Little Guide to Sussex, by Frederick Gaspard Brabant, M.A., published 1900 (London: Methuen & Co.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 32][Lib 12331]
The Domesday Inquest, by Adolphus Ballard, published 1906 (Methuen)
Hills and the Sea, by Hilaire Belloc, published 1906 (London: Methuen & Co.) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries View Online
Rambles in Sussex, by Frederick Gaspard Brabant, M.A., published 1909 (London: Methuen & Co.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15313] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries View Online
The Green Roads of England: with 24 illustrations by W. Collins, by Robert Hippisley Cox, published 1914 (Methuen & Co. Ltd.) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
Downland Pathways, by A. Hadrian Allcroft, published 1922 (xi + 292 pp., London: Methuen Publishing Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 100] & British Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Our Sussex Parish, by Thomas Geering, published 1925 (London: Methuen & Co.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Bypaths in Downland with 58 illustrations, by Barclay Wills, published 1927 (xvi + 185 pp., London: Methuen Publishing Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15842] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Dowland Treasure with 30 illustrations, by Barclay Wills, published 1929 (London: Methuen Publishing Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15069] & West Sussex Libraries
The Waters of Arun, by A. Hadrian Allcroft, published 1931 (London: Methuen Publishing Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2757] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Review in Sussex Notes and Queries, May 1931:This interesting book has been published in instalments in the Sussex County Magazine during 1930 and is now issued in one volume. The lamented death of its gifted author took place before it was in print and the duty of seeing it through the press has been a labour of love by his friend Dr. Eliot Curwen.
It is a most careful study of the river and its shifting course and is an excellent example of the right combination of documentary history and of what may be called Field-Work although applied to a river.
It is a most careful study of the river and its shifting course and is an excellent example of the right combination of documentary history and of what may be called Field-Work although applied to a river.
The Old Contempories [includes John Horne and John Rickman], by Edward Verrall Lucas, published 1935 (London: Methuen & Co.)
With a Spade on Stane Street, by S. E. Winbolt, published 1936 (Methuen & Co.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12565] & West Sussex Libraries
Review by I. D. Margary in Sussex Notes and Queries, November 1936:This is a most welcome and timely addition to Sussex archaeology, for although Belloc's The Stane Street (1913) gives a very interesting account of the road, it has received severe criticism in Capt. W. A. Grant's The Topography of Stane Street (1922) on various technical grounds. Much additional evidence had since come to light, field-work methods have improved, and altogether an up-to-date treatise on this road had become urgently desirable to bring it into line with other roads in the county. Mr. Winbolt has studied Stane Street for many years and gives us an interesting and thorough account of its exact route and of the work done in tracing the more doubtful portions, most of it being his own. He is rarely satisfied with the evidence for these portions unless it includes actual metalling in situ, and one feels that at very few points can any doubt remain as to the exact position of the road. At a few points the line shown on the O.S. maps is found to need correction.
A valuable feature of the book, which is very well produced, on good paper and in very clear type, is the wealth of maps and illustrations, the latter well chosen to show typical portions of the visible but disused sections. A complete set of 6-inch map strips covers the whole route, and appropriate notes of remains, sections dug, and of the strict alignments on which the route was based (put in by Capt. Grant, R.E.) added upon them, give a very clear and accurate account of the exact course followed. There are also plans of special details en route, notably of the wayside Roman waterworks system at Grevatts Wood near Bignor, and of the Epsom and Ewell districts which presented certain difficult problems now cleared up.
This book will be the standard work on Stane Street for many years to come and Sussex archaeologists should be very grateful for receiving such an attractively produced and interesting account of an important piece of field-work and detailed study on one of the major antiquities of the county.
A valuable feature of the book, which is very well produced, on good paper and in very clear type, is the wealth of maps and illustrations, the latter well chosen to show typical portions of the visible but disused sections. A complete set of 6-inch map strips covers the whole route, and appropriate notes of remains, sections dug, and of the strict alignments on which the route was based (put in by Capt. Grant, R.E.) added upon them, give a very clear and accurate account of the exact course followed. There are also plans of special details en route, notably of the wayside Roman waterworks system at Grevatts Wood near Bignor, and of the Epsom and Ewell districts which presented certain difficult problems now cleared up.
This book will be the standard work on Stane Street for many years to come and Sussex archaeologists should be very grateful for receiving such an attractively produced and interesting account of an important piece of field-work and detailed study on one of the major antiquities of the county.
