Today, I’m sharing my favourite secret places to visit in Sussex, a county in South-east England known for its rolling hills, storybook villages and wineries most don’t know about. This list is for you if you’ve ticked off the county’s main attractions, are ready to scratch beneath the surface and discover alternative places to visit in Sussex.

My guess is you’ve probably explored Brighton, the county’s most famous city I call home, hiked the South Downs National Park, and cosied up in a village pub or two. Now I’d guess you’re ready to wander off the beaten path and explore Sussex away from the obvious sights and tourist crowds.

If this is the case, you’re in the right place. When I created my travel website, I began by sharing secret places in Brighton and later Sussex. Fast forward a few months, and a publisher asked me to write Secret Brighton and shortly afterwards, Secret Sussex. So I guess you could say that I know Sussex well.

SECRET PLACES IN Sussex

Some of the secret places in Sussex on this list are from the secret Sussex archives on my travel website, while others feature my bestselling guidebook to the county Secret Sussex.

What do we mean by ‘secret’? I’m talking overlooked places and hidden gems you won’t find on most tourist itineraries. This doesn’t mean they aren’t worth visiting or trying out – far from it. To me, it’s these little-known, out-of-the-way discoveries that get to the heart of a place. So, without further ado, let’s discover the best alternative places to visit in Sussex.

This post was originally written in April 2020 to coincide with the release of my guidebook, Secret Sussex, but has been since revamped to keep it fresh and will be continuously updated as we discover more secret Sussex places to add.  

1 Houseboats of Shoreham

On the banks of the River Adur in the town of Shoreham-by-Sea 10 miles west of Brighton is a unique community of 50 houseboats. You’ll find it along a towpath at the south end of a footbridge that links it with Shoreham’s charming old town.

It’s fun to walk along and notice all the random details spilling out from the boats, and if you’re local or visit Shoreham often, to watch them transform over time. What’s also fascinating is that no two boats are the same.

The Shoreham houseboat community has a history in this location that dates to the 1920s, although it grew considerably after the Second World War as Britain faced a post-war accommodation shortage.

In the 1930s, there was a floating nightclub called The Showboat set on a paddle steamer called Alexandra. Apparently it would go out past three miles so it could stay open all night. The community grew further in the 1960s and 70s as it became a popular place for an alternative lifestyle.

There are even a few to rent, like The Raft with a simple, modern design, that’s been completely hand built from scratch into a cosy home for two.

Find the houseboats of Shoreham on Riverbank, Shoreham-on-Sea, West Sussex, take a virtual tour here or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

2 AG Hendy House, a fairytale cottage in Hastings

All Saints Street in Hastings’ Old Town is lined with chocolate box cottages, but none more intriguing than number 135. It’s easy to spot with its weathered Tudor façade and giant Caucasian Hogweed, that gives it a storybook quality. Setting foot through its huge oak front door, feels like you’ve walked into the pages of a Brothers Grimm fairytale.

It belongs to food writer and stylist, Alistair Hendy, who spent five years restoring it rather than recreating a Tudor house of the time, to bring out its character, with the “AG Hendy touch”, “making the structure solid and restored every surface, obsessing over every tiny detail,” he told me.

The only way to see inside the AG Hendy House is on a relaxed and informal hour-long tour which take place at various times of the year. It’s particularly atmospheric at Christmas, when it’s lit by candlelight.

Find the AG Hendy House at 135 All Saints Street, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3BG, book a tour here or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

3 The Dome Cinema in Worthing, a perfectly preserved Art Deco picturehouse

 Only a clutch of old cinemas is left in the UK. Few are as beautiful and nostalgic as The Dome Cinema opposite the pier on Worthing’s seafront. Despite falling on hard times over the years, many of the cinema’s original features remain intact. These include the original ticket booth outside the front entrance.

Although the cinema has been intricately restored, it looks almost as it would have done when it was first built in the early 1910s. The ornate ceiling inside the auditorium is so beautiful, it’s hard to concentrate on a film without being completely distracted.

