Newhaven East Sussex

The dock is a walkable distance from town.

Newhaven is a lively small industrial port in East Sussex, set in the South Downs at the mouth of the River Ouse. With around 12,000 residents, it is a busy cross-channel link between Sussex and the French port of Dieppe, and remains the shortest London-to-Paris route.

The River Ouse divides Newhaven. Most industry, the port and large retail outlets occupy the East Side, while the West contains the town centre, with familiar high-street shops, smaller stores, restaurants and banks.

Newhaven expanded quickly after the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company extended the Lewes line in 1847. The next year, three cross-channel boats were sailing between Newhaven and Dieppe, and by the 1880's the town was sixth-largest by revenue earned.

Above West Beach are the Lunette Batteries, built in 1759, and on the cliff top stands the Fort, completed in 1871. Newhaven Fort first saw action in World War 2, when it became a regular Luftwaffe target. In August 1942, Newhaven played a major role in the ill-fated Dieppe raid: of 4,963 Canadian troops involved, only 2,210 returned to England and many were wounded. A South Way memorial commemorates the Canadian dead.

Old town-centre buildings include the White Hart (1726), the Ship Hotel (also 18th century) and the Bridge Hotel (1623). The Bridge Hotel was the first stop for the fleeing Louis Philippe and his wife, France's last King and Queen, who landed near today's lifeboat station. Newhaven's lifeboat tradition reaches back to 1803; it was among the first towns with a lifeboat station, some 21 years before the Royal National Lifeboat Institution was formed.

St Michael's, Newhaven's parish church, looks over the town. It has a Norman apse and is thought to follow the lines of the French church at Yainville. Its graveyard has a memorial to HMS Brazen, wrecked off Newhaven with 105 lives lost and just one survivor.

Newhaven is changing significantly through regeneration intended to strengthen infrastructure and the local economy. New quality-housing residential areas are being built, alongside a training and business centre. The West Quay is worth a visit for its fishing fleet, with the busy marina close by.

There are many rewarding walks in Newhaven, and a magnificent new nature reserve lies east of town near the Tidemills ruins, where Victorian miller William Catt once used tidal power to grind corn.

Use Traveline for local and long-distance transport planning.

Outside London, normal cars and minibuses can usually be licenced as taxis. Local councils decide how to distinguish them, but they always display extra plates, generally at the rear, showing approval from the relevant authority and their passenger capacity.

East from Seaford towards Eastbourne runs an outstanding coastline containing Seven Sisters Country Park and Beachy Head. The Country Park is popular for walking, cycling, canoeing and horse riding. Its name comes from the Seven Sisters, a row of chalk cliffs, of which Beachy Head is the highest and most famous.

Beachy Head is popular for its exceptional cliff-top panorama. Eastwards are Eastbourne's beaches, town, pier and harbour, then Pevensey Bay and Hastings, and on an exceptionally clear day Dungeness in Kent, nearly 40 miles away. Look west and the view reaches even farther—up to 70 miles—past Seaford Head to Brighton, then Selsey Bill near Chichester in West Sussex. On very clear days, the Isle of Wight's outline is visible.

West of Newhaven lies Peacehaven, through which the Greenwich Meridian passes. Beyond it are historic Rottingdean and the sprawling city of Brighton, a well-known tourist destination with theatres, nightclubs, hotels, restaurants and a broad range of leisure amenities.

Newhaven is ringed by attractive villages; nearby Rodmell was home to Virginia Woolf, the noted novelist and Bloomsbury Group member.

North lies the county town of Lewes, dominated by a fine Norman castle. The annual Lewes Bonfire celebration is a highlight. The Marian persecutions of 1555-7 saw seventeen Protestant martyrs burned to death there, while in 1605 a Catholic plot to blow up the Protestant King was foiled. Lewes Bonfire commemorates these events with huge torchlit processions, remarkable costumes and fireworks, a spectacle difficult to describe but well worth seeing.

The pound (£) is the UK currency, and quid is a common slang term for pounds. Scottish bank notes are frowned upon elsewhere in the UK, so change them before leaving Scotland.

ATMs, informally called holes in the wall, are extremely common and generally issue £10 and £20 notes.

Most shops and restaurants take Visa, Mastercard and Maestro.

English is spoken across the country, sometimes with strong accents.

Most cafés and restaurants have free WiFi.

Call 999 in a local emergency; the EU-wide 112 can be used too.

Shopping hours are generally:

Small shops commonly open 6 or 7 days a week from 10am - 6pm; larger stores generally stay open until 9PM, and hyper marts are frequently open 24/7.