Bibliography - Sussex Past & Present, nos. 126-128, 2012
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Sussex Past & Present: The Sussex Archaeological Society Newsletter No. 126, edited by Wendy Muriel, published April 2012 (Sussex Archæological Collections, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The Role of ESAMP: Training opportunities & community engagement, by Tristan Bareham, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, article, p.5, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Whilst climbing the stairs to reach the Parlour in Anne of Cleves House Museum at Lewes, visitors may have noticed the office of the East Sussex Archaeology and Museums Partnership (ESAMP), a collaborative initiative between East Sussex County Council and the Sussex Archaeological Society. ESAMP has been a partner of the Society since 1984. It has two main aims:

• To provide training and learning opportunities for adults within the heritage sector.
• To make the rich cultural and environmental heritage of Sussex accessible to the wider public.

What's Going On in Sussex: A round-up of local archaeological excavations, by Luke Barber, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, article, p.6, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Obituary: David Richard Aubrey Atkinson FSA, 1934-2011, by Luke Barber, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, obituary, p.7, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The Wreck of the Fairfax: A fifth foreshore wreck below the Seven Sisters, by E & B Jarzembowski, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, article, p.8, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

At 6am on Thursday 10th February 1881, a leaking, three-masted steam screw ship called the Fairfax ploughed across the flint and chalk platform near the then Crowlink coastguard station. Made of iron and weighing 930 tons, she slid to a halt with the bowsprit just yards from the cliff face. Fortunately, the tide was falling and help was at hand from the nearby station. All aboard were rescued without serious injury, despite a perilous assembly on a chalk boulder. The shipwreck briefly became an Eastbourne tourist attraction before being sold off at auction on the 18th February. After the March inquest in London (maritime procedures moved fast then), the Fairfax was all but forgotten - until a rusty rib was spotted on an equinoctial tide in 2007, during an unsuccessful hunt for fossil reptiles.

Obituary: Dr Peter Brandon,1927-2011, by Brian Short and Ann Winser, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, obituary, p.9, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Butser Ancient Farm: Recreating ancient lifestyles, by Sarah Hannah, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, article, pp.10-11, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

This experimental archaeological project was first set up in 1972 by Dr Peter Reynolds, using archaeological discoveries to test ideas on how people in Britain farmed and lived in the Iron Age (around 300BCE). An earlier site was located on the slopes of Butser Hill within Queen Elizabeth Country Park, but following park development the farm was moved to its present site, an idyllic valley close to the village of Chalton some 4km south of Butser Hill, in 1990.

Battle of Lewes Embroidery, by Wendy Muriel, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, article, p.11, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Lewes's answer to the Bayeux Tapestry is well under way - work started in July 2011 on the first and fifth panel of what will ultimately be a 3 metre long x 60cm deep depiction of the battle, designed by local artist Tom Walker, between Simon de Monfort and King Henry III that was fought at Lewes on 14th May 1264.

Obituary: Marion Suckling, 1913-2011, by Esme Evans, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, obituary, p.12, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Rocky Clump Excavation: Enclosure revealed in latest dig, by John Funnell, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, article, p.13, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

In April 2011 the Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society returned to Rocky Clump, Stanmer, Brighton. For the past two decades the Society has been digging in the field to the north of the copse of trees finding pits, post holes, ditches and artefacts from the Late Iron Age and Romano-British periods. This year the excavations move to the field south of the copse to seek evidence for the actual settlement. A geophysical survey conducted several years ago indicated a number of circular anomalies which could be round house platforms. A number of trial trenches were therefore marked ready for investigation.

Sussex Past & Present: The Sussex Archaeological Society Newsletter No. 127, edited by Wendy Muriel, published August 2012 (Sussex Archæological Collections, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Tidemills Allotment Gardens: "according to the historic maps there's nothing here!", by Luke Barber, published August 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 127, article, pp.4-5, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The main 2011 work concentrated on the old allotments. All the historic maps, including the Tithe map show this area as open ground within the village. The 'busiest' map (the 1st edition OS of 1880) shows a small lean-to structure in the SW corner and several paths crossing the area but the 1937 map shows nothing again.