The Archaeology of Sussex, by E. Cecil Curwen, M.A., M.B., B.Ch., F.S.A., published 1937 (xviii + 338 pp., London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15996] & East Sussex Libraries
Review by A. Smith Woodward in Sussex Notes and Queries, February 1937:Dr. Cecil Curwen has contributed so much to our knowledge of prehistoric Sussex, that we welcome his new volume in the series of County Archaeologies, which is devoted chiefly to pre-Roman remains. It is based largely on researches in which he himself has taken part, or on earlier work which his independent personal observations have enabled him to appraise. He leaves little space for the relics of the Roman occupation, and for a few antiquities of doubtful age which he relegates to a chapter headed "Limbo". He does well to omit all reference to the Saxon period, which would have curtailed too much his valuable account of the earlier phases of life in the county.
Dr. Curwen's book is admirably written to interest the general reader, and has many features - such as the quotations in chapter headings - which will captivate. He illustrates and explains the discoveries in Sussex by frequent references to corresponding finds elsewhere, and to customs which are not familiar. He also provides ample drawings and photographs which are noteworthy for their excellence; and he adds a useful series of small maps of the county, showing the geographical distribution of the known remains of different periods. Nor is he unmindful of the specialist and the reader who will be led to go further, for he gives in footnotes numerous references to the papers and separate works in which the original descriptions and detailed information will be found.
After some important preliminary observations, Dr. Curwen proceeds to describe and discuss the Sussex evidence of the primeval hunters and food-gatherers of Palaeolithic times. He enlists the aid of Mr. Reid Moir, who furnishes the material for a table of correlation of the Pleistocene deposits of Sussex, and adds some interesting remarks on the discoveries at Piltdown. It appears that no undoubted late Palaeolithic implements have hitherto been found in Sussex, but Mesolithic flints are widely spread, sometimes in rock shelters. The late Mr. Lewis Abbott found many of these flints in a "kitchen-midden" below Hastings Castle, but Dr. Curwen points out that none of the pottery in this deposit can be earlier than the Iron Age, while some is mediaeval, so that the accumulation is of various dates.
The dawn of civilisation was reached in Neolithic times, which are represented in Sussex by camps, dwelling places, long barrows, and flint mines. Dr. Curwen remarks that too many of the hill forts have been described as Neolithic camps on insufficient evidence, and only four have hitherto been satisfactorily identified in Sussex. Twelve long barrows are known on the chalk downs, but there are no stone chambers or dolmens. If the barrows were originally chambered, wood may have been used as in a long barrow lately explored in Lincolnshire. There seems to be no longer any doubt as to the Neolithic date of the flint mines, the supposed palaeoliths being really neoliths in process of manufacture.
After a special discussion of the flint implements, Dr. Curwen concludes that the finest of them were probably made and used in the early part of the Bronze Age. This age seems to have lasted in Britain from about 2000 to 500 B.C., and is noteworthy for the beginning of agriculture which can be studied in settlements on the downs. Nearly a thousand round barrows or burial mounds of the period have been identified in Sussex, chiefly on the Downs, and they have yielded a valuable series of urns and implements of various kinds. Still more important are the hoards of bronze implements, of which tabulated lists are given.
With the Iron Age comes evidence of the first cities; and Cissbury, the Caburn, and other sites are well described. Dr. Curwen then adds a concise technical chapter on the development of pottery, by which the late Bronze Age and the successive phases of the Iron Age are distinguished. Next follows an equally concise account of Roman Sussex, which is well up to date like the rest of the book, and includes the results of Mr. I. D. Margary's studies on the Roman roads. Among the subjects in "Limbo" is the Long Man of Wilmington, which is said to be very ancient but of uncertain date.
Dr. Curwen has spared no pains in verifying the facts and consulting the original sources, and he has used for the first time the valuable MS. diary of Dr. Gideon A. Mantell, of which Dr. Eliot Curwen has given a copy to the library of the Sussex Archaeological Society in Lewes. It is sad to note how many of the older finds have been lost, but gratifying to learn how carefully everything of importance is now preserved. Dr. Curwen is indeed to be congratulated on having produced a most valuable and inspiring work which will foster both discovery and preservation.
Dr. Curwen's book is admirably written to interest the general reader, and has many features - such as the quotations in chapter headings - which will captivate. He illustrates and explains the discoveries in Sussex by frequent references to corresponding finds elsewhere, and to customs which are not familiar. He also provides ample drawings and photographs which are noteworthy for their excellence; and he adds a useful series of small maps of the county, showing the geographical distribution of the known remains of different periods. Nor is he unmindful of the specialist and the reader who will be led to go further, for he gives in footnotes numerous references to the papers and separate works in which the original descriptions and detailed information will be found.
