The best villages in Britain: Three 'unspoilt' Sussex villages named among the country's best by experts

The Daily Telegraph has published a list of the UK’s 30 greatest villages ‘untouched by mass tourism’ – and East Sussex villages Alfriston and Ditchling, and Bosham, in West Sussex, feature.

Daily Telegraph writer Teresa Machan was full of praise for Alfriston and Ditchling. She said ‘even Disney couldn’t create Alfriston’, while Ditchling was the ‘unofficial cradle of the South Downs National Park’.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she said: “Even Disney couldn’t create Alfriston. For a start they’d get the scones all wrong.

“Brim-full of historic charm this Sussex village has a green, or “Tye,” in the shadow of a splendid church, a generous sprinkling of listed buildings exhibiting knapped flint walls, a trio of ye olde pubs, a lowland river, a village square, a chalk figure standing watch on nearby chalk downland and a claim to fame in Alfriston Clergy House, which was the first building to be saved by the National Trust.

“This thatched-roofed beauty has a cottage garden and a meddler tree in the rear orchard. Tea stops include Badgers and the refreshingly un-twee Singing Kettle (with arguably the best scones in East Sussex).

“It’s not just the village, but what’s on the doorstep. Friston Forest, the Cuckmere Valley, Beachy Head, Drusillas Park and the undulating vineyards of Rathfinny make Alfriston worthy of a long weekend.

“Ditchling, at the foot of Ditchling Beacon, is the unofficial cradle of the South Downs National Park.

“It was here, in 2009, that then secretary of state the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP signed the order creating the UK’s newest National Park.

“The village has over 40 listed buildings, among them Wings Place, also known as Anne of Cleves House, a divorce-settlement manor bestowed by Henry VIII.

“An arty heritage is celebrated at Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft, which shines a light on the stone carvers, carpenters, printers and weavers that made their home here, including sculptor and type designer Eric Gill and weaver Ethel Mairet.