More than almost any other village in Sussex, Ditchling has been home to artists, writers and entertainers.

It all started just over a century ago when the sculptor Eric Gill, who was born in Brighton, arrived there to form an artists’ community.

After the First World War, he moved north of the village to Ditchling Common, setting up the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic. Pupils included the young artist David Jones who soon began a relationship with Gill’s daughter Petra.

Jones found fame both as a poet and an artist, frequently using Petra as a model for his work.

By this time nationally famous for his work, Gill moved to Wales to pursue a rural life.

His lasting legacy includes the typefaces Gill Sans and Perpetua, and the sculptures he produced for Broadcasting House in London.

Deeply religious and a fervent Roman Catholic, Gill was also sexually voracious and stories still abound in Ditchling of his strange behaviour.

Edward Johnson, regarded by many as the father of modern calligraphy, was a friend of Gill who followed him to Ditchling.

The printer and writer Hilary Pepler, who helped Gill found the Guild, was also a villager. A quarrel between the two men was the main reason Gill left Ditchling.

Another well-known artist was Sir Frank Brangwyn who lived a long time in Ditchling, dying there in 1956 at the age of 89.

Prolific in many of the arts, he produced more than 12,000 items during his long life. His best-known work was the enormous British Empire Panels, intended for the House of Lords but eventually rejected because they were too colourful.

The actor Sir Donald Sinden was brought up in Ditchling and achieved fame in the 1950s through his roles in classic British films such as The Cruel Sea.

Often derided as a theatrical ham, Sinden was always an accomplished actor able to play anything from farce to Shakespearean tragedies.

He is writing a memoir of Oscar Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, and believes he is the last person alive to have known him.

The artist and writer Raymond Briggs still lives in Ditchling. He is best known for his children’s books, such as Fungus The Bogeyman and Father Christmas. His book The Snowman was made into a popular animated film.

A sombre man with a sardonic wit, Briggs likes to portray himself as something of a curmudgeon. He was at one time a teacher at Brighton Art College.

The best-known current resident of Ditchling is Dame Vera Lynn who has been there for almost half a century.

She achieved fame in the Second World War as the Forces’ Sweetheart and her signature tune was We’ll Meet Again, which almost every serviceman could sing. Her patriotic song The White Cliffs of Dover was almost as popular.

Dame Vera was born in East London and was already a star before the war through her work with band leaders such as Joe Loss and Bert Ambrose.

Now 93, she is still active in the community and regularly turns out at village events. She married the saxophonist Harry Lewis who died in 1999. Last year she became the oldest person to have an album top the charts.

Work by many local artists are on show in Ditchling Museum, tucked away behind the village church.