Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles north-east of the former. It is also the site of Brighton & Hove Albion's Falmer Stadium. Falmer village is divided by the A27 road. North of the dual carriageway are a few houses and a pub, with a footbridge linking to the southern part of the village, where a large pond is encircled by cottages and the parish church, dedicated to St. Lawrence. The two halves of the village are also linked by a road bridge just outside this circle of houses. The village pond, home to a population of ducks and geese, accounts for the name of the village: Old English for 'fallow pond'. Campuses of the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton are nearby, as is The Keep—East Sussex County Council's new archive and record office, which opened in 2013.
History
Before the Norman conquest of England, the manor of Falmer was held by Wilton Abbey. After the conquest most of it appears to have been given to Gundred, wife of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey. In the 11th century the village name was variously spelled Falemela, Falemere or Felesmere. Edward II visited Falmer in 1324. Charles I granted the manor to Edward Ditchfield in 1628 or 1629. He sold it to William Craven, who lost it because of his support of the King during the English Civil War. Due to the proximity of Falmer to the city ofBrighton and Hove, the parish has been substantially affected by the twentieth-century development of its large neighbour. Since the 1960s it has been home to the University of Sussex campus, and in the 1990s, the former Brighton Polytechnic Falmer campus became a principal base of the University of Brighton. The village lends its name to the University of Sussex's alumni magazine.
Governance
At a local level Falmer is governed by Falmer Parish Council. Its responsibilities include footpaths, street lighting, playgrounds and minor planning applications. The parish council has five seats. The next level of government is the district council. The parish of Falmer lies within the Kingston ward of Lewes District Council, which returns a single seat to the council. The election on the 7th May 2015 elected a Liberal Democrat. East Sussex County Council is the next tier of government, for which Falmer is within the Newhaven and Ouse Valley West division, with responsibility for Education, Libraries, Social Services, Civil Registration, Trading Standards and Transport. Elections for the County Council are held every four years. The Liberal Democrat Carla Butler was elected in the 2013 election. The UK Parliament constituency for Falmer is Lewes. The ConservativeMaria Caulfield, a local nurse, was elected in 2015 defeating the incumbent Liberal Democrat Norman Baker who was the constituency MP from 1997. At European level, Falmer is represented by the South-East region, which holds ten seats in the European Parliament. The June 2004 election returned 4 Conservatives, 2 Liberal Democrats, 2 UK Independence, 1 Labour and 1 Green.
Notable buildings
Falmer barn is a grade II* listed building, re-thatched this century.
Sport
play some home games in Falmer and have Sussex and Brighton universities students and staff as members.
Falmer is served by Falmer Station which lies on the East Coastway line, and next to this lies a facility belonging to the local water supply and treatment company.
Media
The village church may be seen as the location of a funeral in an episode of the BBC television comedy, Waiting for God.
