Sussex

/sus"iks/, n.

1. a former county in SE England: divided into East Sussex and West Sussex.

2. one of an English breed of red beef cattle.

3. one of an English breed of chickens, raised chiefly for marketing as roasters.

4. a kingdom of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy in SE England. See map under Mercia.

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▪ county, New Jersey, United States

      county, extreme northern New Jersey, U.S., bordered by Pennsylvania to the northwest (the Delaware River constituting the boundary), New York state to the northeast, and Lakes Hopatcong and Musconetcong to the southeast. It consists of a hilly upland region culminating in Kittatinny Mountain in the northwest and is drained by the Wallkill, Flat Brook, and Musconetcong rivers. Among the county's numerous lakes are Culvers Lake and Lakes Mohawk and Hopatcong, the latter the largest in New Jersey. Running parallel to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail passes through Stokes State Forest and High Point State Park, which lies near the state's highest point, on Kittatinny Mountain (1,803 feet [550 metres]). Among the other state parks in the county—which contains the state's largest area of such land—are Allamuchy Mountain, Hopatcong, Swartswood, and Wawayanda. The primary forest type is oak and hickory.

      Algonquian-speaking Delaware Indians hunted in the region. Waterloo village in Stanhope borough developed initially as an iron producer (from 1763), then as a canal port (from 1824), and later as a tourist attraction (from 1947). Following the American Civil War Franklin was the largest producer of zinc in the United States. The principal communities are Vernon, Hopatcong, Sparta, and Newton, which is the county seat.

      Sussex county was formed in 1753 and named for Sussex, Eng. The main economic activities are services and retail trade. Also important are mining, insurance, and agriculture (hay, dairy products, and livestock). Area 521 square miles (1,350 square km). Pop. (2000) 144,166; (2007 est.) 151,478.

▪ historical county, England, United Kingdom

      historic county of southeastern England, covering a coastal area along the English Channel south of London. For administrative purposes, Sussex is divided into the administrative counties of East Sussex and West Sussex and the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove.

      A ridge of chalk hills, the South Downs (Downs), runs across the county from east to west, reaching the sea in a line of imposing cliffs, notably at Beachy Head. The northern slopes of the Downs form an abrupt scarp line, where the chalk gives way to the heavy clays and sands of the Weald. To the south the Downs slope more gently toward the English Channel. South of Chichester a fertile coastal plain broadens out into the flat headland of Selsey Bill. Coastal erosion, especially around Selsey Bill, has produced continual changes in the shoreline. In the southeast of the county, beyond Beachy Head, lie the reclaimed marshes of Pevensey Levels, historically an important point of entry into Britain for early invaders. A further line of cliffs lies along the coast eastward past Hastings.

      Paleolithic settlements are represented by materials found in raised beaches at Slindon and in river gravels near Pulborough. Primitive agricultural communities, from Neolithic to Roman times, preferred the higher chalk hills. At Whitehawk Hill near Brighton are examples of Neolithic causewayed camps. The Bronze Age is represented by round burial mounds known as bell barrows at various sites near Treyford and Worthing, and there are Iron Age hill forts at the Trundle near Goodwood, at Cissbury, and at the Caburn Mount near Lewes. Timber supplies and iron-ore deposits made possible the development of a prehistoric iron industry. Just before the Roman invasion a dynasty of British chieftains was established in the Selsey area. The last of these, Cogidubnus, was a useful ally to the Romans and was given a kingdom centred on Chichester.

      After the Romans left, Saxon invaders landed near Selsey and fought their way eastward across Sussex in the late 5th century. These South Saxons (from which the name Sussex is derived) founded the kingdom of Sussex, which was subsequently conquered by the neighbouring kingdom of Wessex. In 1066 William of Normandy (William I the Conqueror) landed at Pevensey and fought the decisive battle of Hastings a short distance inland; the town and abbey of Battle commemorate his victory. The Normans built numerous abbeys and castles, such as Arundel and Pevensey Castle, which was built inside a Roman fort. The chief medieval towns were Chichester, Lewes, and the ports of Hastings and Rye. In the Middle Ages an iron industry, based on local ore and charcoal, developed in the Weald.

      Most of the county's modern growth has been coastal, beginning with the rise to popularity in the late 18th century of Brighton as a seaside resort under royal patronage. By the end of the 19th century a string of resort towns lined the coast, including Bognor Regis, Worthing, Eastbourne, and Bexhill. During the 20th century, the construction of Gatwick Airport and the spread of suburban development from London accelerated growth in northern Sussex, centred on Crawley.

▪ historical kingdom, England, United Kingdom

      (from Old English Suð Seaxe, South Saxons), one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. It ultimately coincided in area with the modern counties of East Sussex and West Sussex, although Hastings in East Sussex appears to have been sometimes separate. According to the tradition preserved in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a certain Aelle landed in AD 477 at a place now covered by the sea, south of Selsey Bill, and defeated the Britons. Archaeological evidence suggests that there was Germanic settlement in the area beginning in the 5th century. The Venerable Bede (Bede the Venerable, Saint), writing in the 8th century, says that Aelle held supremacy over all the peoples south of the Humber, the only king of Sussex to hold that eminence. In the 680s St. Wilfrid (Wilfrid, Saint), expelled from Northumbria, spent several years converting the South Saxons to Christianity. At that time their king was Aethelwalh, but after his death Sussex was divided among several kings. There were still kings early in the reign (757–796) of Offa of Mercia, but later they are named as ealdormen. In the 9th century Sussex fell to the kings of Wessex.

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