Find The Dome Cinema at 21-22 Marine Parade, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 3PT or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

4 Little Roar Gill, a lost waterfall in a hidden hastings valley

Alexandra Park in the north of Hastings in East Sussex hides a secret so many residents don’t know about. If you head into the northern part of the park, you’ll find an otherworldly nature reserve called Old Roar Gill – a hidden gem in itself – which is home to an ancient waterfall called Little Roar Gill that, until recently, lay neglected and overlooked since the big storm of 1987.

The waterfall reopened in 2013 after a massive regeneration project led by Sussex Wildlife Trust and Hastings Borough Council. It’s set in a deeply cut, narrow wooded valley which runs along the upper reaches of a stream rising on a sandstone ridge to the north of Hastings and runs eventually to the sea.

Being in the reserve feels like you’re in a rainforest, not in the middle of a residential area of a Sussex town: it’s rich in ferns and moss and home to rare orchids. In spring, it’s carpeted in ancient woodland flowers, such as bluebells, wood anemone and avens.

Find Little Roar Gill in Old Roar Gill and Coronation Wood Nature Reserve, Alexandra Park, St Helen’s Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN37 7HF or read more about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

5 Flower Makers’ Museum, a flower factory hidden in a Hastings basement

 In case you’re planning a trip to Hastings, hidden in the basement of what on first glance looks like an ordinary florist on Hastings’ High Street in a shop with beautiful old Victorian façade. Get closer, and you’ll see that all of the little flowers decorating the front window and spilling out the door are in fact, artificial.

Head inside and you’ll discover the headquarters of a curious and thriving company called the Shirley Leaf and Petal Co. It specialises in making artificial flowers, petals, leaves and foliage for film and television sets, film production companies, theatre shows and fashion houses. It opened in the 19th century in east London but moved to Hastings in 1910.

The shop filled with faux flowers and foliage galore is a gem in itself but, hiding in its basement is the Flower Makers’ Museum – a little-known working collection of everything involved in making fake flowers and foliage, mostly for use in the fashion and film industries. The collection tells the story of the company, from its starting point in 1911, to the present day. It starts on the stairs bursting with displays and stock and leads down to two rooms in the basement.

Find the Flower Makers’ Museum at the Shirley Leaf & Petal Co, 58A High Street, Hastings TN34 3EN, visit it virtually here or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

6 East Dean, the East Sussex village Sherlock Holmes’ retired to

 The village of East Dean near Eastbourne is a picturesque Sussex village, with a green surrounded by pretty cottages, a pub, and some cafes, all backed by the rolling South Downs. Opposite one of the houses called New House Farm is a pretty cottage which stands out, not only for its good looks, but also for the blue plaque on the front.

The plaque marks the fictional retirement home of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s efficient consulting private detective – who it is thought retired to the countryside around Eastbourne to become a beekeeper.

Find Sherlock Holmes fictional retirement home at The Green, East Dean, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN20 0BT or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

 7 Hidden Sussex country pubs near Brighton

Is there anything better than an afternoon spent sipping rosé wine in a country pub garden come summer or a glass of red in front of a roaring fire when the leaves start to fall? The good thing about living in Brighton is how close the seaside city is to the beautiful Sussex countryside, which happens to be scattered with great pubs perfect for both these occasions.

So, when the temperature rises or the nights start drawing in, I seek out a hidden Sussex country pub near Brighton with an epic garden and cosy interiors and make for the hills. The good news is, each one is also lovely to discover, too, tucked up a lost lane or within the folds of the South Downs National Park, and an excuse to visit a new part of the county.

These hidden Sussex country pubs near Brighton are ones I’ve visited time and again that never fail to disappoint – all serving incredible food, from good-value homespun dishes to gastro quality plates.

Find my guide to hidden Sussex country pubs all within easy reach of Brighton, here.