After some important preliminary observations, Dr. Curwen proceeds to describe and discuss the Sussex evidence of the primeval hunters and food-gatherers of Palaeolithic times. He enlists the aid of Mr. Reid Moir, who furnishes the material for a table of correlation of the Pleistocene deposits of Sussex, and adds some interesting remarks on the discoveries at Piltdown. It appears that no undoubted late Palaeolithic implements have hitherto been found in Sussex, but Mesolithic flints are widely spread, sometimes in rock shelters. The late Mr. Lewis Abbott found many of these flints in a "kitchen-midden" below Hastings Castle, but Dr. Curwen points out that none of the pottery in this deposit can be earlier than the Iron Age, while some is mediaeval, so that the accumulation is of various dates.
The dawn of civilisation was reached in Neolithic times, which are represented in Sussex by camps, dwelling places, long barrows, and flint mines. Dr. Curwen remarks that too many of the hill forts have been described as Neolithic camps on insufficient evidence, and only four have hitherto been satisfactorily identified in Sussex. Twelve long barrows are known on the chalk downs, but there are no stone chambers or dolmens. If the barrows were originally chambered, wood may have been used as in a long barrow lately explored in Lincolnshire. There seems to be no longer any doubt as to the Neolithic date of the flint mines, the supposed palaeoliths being really neoliths in process of manufacture.
After a special discussion of the flint implements, Dr. Curwen concludes that the finest of them were probably made and used in the early part of the Bronze Age. This age seems to have lasted in Britain from about 2000 to 500 B.C., and is noteworthy for the beginning of agriculture which can be studied in settlements on the downs. Nearly a thousand round barrows or burial mounds of the period have been identified in Sussex, chiefly on the Downs, and they have yielded a valuable series of urns and implements of various kinds. Still more important are the hoards of bronze implements, of which tabulated lists are given.
With the Iron Age comes evidence of the first cities; and Cissbury, the Caburn, and other sites are well described. Dr. Curwen then adds a concise technical chapter on the development of pottery, by which the late Bronze Age and the successive phases of the Iron Age are distinguished. Next follows an equally concise account of Roman Sussex, which is well up to date like the rest of the book, and includes the results of Mr. I. D. Margary's studies on the Roman roads. Among the subjects in "Limbo" is the Long Man of Wilmington, which is said to be very ancient but of uncertain date.
Dr. Curwen has spared no pains in verifying the facts and consulting the original sources, and he has used for the first time the valuable MS. diary of Dr. Gideon A. Mantell, of which Dr. Eliot Curwen has given a copy to the library of the Sussex Archaeological Society in Lewes. It is sad to note how many of the older finds have been lost, but gratifying to learn how carefully everything of importance is now preserved. Dr. Curwen is indeed to be congratulated on having produced a most valuable and inspiring work which will foster both discovery and preservation.
Downland Year - Little sketches of the countryside for every day of the year, by Tickner Edwardes, published 1939 (v + 261 pp., London: Methuen & Co.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Sussex: The little guides, by Ronald F. Jessup, F.S.A., published 1949 (xii + 284 pp., Methuen & Batsford) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 55] & R.I.B.A. Library
The Archaeology of Sussex, by E. Cecil Curwen, published 1954 (2nd revised edition, 330 pp., London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 69] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Review by A. E. [Arundell Esdaile] in Sussex Notes and Queries, May 1956:In the seventeen years that have passed since the first edition of this book appeared, and even more in the twenty-five since the publication of the author's seminal work, Prehistoric Sussex, a long series of excavations has been carried out along the seaboard and Downlands of Sussex, largely by or for the Society and its affiliated bodies under archaeologists, whom to name would be invidious, inspired by the work of Dr. Curwen and his distinguished father. The book has been skilfully revised and brought up to date, without much disturbance of the text and illustrations of 1937. The footnotes, which abound in references to the Society's and other publications of the forties and fifties, form an easy guide to the revisions and additions. For example, we have accounts, inter alia, after Burstow's work on the Bronze Age site on Itford Hill and of Dr. A. E. Wilson's recent work at Chichester. While the book was in proof Dr. Curwen was able to record the startling recent exposure of the Piltdown forgery.
