Photo: Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.01 children's activity at 1 English Heritage place in Sussex, in one list, and all 5 places on a map. Entry is free for members at most places; where an activity costs extra, the price is on it.
1066 Battle of Hastings, Abbey and Battlefield (English Heritage), Battle · 24 October to 1 November 2026
Battle Abbey hosts a Great Pumpkin Party through half-term, with storytelling, spooky games, a themed trail and a seasonal selfie spot across the site where the Battle of Hastings was fought. Children who come in costume can enter the daily fancy dress competition.
Sussex places in colour and activities in orange, with Kent in grey so you can plan further afield. Tap a pin for details and directions.
Castles, abbeys and Roman sites, from staffed days out to free ruins you can wander any time.
Image: English HeritageThe place where the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066, with the abbey William the Conqueror built on the spot where Harold is said to have fallen. Walk the battlefield with an audio tour, climb the gatehouse for views and finish at the playground by the café.
Photo: Philip Windibank, CC BY-SA 2.0Boxgrove Priory was founded around 1107 for just three Benedictine monks, at the foot of the South Downs near Chichester. The tall roofless guest house still stands to full height at its gable ends, while the east end of the priory church survives as the village's parish church.
Photo: Michael Coppins, CC BY-SA 4.0Bramber Castle was built soon after the Norman Conquest on a natural knoll above the River Adur, guarding a gap in the South Downs. It was the Sussex seat of the de Braose family. Today a single wall of its tower still stands 14 metres high, a short walk from the centre of Bramber village.
Image: English HeritageAn unusually unaltered artillery fort built by Henry VIII to guard the port of Rye, now standing in open grazing land between Rye and Winchelsea. The walk out across Rye Harbour Nature Reserve is half the appeal.
Image: English HeritageOne of the biggest Roman Saxon Shore forts, with walls that still stand almost to full height, and the place where William the Conqueror landed in 1066. Inside you can explore the Norman castle ruins, a dungeon and displays that run from Roman times to the Second World War.
To Do in Sussex is independent and not connected to English Heritage. Activities are checked against English Heritage's own event pages; for membership and opening details see english-heritage.org.uk.
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