The National Trust started in Sussex more than a century ago when Victorian conservationists bought a thatched Wealden hall.

Alfriston Clergy House cost just £10 in 1896 and its future was in doubt before this intervention. It is still open to the public each summer.

Since then the Trust has built up a remarkable portfolio of properties in Sussex, including four particularly associated with writers.

It also owns some of England’s greatest, most glorious gardens and has saved spectacular countryside in danger of development.

The most impressive Sussex home run by the Trust is Petworth House, which has long connections with the Egremont family.

It has the Trust’s finest collection of paintings including many by Turner, Van Dyck, Reynolds and Blake. For good measure, there are carvings by Grinling Gibbons.

The house is surrounded by a magnificent 700-acre deer park landscaped by Capability Brown.

Brown was also responsible for the beautifully designed gardens at Sheffield Park, particularly attractive at this time of year for its autumn colours.

Of equal beauty are Nyman’s Gardens at Handcross which have strong connections with Lord Snowdon, former husband of Princess Margaret.

The house, damaged by a severe fire, is only partially open but the gardens are a year-round attraction.

Wakehurst Place at Ardingly, the satellite of Kew in the Sussex countryside, is even more popular with the public.

Rather surprisingly it is the most visited property the Trust has, having overtaken Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.

Wakehurst is also home to the Millennium Seed Bank which conserves seeds from all over the world.

A more modest property is Woolbeeding Gardens near Midhurst which includes a Chinese-style bridge and a waterfall.

Standen near East Grinstead was designed by Philip Webb in the arts and crafts style.

He was a friend of the multi-talented William Morris.

Bodiam Castle near Robertsbridge is one of the most perfect castles in the country, coming complete with moat.

Uppark at South Harting was destroyed by fire in 1989 but has been faithfully rebuilt. The mother of HG Wells was housekeeper there and he gained his love of literature by studying books in the library.

Bateman’s near Burwash is associated with Rudyard Kipling and he spent the last 30 years of his life there. He moved from Rottingdean where he had been troubled by sightseers.

Lamb House in Rye was the home of the American novelist Henry James at the turn of the last century.

Later it was occupied by EF Benson who based several of his novels on the town and was eventually chosen to be Mayor.

Monk’s House in the pretty village of Rodmell was the country home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf until she committed suicide in 1941 by drowning herself in the River Ouse. Leonard continued to live there until his death in 1969.

The Trust saved splendid coastal countryside between Birling Gap and Beachy Head by purchasing it when it was under threat.

It also rescued Southwick Hill by forcing the Government to dig a deep tunnel for the Brighton bypass. Other nearby holdings include the Devil’s Dyke, Newtimber Hill, Saddlescombe Farm and the Fulking Escarpment.

Most of the major properties are still open to the public during the early autumn, while some of the gardens are open all year round. Few if any counties are better served by the Trust than Sussex.