With the Iron Age, with which unfortunately the book had to conclude, we get out of prehistory into history, even before the Romans came. For example, we have the tin-copper coins from the Caburn. These barbaric copies of Gaulish coins, originating at Massilia, bear a head and a bull. Dr. Curwen suggests that the head represents Apollo; but may we not infer from the bull that it rather represents that other sun-god, dear to the Roman legions, Mithras? The present writer is no prehistorian - indeed so little of one that it is only now that his belief, acquired in school days at Lancing, that dewponds are prehistoric, was a delusion, and that they are not to be dated earlier than the eighteenth century. So it is with great hesitation that he offers the suggestion above.
To the Iron Age belongs the network of Roman roads from the coast and over the Weald, which Mr. Margary has done so much to map out. Dr. Curwen gives a clear, though necessarily brief, resume of Mr. Margary's conclusions.
The wartime activities of tanks, and the even more drastic post war effects of bulldozers, will make future archaeological work difficult, especially on the Downs, where prehistoric habitations were thickest. But they may provide fresh problems for the archaeologists of the thirtieth century.
With the Iron Age, with which unfortunately the book had to conclude, we get out of prehistory into history, even before the Romans came. For example, we have the tin-copper coins from the Caburn. These barbaric copies of Gaulish coins, originating at Massilia, bear a head and a bull. Dr. Curwen suggests that the head represents Apollo; but may we not infer from the bull that it rather represents that other sun-god, dear to the Roman legions, Mithras? The present writer is no prehistorian - indeed so little of one that it is only now that his belief, acquired in school days at Lancing, that dewponds are prehistoric, was a delusion, and that they are not to be dated earlier than the eighteenth century. So it is with great hesitation that he offers the suggestion above.
To the Iron Age belongs the network of Roman roads from the coast and over the Weald, which Mr. Margary has done so much to map out. Dr. Curwen gives a clear, though necessarily brief, resume of Mr. Margary's conclusions.
The wartime activities of tanks, and the even more drastic post war effects of bulldozers, will make future archaeological work difficult, especially on the Downs, where prehistoric habitations were thickest. But they may provide fresh problems for the archaeologists of the thirtieth century.
Brighton: Old Ocean's Bauble, by Edmund W. Gilbert, published 1954 (xvi + 275 pp., London: Methuen Publishing Ltd.) accessible at: R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries
Dark Age Britain: Studies presented to E. T. Leedes with a bibliography of his works, edited by D. B. Harden, published 1956 (Methuen & Co. Ltd.)
Review by T. S. in Sussex Notes and Queries, November 1956:This well-produced quarto volume, compiled from essays by 14 experts, was written as a token of affection and esteem, as a memorial to E. T. Leeds, who has rightly been called the "doyen of British Dark Age Archaeologists".
It has been divided into three portions: firstly, Roman and Celtic Survival; secondly, the Pagan and the Saxons; and lastly, the Christian Saxon and the Viking Age. Several of the chapters are of considerable interest, especially the one by Francoise Henry on "Irish enamels of the Dark Ages" and their relation to the Cloisonné techniques, and also D. B. Harden, "Essay on Glass Vessels in Britain and Ireland", and in which several specimens discovered in Sussex are illustrated, including the very fine example, now in Barbican House, from the Alfriston cemetery, and a quite remarkable one from Highdown, now in the Worthing Museum. There are several references to Sussex, and in his essay on the Anglo-Saxon settlement in Eastern England T.C. Lethbridge states, "Botanists nowadays express doubt on the former existence of impassable forests on the clay uplands".
Throughout the volume line plates and figures are of fine clear quality, and a great help in elucidating the text. A thoroughly sound good book.
It has been divided into three portions: firstly, Roman and Celtic Survival; secondly, the Pagan and the Saxons; and lastly, the Christian Saxon and the Viking Age. Several of the chapters are of considerable interest, especially the one by Francoise Henry on "Irish enamels of the Dark Ages" and their relation to the Cloisonné techniques, and also D. B. Harden, "Essay on Glass Vessels in Britain and Ireland", and in which several specimens discovered in Sussex are illustrated, including the very fine example, now in Barbican House, from the Alfriston cemetery, and a quite remarkable one from Highdown, now in the Worthing Museum. There are several references to Sussex, and in his essay on the Anglo-Saxon settlement in Eastern England T.C. Lethbridge states, "Botanists nowadays express doubt on the former existence of impassable forests on the clay uplands".
Throughout the volume line plates and figures are of fine clear quality, and a great help in elucidating the text. A thoroughly sound good book.