Often churches are the oldest buildings in Sussex villages or towns but pubs can run them close in antiquity and generally boast more worshippers.

Hangleton Manor, dating from the 16th century, is the oldest secular building in Hove and one of the area's hidden delights.

Among its surprises are the Ten Commandments written in one room and a handsome dovecote in the garden.

Then there is the Colonnade, so close to the Theatre Royal in Brighton that many a famous actor has had a drink in there.

Like many pubs, it is reputed to be haunted, possibly by the same ghost of Victorian owner Ellen Nye Chart which is supposed to be in the theatre.

Some Sussex pubs have unusual, if not unique, features. Outside the Shepherd And Dog in Fulking there is a spring which never runs dry, even in the most severe droughts.

Water is also a feature at the Duke Of Cumberland in Henley near Midhurst, where fish in pools forming part of the garden are scooped out to provide meals for some customers.

Hastings has several old pubs, including the Anchor in George Street, one of many in Sussex said to have been used in the past by smugglers.

Donald Stuart says in his book Old Sussex Inns (Breedon Books, £9.99) that the Queen Adelaide in West Street may have been used by John Logie Baird when he was inventing television at nearby Lindon Crescent.

The Stag in All Saints Street has been celebrated for its collection of mummified cats. They belonged to a local witch called Hannah Clark and were bricked up alive as a precaution against the plague of 1665.

In some cases, pubs are best known for the eccentricities of their landlord. Take the Royal Oak at Hooksway, a tiny village nestling in the West Sussex Downs.

It was run for 64 years, until the Seventies, by one couple Alfred and Carrie Ainger, who kept it pleasantly old fashioned. Asked by the licensing authority about the sanitary arrangements, Mr Ainger replied, "I have nine acres of field".

The Ram in Firle was, according to Donald Stuart, run by the same couple for 77 years. George and Mary Hafflett, who gave up the licence in 1985, had a till which was able to give change from a sovereign.

Names can be significant. The Old House at Home in Chidham comes from a Victorian ballad about soldiers abroad dreaming of their native land.

The Flying Fish at Denton near Newhaven used to be called the Kicking Donkey. Its current name probably comes from seaplanes using Newhaven Harbour during the First World War.

It is probably the only pub of its name in the country, a distinction also enjoyed by the Black Rabbit at Offham near Arundel.

The Marlipins in Shoreham High Street derives its name from a 14thcentury board game. In Yapton, the Shoulder Of Mutton And Cucumber is named after a dish once popular with customers in coaching days.

The Snowdrop in Lewes might be thought to derive its name from the flower but the story is sadder than that. It stands on the site of Britain's worst avalanche, in 1836, when snow fell off the cliffs and engulfed the houses below, killing eight people.

Some Sussex pubs have a national reputation. Among them is the Spread Eagle in Midhurst, now part of a small chain of hotels and known for its food.

The Mermaid Inn at Rye is one of the oldest pubs in Britain, dating from 1156. Queen Elizabeth I is supposed to have stayed there.

In Crawley, the George was for years an important coaching inn between London and Brighton.

Many coaches changed horses there as it was almost the halfway point.

Dr Brighton's on the seafront takes its name from a description by Thackeray of the resort. It was frequented by Graham Greene on his visits to the South Coast.

The Piltdown Man near Lewes refers to the famous hoax almost a century ago, in which solicitor Charles Dawson claimed to have found a skull which was the missing link in evolution. It was not exposed until the Fifties.

Pubs are part of Sussex history and the only pity is many of them have closed in recent years because of changes in people's drinking and eating habits.

But, as Old Sussex Inns reminds us, there are still plenty to savour.