⇐ S.A.C. 1999 (vol. 137)S.A.C. 2001 (vol. 139) ⇒
Sussex Archaeological Collections: Relating to the history and antiquities of East and West Sussex, published 2000 (vol. 138, Sussex Archæological Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
The importance of illustration in archaeology and the exemplary work of Robert Gurd, by Sean Goddard, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.7-14) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:This article contends that Robert Gurd's portfolio of published drawings of archaeological landscapes, sites and finds, made from the 1910s to his death in 1938, is a fine example for today's archaeological illustrator. The importance of line drawing in the recording of archaeological sites is re-stated and evaluated and Gurd's contribution to the Sussex record is assessed in that light.
Important archaeological discoveries made during the construction of the A259 Rustington Bypass, 1990, by David R. Rudling and Oliver Gilkes, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.15-28) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:A watching brief and rescue excavations during the construction of the A259 Rustington Bypass revealed finds and features of the prehistoric and Roman periods. A concentration of Roman remains at the northern end of Penfold Lane was of particular importance. These included a number of Roman quernstones and millstones, nearby undated waterlogged timbers and, given the proximity of a watercourse (the 'Black Ditch'), these may indicate a connection with water milling. This article reports upon the most significant findings.
A Mesolithic Site at Rock Common, Washington, West Sussex, by Phil Harding, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.29-48) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:A concentration of Middle-Late Mesolithic flint work was recorded by excavation at Rock Common, Washington, West Sussex (NGR 513114). The excavation (>130 square metres) occupied an area of the site known as 'The Rough' and was defined by test-pitting within an area of 1750 square metres, above the 70 metres OD contour. The Mesolithic assemblage comprised over 50,000 pieces of worked flint, including Horsham microliths and microburins. There were some residual finds of Late Glacial artefacts. The material appears to have been largely in situ, although localized vertical and horizontal movement of artefacts through the sandy subsoil has led to a blurring of spatial patterning. The distribution is interpreted as suggesting that re-tooling and repairing of hunting equipment was undertaken around a series of hearths, represented by burnt flint. Some Neolithic flintwork was also recovered.
Colluvial deposits located at the base of the slope ('hill wash') on the edge of The Rough were also sampled and found to contain derived Mesolithic material. A 'hollow way' bisecting The Rough was also sampled and contoured and seen to include a palaeosol thought to contain Late Glacial artefacts.
Colluvial deposits located at the base of the slope ('hill wash') on the edge of The Rough were also sampled and found to contain derived Mesolithic material. A 'hollow way' bisecting The Rough was also sampled and contoured and seen to include a palaeosol thought to contain Late Glacial artefacts.
Rock shelter stratigraphy: Excavations at Eridge, by Christopher Greatorex and Mike Seager Thomas, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.49-56) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:Excavation of two rock shelters at Eridge during 1999 yielded close to 500 struck flints of Mesolithic date and evidence of possible Late Iron Age/Early Romano-British iron-smelting. Although disturbed by animal activity, the relationship of the finds to each other and to the sediments in which they were found indicated the existence of former land surfaces and activity areas. Buried positive features, including two hearths and a pour of tap-slag, were also identified.
Updating the Sussex Iron Age, by Sue Hamilton and Kate Gregory, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.57-74) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:This article reviews the progress made in Sussex 'Iron Age' studies using a comparison of the data available in the 1930s with those available in the 1990s. In the 1930s Sussex was pre-eminent in the research of the period, through the fieldwork of the Curwens and others, and the pottery studies of Hawkes. By the end of the century things were very different. Present-day fieldwork and publication take place in changed contexts, and our research questions are wholly different. The old evidence has to be reused. This article provides a guide to this transformation. The present importance of the Sussex 1st-millennium BC data set is in its regionalism, both within the county, and in its divergence from the wider 'Iron Age' traditions of southern Britain as a whole.
New evidence for the origins, development and Internal morphology of the Roman roadside settlement at Alfoldean, by Mike Luke and Jackie Wells, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.75-102) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:Fieldwork undertaken over the past two decades has provided new insights into the Roman roadside settlement at Alfoldean. The results are significant for the interpretation not only of Alfoldean but also of similar sites within Sussex and lowland Britain as a whole. Intermittent investigation by Luke and others has included earthwork survey, field artefact collection, aerial photograph analysis and the salvage recording of a roadside trench dug through the site. Prior to this, work had focused on the mansion enclosure immediately south of the River Arun. The new evidence demonstrates that this is only a small part of a much larger settlement that originated in 1st century AD, possibly as one of a chain of deliberately planned settlements on the Chichester to London road (Stane Street). At its greatest extent it covered an area of over nine hectares
Measurement and metaphor: the design and meaning of Building 3 at Fishbourne Roman Palace, by John Manley, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.103-114) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:The line of thought presented in this article was prompted by a practical exercise, organized by the author, at Fishbourne Roman Palace in the summer of 1999. The main aim of that work was to elucidate how the surveyors and architects of nearly two thousand years ago had laid out the ground-plan of a Roman building (which we call 'Building 3'), uncovered between 1995 and 1999. That functional aim was achieved relatively quickly and easily. However, in reading more widely on the subject of Roman architectural practice, it became evident to me that there were other layers of meaning, apart from the geometry of ground-plans and specifics of Roman units of measurement. Considering the writings of Vitruvius prompted ideas about how the builders and users of Building 3 might have employed symmetry, experienced harmony, and read different metaphors into that particular masonry building. Indeed, the very units of measurement could have been drawn from the metaphor of the human body. These concepts are presented in this article. These ideas are stimulating, and even provocative; they suggest new and different ways of looking at a whole range of Roman buildings and this article reveals a potential for further enquiry, in the hope that in due course someone will realize that potential.
