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Newhaven with its cross channel ferry service and port links Lewes District to mainland Europe. It is the industrial centre of the district and home to many well-known firms.
Established as the settlement of "Meeching" by the Saxons, the town“s fortunes picked up when in 1579 the Ouse broke through the shingle bar creating a new harbour at Seaford“s expense.
Wealden oak, wine and spirits from the continent and slab ice from the Baltic were shipped through the port. The town flourished with shipbuilding yards and breweries. The railway reached Newhaven in the 1840s and the first ferry service was established soon after, providing the shortest land- sea route between London and Paris. As befitted a prosperous harbour town, Newhaven had an imposing hotel, The London and Paris. Built in 1848 and demolished 110 years later, it is remembered with affection by thousands of travellers and by the forces for whom it was the last glimpse of England as they left for the ill-fated Dieppe Raid.
Shortly after the hotel was built, relations with France deteriorated. Threat of invasion led to a string of coastal defences being built. Newhaven Fort built on the headland above the town is a reminder of this period.
Both the ferry service and the Dieppe Raid have forged strong links between Newhaven and Dieppe. Each year the Mayor of Dieppe and entourage are the guests of Newhaven for a commemorative service to the 1,000 Canadian and Allied servicemen who embarked from Newhaven and died on the beaches of Dieppe. Their memory is preserved by an impressive granite plinth in a garden of remembrance by the harbour.
Though a busy port and industrial town, there is plenty of interest in Newhaven. The Marina offers excellent facilities for yachting, scuba diving and a range of water sports. West Quay provides an ideal spot to see the colourful fishing fleet and fresh fish is sold daily. Newhaven Lifeboat Station, also on the Quay, is open to visitors.
Both sea and freshwater anglers are catered for with boat hire available. Bathers have a choice of beaches or the town centre“s Seahaven Pool offering a five lane heated swimming pool. There is a range of interesting shops in the town centre and the "fleamarket" held in a former chapel is worth a visit. Families can choose from Newhaven Fort, Newhaven Museum, Seahaven Pool and the Indoor Ski Centre and Paradise Family Leisure Park for a day of fun. For those with an interest in industrial archaeology, Tidemills to the east of the harbour is a short walk away.
Tidemills is the "lost village" on the shoreline between Newhaven and Seaford. An Act of Parliament in the 1760s gave permission to build tidal flour grinding mills on the flat marshland. Powered by the tide, the great mills gave rise to a flourishing village. Served by their own railway halt and with a rail spur from the mill through the village to the mainline, almost a hundred people lived here.
Repeal of the corn laws, cheap rail transport and the infilling of the estuary led to the decline of the village at the end of the 19th century. Today only evocative foundation walls, glimpses of sleepers and rails and part of the mill estuary remain.
Turning to the future, Newhaven is being redeveloped with a multi-million pound regeneration programme which will create new industrial facilities, revitalise Denton Island and develop the tourist potential of Newhaven Fort and West Quay.
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