Publications
A medieval saltern mound at Millfields Caravan Park, Bramber, West Sussex, by Victoria Ridgeway, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.135-152) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:Archaeological evaluation and excavation work in advance of redevelopment at the former Millfields Caravan Park, Bramber, West Sussex in 1997, revealed evidence of sporadic occupation dating from the medieval period to the present. The site was located adjacent to the strongly tidal, and originally estuarine, River Adur, approximately 6.4 kilometres inland from Shoreham-by-Sea.
Although residual prehistoric flintwork was recovered, the earliest excavated feature was a ditch of probable early medieval date which suggests attempts to drain the open marshland of the estuarine floodplain. Subsequently, washed silts and sands deriving from medieval salt manufacture were deposited, forming a saltern mound used intermittently from the 13th into the 16th century. The mound showed evidence of sporadic flooding until the mid-16th century, by which time the River Adur had been fully embanked and the land was used as pasture. A saw-pit was in operation by the early 19th century, possibly in connection with a wharf known from documentary sources.
This paper is primarily concerned with the evidence for salt manufacture. The saltern mound, buried beneath alluvium and previously undocumented, joins the many examples known to have been in operation in the valley during the late Saxon and medieval periods, but is the first to be extensively excavated and the first to produce evidence of buildings.
Although residual prehistoric flintwork was recovered, the earliest excavated feature was a ditch of probable early medieval date which suggests attempts to drain the open marshland of the estuarine floodplain. Subsequently, washed silts and sands deriving from medieval salt manufacture were deposited, forming a saltern mound used intermittently from the 13th into the 16th century. The mound showed evidence of sporadic flooding until the mid-16th century, by which time the River Adur had been fully embanked and the land was used as pasture. A saw-pit was in operation by the early 19th century, possibly in connection with a wharf known from documentary sources.
This paper is primarily concerned with the evidence for salt manufacture. The saltern mound, buried beneath alluvium and previously undocumented, joins the many examples known to have been in operation in the valley during the late Saxon and medieval periods, but is the first to be extensively excavated and the first to produce evidence of buildings.