Editing East Sussex (section)

==Governance==
{{main|East Sussex County Council}}
{{Further|History of local government in Sussex}}
[[File:County Hall, Lewes - geograph.org.uk - 896752.jpg|thumb|left|County Hall, [[Lewes]]]]
[[Sussex]] was historically sub-divided into six [[Rape (county subdivision)|rapes]]. From the 12th century the three eastern rapes together and the three western rapes together had separate [[quarter sessions]], with the [[county town]] of the three eastern rapes being [[Lewes]].<ref>[http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/newsroom/CONNECTIONS_12%20.pdf Connections] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525062727/http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/newsroom/CONNECTIONS_12%20.pdf |date=25 May 2013 }} West Sussex</ref> This situation was formalised by Parliament in 1865, and the two parts were made into [[administrative counties]], each with its own elected [[county council]] in 1889 under the [[Local Government Act 1888]]. In East Sussex there were also three self-administered [[county borough]]s: [[County Borough of Brighton|Brighton]], [[County Borough of Eastbourne|Eastbourne]] and [[County Borough of Hastings|Hastings]].
[[File:Arms of the East Sussex County Council.svg|left|thumb|100px|Arms of East Sussex County Council]]
Upon its foundation, East Sussex included the south of [[Royal Tunbridge Wells|Tunbridge Wells]] and the south of [[Lamberhurst]]; by the [[Local Government Act 1894]] these areas were transferred to [[Kent]].

In 1974 East Sussex was made a [[non-metropolitan county|non-metropolitan]] and [[Ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial county]], and the three county boroughs became districts within the county. At the same time the western boundary was altered, so that the [[Mid Sussex District|Mid Sussex]] region (including [[Burgess Hill]] and [[Haywards Heath]]) was transferred to the non metropolitan county of [[West Sussex]]. In 1997, [[Brighton and Hove]] became a self-administered [[unitary authority]]; it was granted [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]] in 2000, whilst remaining part of the ceremonial county of East Sussex.

The area of East Sussex County Council's jurisdiction is divided into five [[non-metropolitan district|local government districts]]. Three are large rural districts (from west to east): [[Lewes (district)|Lewes]], [[Wealden District|Wealden]], and [[Rother District|Rother]]. [[Eastbourne]] and [[Hastings]] are mainly urban areas. The rural districts are further subdivided into [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]]es.<ref>See [[List of civil parishes in East Sussex]]</ref>