8 Cuckfield Bunker, an underground museum in a top-secret nuclear bunker

Hidden in the corner of a field near the Holy Trinity churchyard in Cuckfield is a strange looking cordoned off structure with a hatch. It might not look like much, but this is the entrance to a once top-secret underground nuclear bunker which has been restored as a museum and is open to inquisitive visitors at various times during the year.

Visitors descend the 4.5-metre entrance shaft by ladder. At the bottom, they emerge into an underground space consisting of a small antechamber, a storage area and main bunker room – about the size of a single-car garage in total – filled with equipment, paperwork and rations that would once have been used.

It is sobering to discover all the nuclear war-related ephemera on show. There are nuclear weapons training manuals, a bomb power indicator used to record the pressure of a blast wave following a nuclear explosion. There is even a radiation meter for measuring the amount of radiation outside using a sensor inserted through a hole in the ceiling.

Find Cuckfield Bunker at Newbury Lane, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, East Sussex RH17 5AA, book a tour here or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

9 Clayton Tunnel, a railway tunnel entrance that looks like a miniature castle

Five miles north of Brighton close to the small village of Clayton in East Sussex is a railway tunnel carved into the South Downs. It looks different to most with its north entrance resembling a miniature castle, complete with two grand turrets.

This is what is known as a “folly”, an extravagant architectural feature popular in Victorian times, added for decoration with no practical purpose. No one really knows why it looks the way it does. The most plausible answer, however, is that it was added to appease the local landowner and convince him to allow the tunnel to be dug in the first place.

Adding to this bizarre railway tunnel’s intriguing nature, is the small single-storey cottage on the top of the castle added nine years later as a home for the signalman and his family. It was his job to light oil lamps along the tunnel for guiding trains through. Today, it is a private home and occasionally open for tours during Heritage Open Days.

Find the Clayton Tunnel at Clayton Hill, Clayton, East Sussex BN6 9PQ occasionally open for tours, here or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

10 Manor Road garage, an art deco remnant in West Sussex

If there’s one building that stands out among all the others in the Sussex village of East Preston, it’s the old Manor Road Garage. With its whitewashed Art Deco façade and perfectly preserved set of four brightly coloured Shell petrol pumps, it looks like it’s been plucked straight from Miami in Florida, famous for its historic Art Deco architecture.

It dates back to 1919, and according to an advert in a 1937 estate agents’ guide giving details of sales, services, repairs, cars for hire it had room for 50 cars. It closed in the late 90s, was left abandoned for 40 years; until developers bought it in 2011, and discovered several vintage Rolls Royces, MGs, and a grey Massey Ferguson tractor inside, in various states of disrepair.

 Find the Manor Road Garage at 17 Manor Road, East Preston, West Sussex BN16 1QA or read more about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

11 Hammerwood Park, led zeppelin’s former mansion

The rolling Sussex countryside is scattered with manor houses, but none as intriguing as Hammerwood Park near East Grinstead. On first glance, it might look like any other house of its stature, built as an ostentatious display of wealth in which to entertain the upper classes. Hammerwood, however, represents so much more.

For one, Hammerwood is actually a complete illusion, in that it was built to appear big, grand and palatial from a distance. It is, in fact, only about one-third of the size it looks from afar. The columns on the wings are half the size of those on the central block, to look as though they are set back a huge distance. The columns on the temples are tapered to make them look taller than they really are.

Find Hammerwood Park in East Grinstead, East Sussex RH19 3QE, book a tour here or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

12 Electric Palace Cinema in Hastings, possibly Sussex’s smallest cinema

Here at Ellie & Co we love supporting local independent cinemas, seeing as there are so few great ones around these days. On a recent trip to Hastings, stopped in my tracks when I spotted the Electric Palace Cinema tucked along the High Street in the Old Town.

What’s special about it is that it survives solely on ticket and refreshments sales alone, staffed by a 30-strong team of volunteers. It shows a choice of alternative films and film-related events. There’s a licensed bar so you can sip a tasty local ale or Fairtrade coffee while you sit into one of their iconic 1930s golden velvet seats they nabbed at a memorabilia sale.

