the rocks next Selsey Bill are celebrated for cockles. There are also two smaller rivers which discharge themselves into the sea, the Ashbourne at Pevensey, and the Asten near the spot where William the Con queror landed. The Asten runs through the battle-field of Hastings. The Medway rises in the northern part of the county. It flows in an easterly direction through Forest-row, Hartfield, and Withyham. It reaches the county of Kent between Groombridge and Ashnrst, forming the boundary between the two counties for about a mile, and then turns at Ashurat directly into Kent, at a spot about fonr miles from Tonbridge.