Portal:East Sussex/Intro



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

The ancient kingdom of Sussex had separate county administrations since the 12th century, with the county town of the eastern division being Lewes. This situation was formalised by Parliament in 1865, and the two parts were given distinct elected county councils in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888.

In East Sussex there were three self-administered county boroughs: Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings. In 1974 the East Sussex was made a ceremonial county also, 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 Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath) was transferred to the administrative county of West Sussex.

In 1997, Brighton & Hove became a self-administered unitary authority and was eventually granted city status in 2000.

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