My Dad, still alive, remembers the Balsdean hamlet. In more recent decades he loved walks in those quiet chalk valleys (Coombes) .... literally Far From The Madding Crowd.
Battle and Rye are endearing, plenty of history, a step back in time with eg independent shops.
But as a Brightonian, to live elsewhere I’d miss all the access here to all forms of sport/exercise, a wide array of restaurants and living in the sticks would be very restrictive to our teenagers...