The spire of Holy Trinity Church, Bosham, West Sussex, by F. G. Aldsworth, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.115-134) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:The spire of Holy Trinity Church, Bosham, was the subject of study in 1998 whilst the structure was undergoing routine repair and maintenance. It can be demonstrated that, whilst the mast and cross-trees were replaced in 1841 and some other alterations have been made, much of the surviving structure, including most of the rafters, was built in a single phase of construction from timbers felled in the winter of 1405/06 and the summer of 1406. The Romanesque corbel-table at the top of the tower, which supports the spire, is discussed in greater detail than previously but it continues to be ascribed on comparative and stylistic grounds to the period c. 1080-1110.
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.
Lewes Library Society: the early years, 1785-1831, by Daniel Waley and Jeremy Goring, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.153-164) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:In 1785 a small group of Lewesians, led by a surgeon, Joseph Ridge, founded a Library Society to acquire serious books. Members numbered 28 in 1786, 60 by 1792 and 90 by the early 19th century. A marked dissenting and radical connection - particularly with the Westgate Presbyterian Meeting - is detectable among the early members. The Society's holdings numbered about 1000 volumes by 1794 and over 3000 by 1827, in the earliest surviving catalogue. A volume recording loans in 1786 is a rare and important survival in the Society's archive (in the East Sussex Record Office) and makes it possible to compare the Society's tastes in reading with those of a contemporary Library Society in Bristol. The initial policy of purchasing serious works was continued. This applied to works on political, social, religious, philosophical, economic, legal and scientific topics, though these were leavened with writings on travel, poetry and some fiction and lighter fare.
The Broyle Enclosure, 1767-71, by John E. Kay, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.165-189) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:The enclosure of the Broyle, a large deer-park that also served as the main area of common land for the parishes of Ringmer, Glynde and South Malling, was brought about by a private Act of Parliament of 1767. This was the first Parliamentary Enclosure Act in the county of Sussex and one of the largest. The enclosure was hotly contested and an unusual amount of background information has survived, allowing insight into the exercise of power and influence in this 18th-century rural community and identification of the interest-groups promoting and opposing enclosure.
The origins of Thomas Turner, by Roger Davey, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.191-219) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:This paper investigates the family background of Thomas Turner (1729-93), shopkeeper (mercer) and diarist of East Hoathly, and supplements the work of previous writers on the subject. It identifies a number of relatives named in the diary as members of the Ovenden family of Boarshead, Rotherfield (his mother's connections), and shows how his father John Turner alias Fann rose from illegitimate beginnings in the Groombridge area of Sussex and Kent to be himself both a mercer at Groombridge (later Framfield), and the owner of a 74-acre farm at Chiddingstone Hoath in Kent.
The diarist's paternal grandmother, Sarah Fann, later married to Thomas Bennett, is shown to have been of a Frant yeoman family with London trading connections. His paternal grandfather cannot be certainly identified, but is likely to have been from a family of farmers in the Ashurst/Groombridge area of Kent, closely related to the Turners of Alksford Farm, Withyham, by whom John Turner may have been brought up. Links are demonstrated to the Constables and Combridges, earlier mercers at Groombridge, and to John Luck of Penshurst, from whom in 1712 John Turner inherited his farm.
The diarist's paternal grandmother, Sarah Fann, later married to Thomas Bennett, is shown to have been of a Frant yeoman family with London trading connections. His paternal grandfather cannot be certainly identified, but is likely to have been from a family of farmers in the Ashurst/Groombridge area of Kent, closely related to the Turners of Alksford Farm, Withyham, by whom John Turner may have been brought up. Links are demonstrated to the Constables and Combridges, earlier mercers at Groombridge, and to John Luck of Penshurst, from whom in 1712 John Turner inherited his farm.
Lower Palaeolithic surface finds from northern scarp of the Downs at Kithurst Hill, near Storrington, West Sussex, by Matthew Pope, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, shorter article, pp.221-222) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Mesolithic and later flintwork from Moon's Farm, Piltdown, East Sussex, by Chris Butler, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, shorter article, pp.222-224) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
A Neolithic polished axe from Barcombe, by Chris Butler, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, shorter article, pp.224-225) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
New evidence for Saxo-Norman settlement at Chantry Green House, Steyning, West Sussex, 1989, by Maureen Bennell, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, shorter article, pp.225-231) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
St Cuthman's book?, by Janet Pennington, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, shorter article, p.231) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Three Lewes Martyrs of 1557, by Roger Davey, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, shorter article, pp.231-234) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online
Why did Horsfield leave Lewes?, by Jeremy Goring, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, shorter article, pp.234-235) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library View Online