It is above the chalk cliffs of the South Downs about 6 miles (10 km) east of Brighton city centre, on the A259 road.

A 2007 excavation of the new Bovis Homes site west of Peacehaven Community School's playing fields unearthed evidence for a prehistoric settlement throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages.

He founded a company to develop the site, and also eventually built nearby town of Saltdean and parts of Rottingdean).

The Daily Express later sued Neville over the competition, holding that it was a scam, since he was offering "free" plots of land in the town as runner-up prizes but issuing them only on the payment of a conveyancing fee.

Mr Neville's publicity promoted the town as being an idyllic setting; sea air and simple lifestyle were thought to have aided good health.

The land was also cheap and, as a result, working-class families from the city started to buy plots and gradually build makeshift homes for weekends and holidays.

Inhabitants felt a sense of freedom in living off what they needed and enjoying a simpler life away from the busy, polluted city.

Others were constructed from former army huts, brought from North Camp near Seaford, a few of these still survive, having been given an outer concrete block wall (they can be identified by their oblong shape that tends to be end-on to the road).

Eventually the local council invested in water and electrical services and so people started to build more substantial houses.

After World War II, the local council introduced a zoning scheme in order to distinguish areas for improvement along the coast road.

[citation needed] The popular singer and comedian Gracie Fields bought a home in Peacehaven overlooking the sea.

In the 1950s, the carnival stalls were on the then vacant land on the NW corner of the South Coast Road (A259) and Dorothy Avenue.

[10] The point where the Prime meridian of the world crosses the coast is marked by a 3.5 m (11 ft) tall obelisk, commissioned by Charles Neville.

The county council for East Sussex has responsibility for education, libraries, social services, civil registration, trading standards and transport.

[citation needed] Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South East and ITV Meridian.

[27] Designed by architects Kaner Olette and engineers HOP & Crofton Consulting, the project includes a central activity café, children’s playgrounds, new cycle paths, skate park, and sports facilities.

[35] The 1979 film Quadrophenia starring Phil Daniels in the leading role as a mod named Jimmy also ended up in Peacehaven.

At the end of the film he finds out his idol, the suave mod "poster boy" Ace Face (played by Sting), is in reality a bellboy.

Punk band Peter and the Test Tube Babies formed in Peacehaven in 1978, and recall calling themselves the Banchood group for a short period.