Peacehaven was a field of cabbages until the First World War. Then an entrepreneur named Charles Neville bought the clifftop, laid out a grid of roads and started selling plots, at first under the name New Anzac-on-Sea, after the Australian and New Zealand troops camped nearby. The name changed after Gallipoli, and the result is one of England's odder towns: a sprawling bungalow suburb perched on top of chalk cliffs between Brighton and Newhaven.
The town sits exactly on the Greenwich Meridian, and a monument on the cliff marks the line. Stand next to it and you have one foot in each hemisphere, which is more than most seaside towns can offer. Below the cliffs a concrete undercliff walk runs along the shore, with steps and ramps leading down from the town.
Swimming here is for those who check the tide. At high water the sea comes up close to the cliff and the shore is narrow shingle; at low water a wide chalk platform appears, slippery with weed and full of rock pools. The best time for a dip is around mid tide on a calm day, entering from the shingle rather than the rock. Watch for currents and stay away from the foot of the cliffs, which shed chalk regularly.
The A259 coast road through Peacehaven is busy and slow, with traffic lights, buses and plenty of speed limits. The rewards lie inland, where small roads climb onto the South Downs with views back to the sea. Ditchling Beacon, a little north-west, is a classic climb with a view over the Weald.
Fuel, supermarkets and cafés line the main road, and Newhaven, just east, has the ferry to Dieppe if you suddenly fancy France.