Chiddingly Wood Rocks: Prehistoric occupation sites and a hermit's hideaway, by Sarah Hanna, published August 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 127, article, p.6, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

A report by Mike Allen, Andrew Maxted and Richard Carter (SP&P 115, August 2008) drew attention to the potential of the High Weald for evidence of Mesolithic activity, and Richard Carter led a Society walk here in June 2010. This popular event was repeated twice, most recently in February 2012. Chiddingly Wood Rocks are an outcrop of sandstone on the southern edge of the High Weald at West Hoathly, West Sussex, visited by kind permission of the landowner. The first site encountered was a rock shelter named Adulam's Cave (perhaps from Cave of Adullam connected with biblical King David). The shelter was reputedly occupied by a hermit until early in the 20th century, and its chimney now houses a colony of bats. Although never excavated, flint tools were found there, and we noticed disturbance by animals and signs of recent fires under the rock shelter. Richard suggested the ledge outside was a possible site of prehistoric activity, while above the shelter the escarpment rocks form part of the defences of Philpotts Camp, a promontory hillfort.

Brighton History Database: New research tool available on Society website, published August 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 127, article, p.7, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

As a by-product of the work currently being undertaken by Sue Berry to produce a new volume of the Victoria County History series, a searchable database: 'Packham Index to Brighton and Hove in the Sussex Weekly Advertiser 1750 to1806' is now available via the Library page of our website. This will be useful to those who have an interest in the history of Brighton.

Battle of Lewes Conference: The beginnings of parliamentary democracy explored, by Mike Chartier and Edwina Livesey, published August 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 127, article, p.8, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The Regency in Sussex: A brief period that had a lasting influence, by Sue Berry, published August 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 127, article, p.9, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The Regency lasted just nine years, from 1811 when King George III was considered unable to rule and the Prince Regent ruled as proxy, until he became George IV in 1820. Historically, the Regency period now usually stretches from about 1800 until the end of the reign of William IV, in 1837. The period was one of great expansion and confidence followed by a recession which hit Sussex quite hard, beginning here in the late 1820s and lasting into the early 1840s. In Sussex, the first twenty years of prosperity was a time of significant changes to the landscape and economy. Investment flowed into coaching inns, houses, turnpikes, ports, canals and other enterprise.

Probing the Willingdon Levels: . . . and Shinewater from afar, by Michael J. Allen, published August 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 127, article, pp.10-11, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

As a response to a development proposal for a superstore at Arkwright Road, Eastbourne a programme of archaeological investigation was required by the county council and borough council. The area is currently an industrial estate built in the early 1980s on a raft of 1m of imported chalk and lies on the edge of the Willingdon Levels. Earlier significant discoveries of well preserved Neolithic to Roman waterlogged artefacts, structures, platforms and trackways and palaeoenvironmental evidence considered to be nationally important, have highlighted the archaeological and palaeo-environmental potential of the peat and alluvial deposits in this area. The presence of extensive waterlogged deposits are rare in south east England and the potential for pollen referencing not only local wetlands, but also the vegetation of the chalk which is essentially devoid of pollen was clearly important.

The 'Near Lewes' Hoard: Society launches appeal to acquire treasures for Barbican House, by Stephanie Smith and Emma O'Connor, published August 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 127, article, p.13, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Sussex Past & Present: The Sussex Archaeological Society Newsletter No. 128, edited by Wendy Muriel, published December 2012 (Sussex Archæological Collections, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Culver Archaeological Project: An intriguing first seven years, by David Millum and Rob Wallace, published December 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 128, article, pp.4-5, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

For the last seven years the Culver Archaeological Project (CAP), under director Rob Wallace, has been investigating the historical environment of the Upper Ouse Valley in the parishes of Barcombe and Ringmer. In 2005 Rob had discovered a substantial Roman road running to the east of the Barcombe villa complex, heading north east through the fields of Culver Farm, where CAP's subsequent fieldwork has been undertaken.

Best Finds of the Year: The Finds Liaison Officer reports on significant finds of 2012, by Stephanie Smith, published December 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 128, article, pp.6-7, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Obituary: Alan Stevens, 1934-2012, by Tim Hudson, published December 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 128, obituary, p.7, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Excavations at Fishbourne: Old spoil heaps still have a story to tell!, by Dr. Rob Symmons, published December 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 128, article, p.9, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

For the first time since 2002, a research excavation has been undertaken at Fishbourne Roman Palace, but this was not an excavation in the conventional sense. In March this year we took a sample of approximately one tonne from the spoil heaps created in the 1960s when the Palace was originally excavated. Of course, the sample was of mixed and unstratified excavation waste. It contained modern artefacts such as bottle tops, nails and 20th century coins that were left by the archaeologists nearly 50 years ago, but crucially also any Roman material that they did not recover or deliberately discarded.

The Piltdown Conference: Truth and Lies from the Deep Sussex Past, by Liz Somerville, published December 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 128, article, p.10, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online