Hailsham Museum Heritage Centre

The Heritage Centre sits in the heart of Hailsham, a market town that's easy to overlook if you're rushing between the coast and the Downs. Inside, it's a proper local history museum - the kind of place that makes you realise how much happened in a small Sussex town you'd never heard of. You'll find Roman finds, medieval artefacts, and loads of material about the iron industry that once kept this place ticking. The museum isn't huge, so two hours is realistic unless you're genuinely obsessed with local archaeology.

Families with older kids will get more from it than under-tens - there's no interactive play area, just cases and panels. Walkers and history buffs are the real audience here. It's the sort of place you'd slot into a rainy afternoon while camped at Warren Wood Country Park or Fontmills Farm Campsite, both within a few miles.

The town itself has decent high street shops and a couple of cafes, so you can make a proper morning or afternoon of it. Worth checking opening hours before you go - these small heritage centres sometimes shut mid-week or keep odd hours. Admission is usually modest, sometimes free, but ring ahead to be sure. Pevensey, just a few miles south, offers more dramatic history with its castle, so you could combine both if you're doing a heritage trail through East Sussex.