About Sussex East

Sussex is split into West Sussex and East Sussex. In Guiding terms though, we are split into Sussex West, Sussex Central and Sussex East.

Sussex East is made up of lots of towns and villages which have their own Guiding groups whether they are :

Something we all share though is the Sussex East silk. It shows six gold martlets (little birds) and two gold lines on a red diamond. The six martlets represent the six 'rapes' or divisions of land in Sussex which are Hastings, Pevensey, Lewes, Bramber, Chichester and Arundal. The two gold lines represent the rivers Rother and Ouse which mark the East and West boundaries.

Interesting fact: 'Martlet' was used to describe a bird which may be a swallow, swift or house martin, as all of these birds are rarely seen on the ground and it was thought that they had no legs (poor little birds!). Their legs cannot be seen when they are perching on wires and branches when gathering prior to migration.