History & Heritage / Places to Visit Sussex / Tourist Information Sussex

History & Heritage

For lovers of history and heritage, West Sussex can offer the visitor a tour through the centuries from the earliest known man in the UK found at Boxgrove near Chichester to Crawley New Town, there is something to interest everyone.

After early man who left evidence with hill forts, including Cissbury Ring, across the South Downs, the Romans arrived, setting up the forerunner of Chichester as Noviomagus, whose legacy is the wonderful palace at Fishbourne.

Saxon king Harold, who lost the throne to William the Conqueror, may be buried in Bosham church, according to local legend and Christianity arrived in the county at Selsey through St Wilfrid.

Castles such as at Arundel were built and the Middle Ages and Tudor era were times of increasing prosperity for West Sussex, laying the foundations of its farming traditions with the trade in wool leading to grand homes being built for merchants.

Country estates – Goodwood, Petworth and Uppark among them – developed in the rural area while the seaside began to boom with fashionable resorts growing from villages such as Worthing and Bognor Regis.

Quiet market towns still have much historic charm with Steyning, Storrington, Pulborough, Petworth and Midhurst at the foot of the downs retaining the atmosphere of long-ago.

The outdoor Weald and Downland Museum has preserved many of the homes and agricultural buildings of the county while Amberley Open Air Museum has many interesting industrial heritage exhibits in a former chalk quarry.

Throughout West Sussex there are many fascinating sites involving the history and heritage of the county open to visitors.