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 has had separate county administrations since
the 12th century, with the county town of the eastern division being Lewes.
East Sussex County Council was established in 1889 by the Local
Government Act of 1888. Originally East Sussex included East
Grinstead, Burgess Hill and Cuckfield, although Brighton and
Hastings were independent County Boroughs. On 1 April 1911
Eastbourne also became an independent County Borough.
The
Local Government Act 1972 caused further changes. Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings lost their independent
status and became part of East Sussex.
More changes came in the 1990s, following a review of local
government in 1993/94. On 1 April 1997 Brighton & Hove Borough
Councils were merged to form Brighton & Hove City Council, which
took over the county council’s responsibilities for the Brighton
& Hove area.
Currently East Sussex contains the boroughs of Eastbourne and
Hastings and the districts of Lewes, Wealden and Rother. The
city of Brighton & Hove is considered part of East Sussex for
ceremonial purposes and postal addresses only.
The population of East Sussex is 492,324 (2001 census)