Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft

The museum sits in a converted 16th-century house on the high street in Ditchling, just outside Hassocks, and it's genuinely worth stopping for if you're camping nearby. The collection focuses on the Arts and Crafts movement - think hand-printed textiles, wood engravings, metalwork, and ceramics from artists who actually lived and worked in the village during its creative heyday. You'll see work by Eric Gill and other craftspeople who made Ditchling a proper hub for makers between the wars.

It's a small museum, so budget an hour to ninety minutes rather than half a day. The rooms are intimate and the pieces are shown with real thought - no sterile glass cases, just objects displayed as though someone genuinely lives with them. For anyone interested in design history, typography, or craft techniques, it's absorbing. Less so if you're after dinosaurs or interactive displays. Kids aged ten-plus might engage if they've got patience, but younger ones will fidget.

The village itself is lovely for a wander after - proper Downland character with independent shops. If you're staying at Southdown Way just down the road, or any of the other campsites scattered along the Sussex Downs (Blackberry Wood's close too), this makes a rainy afternoon plan that actually pays off. Entry costs a few quid, I believe, though best check ahead.