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Secret Sussex

Explore fascinating stories from Sussex. To share ideas or stories with the team, email secretsussex@bbc.co.uk. Series Producer: Simon Furber.

Radio Sussex,77 episodes

Episodes

ListGrid

The mystery of 'The black flower seller'
A forgotten face on a Hastings postcard – and a century long mystery finally solved.
7 mins
The seaside town that was a fascist hotspot
How a rally on Worthing Pier erupted into running battles through the streets.
5 mins
The mystery of Brambletye House
A vanished family, a crumbling mansion – and questions that still linger.
5 mins
The Christmas carol born in a Sussex cottage
The carol that went from a farmhouse kitchen to choirs across the world.
6 mins
What did he see on the South Downs?
The shepherd who watched more than his flock at Firle.
7 mins
Jane Austen’s forgotten seaside retreat
How a quiet Sussex holiday shaped her final, unfinished novel – and literary history.
5 mins
The demo tape the world has never heard
Recorded in Andrew Ridgeley’s parents' lounge - now sealed in a Brighton vault.
4 mins
What lies beneath Swan Avenue
The trapdoor creaked open, and they had an astonishing surprise.
5 mins
Buried alive in Alfriston
It was a quiet funeral at St Andrew’s until rumours spread that the woman wasn’t dead.
4 mins
The haunting of Racton Ruin
Some say it’s the most haunted place in Sussex – few stay long enough to find out.
6 mins
Selsey’s lost Abbey beneath the sea
The tides may have taken it, but some say you can still hear the bells toll.
4 mins
The Sidlesham Experiment
They arrived with calloused hands and northern grit for a bold rural experiment.
7 mins
Brighton’s Forgotten Leading Man
Sir Lenny Henry explores Ira Aldridge’s Brighton debut and its impact on theatre history.
12 mins
When Bob came to Bexhill
His name was Bob Marley – but few in the crowd knew it.
6 mins
The secret signal station
It looks like a shed, but Cable Hut 14 once carried Britain’s whispers beneath the sea.
6 mins
Seaford’s soldiers who weren’t allowed to fight
Trained in Sussex, loved by locals but barred from the battlefields of Europe.
10 mins
Saltdean’s fiery past
The seaside icon and its forgotten chapter in Britain’s firefighting history.
5 mins
The stone that wouldn’t stay buried
Druids, devils, and a Victorian scandal - Hove’s Goldstone is steeped in legend.
6 mins
The curious case of the Alfriston Beaver
Revealing the long-lost meaning of a church carving that’s puzzled people for centuries.
5 mins
White-tailed eagles soar again over Sussex
Hear the sounds of the magnificent birds as they return to Pulborough Brooks.
6 mins
They climbed 102 steps to etch their names
High up in Chichester Cathedral's Bell Tower lies graffiti in the most unlikely place.
6 mins
Cuckfield's Official Secret
The Cold War underground monitoring station ready to report a nuclear attack.
8 mins
Wakehurst’s underground secret
The radio station that’s been hidden in the woods for more than 80 years.
5 mins
The aircraft graveyard at Staplecross
Derelict and abandoned, the team saving rusty old aircraft from the scrapheap.
6 mins
Alfriston’s unknown obelisk
Lurking in a car park, everyone has a theory.
4 mins
One extraordinary night in Brighton
They climbed the lamp posts and had bonfires on the beach.
4 mins
They carried them down to Brighton beach
Brighton’s Sea Planes were built in the North Laine streets and launched into the sea.
5 mins
Brighton's hidden cycling track
It might be a wonky shape, but Preston Park velodrome is the oldest in the country.
6 mins
Gatwick's forgotten racecourse
From Grand National to International, the racecourse that became a runway.
8 mins
The abandoned village of Tide Mills
The haunting, eerie and mesmerising ruins on the Sussex coast.
8 mins