 Find the Electric Palace Cinema at 39A High Street, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3ER or read about in my guides to Hastings, here and here.

13 The Tower Room at Cowdray, an Art studio in a tudor tower

Midhurst is home to the charred skeleton of a Tudor mansion house called Cowdray Park, built in 1542, and destroyed in 1793 by a fire. Structural safety issues mean you can only view it from afar. However, there’s an alternative way to get up close to this mystical setting. That’s to sign up for an art class at the Renaissance Art Studio located in the old kitchen tower.

It’s the only part of Cowdray Park to avoid fire damage and was refurbished by Viscountess Cowdray in the last decade. The studio’s run by artist-in-residence, David Cranswick, who leads classes exploring techniques and artistic styles developed by the great master painters at work in the 16th and 17th centuries, when Cowdray was in use.

Find the Renaissance Art Studio at Cowdray Park, or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

14 Boulevard Books, the Hastings bookshop home to a Thai cafe

 The charming Boulevard Bookshop in Hastings’ old town hides a spicy weekend secret when it becomes the setting for a secret Thai restaurant. Bookshop by day, and a cosy Thai restaurant come the evening. It’s located in Hastings Old Town on a cute pedestrianised lane lined with shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants, all with historic frontages.

Inside, it’s cosy and filled to the brim with books crammed into floor-to-ceiling shelves lining every wall, each table set for dinner tucked neatly into little corners. It feels a bit like having dinner in a library, with a homelier feel. The service is friendly, and food arrives promptly. Little delicate plates of spring rolls to start, and hearty platefuls of stir-fried veggies and curries.

Our dinner date at Boulevard Books and Thai Café was a spontaneous decision, and we were lucky to nab the last table for two, so I recommend you book ahead. They don’t serve alcohol, but you can bring your own for a £2 corkage fee, they serve a set two-course menu for £17 per person and only take cash.

Visit Boulevard Books Thai Cafe, 32 George Street, Hastings East Sussex TN34 3NA or take a virtual visit here.

15 Fullers Folly, a giant tomb in the shape of a pyramid

Brightling is a tiny blink-and-you’ll-miss-it East Sussex village, home to a giant tomb shaped like a pyramid. This 7.6-metre-high Grade-II listed mausoleum was built in 1811 by an eccentric wealthy local man called John “Mad Jack” Fuller. He built it 23 years before his death. You can’t go inside it, but a sign on the gated entrance of the mausoleum makes a fun distraction from this.

It encourages visitors to peek through the grille for a glimpse of Mad Jack Fuller in full dress and top hat seated at a table set with a roast chicken and a bottle of wine. It’s an endearing local legend which has seen several versions told over the years, even though it’s known that Fuller is buried in a conventional manner, in the ground underneath the mausoleum.

Find this bizarre grave in St Thomas a Becket churchyard, Brightling, East Sussex TN32 5HE or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

16 Lullington Church, the smallest church in Sussex

Also known as the Church of the Good Shepherd, Lullington Church is considered the smallest church in Sussex – and one of the smallest in England. It sits on a hill overlooking the South Downs and the Cuckmere River, east of the pretty town of Alfriston known for its Clergy House, and not far from the Long Man of Wilmington chalk hill figure, and the Longman Brewery. It’s also unique in that the only way to get to it is on foot.

The quickest route to it is from the village of Lullington, where it’s a five-minute stroll along a narrow, cobbled path off Chapel Hill, a country lane that runs from the A27 and Wilmington to Lullington.  Find the entrance to the footpath tucked between the hedgerows, follow it for several metres and after a few minutes, you’ll see its white weather boarded belfry peeping through the oak trees, the church emerges in its entirety on the right-hand side.

Fun fact: The church was the inspiration for the 2003 song The Smallest Church in Sussex by British alternative rock band Sea Power.

Find Lullington Church on Lullington Road, Wilmington, Polegate, East Sussex BN26 5QX or read about it my Secret Sussex guidebook.

17 Sistine chapel replica in worthing, the world’s only replica of its kind

English Martyrs Catholic Church in the quiet Sussex borough of Goring has a unique claim to fame. It’s home to the only hand-painted copy of the world’s most famous ceiling the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City, Rome. A trip to Goring to see it is also the chance for tourist-trap-phobes to pretend they’re looking at MIchaelangelo’s 16th-century masterpiece without competing with the crowds.

This version of the Sistine Chapel ceiling was hand-painted by local parishioner and sign writer, Gary Bevans. He never went to art college but was nevertheless inspired to recreate Michaelangelo’s version after he went on a pilgrimage to Rome and was transfixed by the wonder of the world-famous Vatican City chapel. He started it in 1987 and finished five years later.

Find the Sistine Chapel replica inside English Martyrs Catholic Church, Goring Way, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, East Sussex BN12 4UH and read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook. 

18 Farleys House & Gallery, where Picasso stayed for tea

After the Second World War, it was growing vegetables and cooking which helped Vogue war photographer, Lee Miller – played by Kate Winslet in the recent film about her called, Lee – get over her experience, when she married surrealist artist Roland Penrose and came to live at Farleys House in East Sussex.

Miller and Penrose lived at Farleys House for 35 years, during which time they built up a vast collection of contemporary art treasures, many created by their artist friends, including Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Max Ernst, Paul Eluard and Joan Miró – all of whom were known to have visited Farleys at some point, which led to its reputation as the ‘House of the surrealists’. 

 Find Farleys House & Gallery at Muddles Green, Chiddingly, East Sussex BN8 6HW. Book a tour here or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook.

19 Architectural Plants café in a giant greenhouse

 I love hunting out the unusual and overlooked and this includes cafes in Sussex, to discover on your next day trip or weekend away I highly recommend including in your plans. Like the Architectural Plants Café which it goes without saying has been tried and tested by me several times over…

It’s set inside a giant greenhouse within a nursery that specialises in unusual, big and exotic plants. Everything on the menu is made from ingredients sourced from small, independent businesses around Sussex, including wines and beers. The fish finger sandwich with tartare sauce and crusty bread is especially tasty.

Find Architectural Plants Cafe at Stane Street, North Heath, Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 1DJ or in my guide to unique cafes in Sussex.

20 Millennium Seed Bank, an underground bunker of diversity and the world’s largest wild plant seed bank

There are over two billion seeds from more than 38,000 species at the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst in West Sussex. All of them are stored at sub-zero temperatures inside an underground vault large enough for 38 double decker buses, and robust enough to survive the worst natural or man-made disasters imaginable.

It’s an incredible project and scientific operation – home to one of the greatest concentrations of living seed plant diversity on earth. Yet most overlook this mind-blowing hub of scientific activity in favour of a wander around the gardens of Wakehurst Place.

Find the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst, Royal Botanic Gardens, Wakehurst Place, Selsfield Road, Ardingly, West Sussex RH17 6TN, take a virtual tour here, book a real-life visit here or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook. 

21 Climping Beach, wild, untamed and unspoiled

So much of the Sussex coastline is heavily built up, but there’s one magical stretch of beach in West Sussex that transports us back in time. You’ll find it mid-way between, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton at the end of a quiet country lane. To get to it, turn off the A259 Bognor Road into Climping Street, signposted Climping Beach

With its mix of dunes, shingle, and – when the tide is out – expanses of sand, Climping Beach makes for an alluring discovery. It feels a million miles away from the busier town beach resorts nearby, and also feels like you’ve found your own secret beach; it’s highly likely you’ll have it almost – if not – all to yourself when you pay a visit.

Find Climping Beach at Climping Street, Climping, West Sussex BN17 5RN or read about it in my Secret Sussex guidebook. 

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