Bibliography - Bishopstone, Lewes District, East Sussex
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Parish of Bishopstone, by Thomas Walker Horsfield, published 1835 in The History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex (vol. I, rape of Pevensey, pp.270-272) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2396][Lib 3211] & The Keep [LIB/507380][Lib/500087] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

On Bishopstone Church, with some General Remarks on the Churches of East Sussex, by W. Figg, published 1849 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 2, article, pp.272-284) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2087] & The Keep [LIB/500221] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Monumental Inscriptions, Bishopstone. 1867, by H. Simmons, published 1867 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 19, article, pp.185-188) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2104] & The Keep [LIB/500238] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Bishopston, incorrectly Bishopstone, by Mark Antony Lower, M.A., published 1870 in A Compendious History of Sussex, Topographical, Archaeological & Anecdotal (vol. I, pp.54-56, Lewes: George P. Bacon) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8946][Lib 3314] & The Keep [LIB/500159]   View Online

Ordnance Survey Book of Reference to the plan of the Parish of Bishopstone, published 1874 (article, London: H.M.S.O. & printed at George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode)   View Online

The Ancient Church of Bishopston, in Sussex, by W. Heneage Legge, published July 1903 in The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist (new series, vol. IX, article, pp.173-185, London: Bemrose & Sons Ltd.)   View Online

The Bishopstone Saxon Sundial, by S.N.Q. contributor, published November 1928 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. II no. 4, note, p.126) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8951] & The Keep [LIB/500204] & S.A.S. library

The Tide-Mill, Bishopstone, by Rev. Frederic Willett, published 1934 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. VIII no. 6, article, pp.367-369) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9329] & The Keep [LIB/500177]

Meeching Ferry and Stockferry, by Laurence F. Field, published May 1935 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. V no. 6, article, pp.171-174) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2204][Lib 8223][Lib 8862] & The Keep [LIB/500207] & S.A.S. library

Guide to the Parish Church of St. Andrew, Bishopstone, edited by Walter H. Godfrey, published 1948 (Sussex Churches No. 9, pamphlet, Sussex Archæological Society) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6520] & R.I.B.A. Library

The Parish Church of St Andrew, Bishopstone, by Walter H. Godfrey, F.S.A., published 1948 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 87, article, pp.164-183) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2172] & The Keep [LIB/500342] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The burial-place of St. Lewinna, by George R. Stephens, published 1959 in Mediaeval Studies (vol. 21, article, pp.303-312)

The only woman martyr associated with Sussex. Leofwynn of Bishopstone, also known as Lewinna or Leofwynn, lived in the seventh century.

Ferries in Sussex, continued, by G. D. Johnston, published November 1966 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XVI no. 8, article, pp.277-279) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8234] & The Keep [LIB/500218] & S.A.S. library

Bishopstone Cemetery, published September 1970 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 1, article, p.2) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

The excavations on Rookery Hill, under the direction of David Thomson, have revealed, inter alia, a cemetery of 118 graves of early Saxon date

Excavations 1970: Bishopstone Cemetery, by Martin G. Bell, published March 1971 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 2, article, pp.2-3) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Excavations on Rookery Hill, Bishoptone, Sussex: an interim report, 1968-71, by Martin G. Bell, published 1972 (24 pp., University of Sussex Archaeological Society, ISBN-10: 0903654008 & ISBN-13: 9780903654005) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Excavations 1971: Rookery Hill, Bishopstone, by Martin G. Bell, published March 1972 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 5, article, p.4) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Excavations 1972: Bishopstone, by Martin G. Bell, published March 1973 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 9, article, pp.34-35) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Bishopstone Tidemills, by S. Farrant, published 1975 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 113, shorter notice, pp.199-202) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6177] & The Keep [LIB/500316] & S.A.S. library

Excavations 1974: Bishopstone, by Martin G. Bell, published March 1975 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 15, article, p.65) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Farm Formation in Eighteenth-Century Bishopstone, by Sue Farrant, published 1976 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 114, shorter notice, pp.335-336) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6476] & The Keep [LIB/500315] & S.A.S. library

Excavations 1975: Bishopstone, Rookery Hill, by Martin G. Bell, published April 1976 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 18, article, pp.80-81, ISSN: 0307-2568) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex. Documentary Sources, by Dennis Haselgrove, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.243-250) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex: the Environmental and Economical Evidence, by Various Authors, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.267-291) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex. Introduction, by Martin Bell, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.1-6) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex. the Neolithic Period, by Martin Bell, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.7-44) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex. the Bronze Age Period, by Martin Bell, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.45-48) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex. the Iron Age Period, by Martin Bell, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.49-138) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex. the Romano-British Period, by Martin Bell, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.139-191) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex. the Anglo-Saxon Period, by Martin Bell, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.192-241) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex. the Field System, by Martin Bell, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.251-266) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

Excavation at Norton Farm, Bishopstone, by E. E. O'Shea, published December 1978 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 26, article, p.161, ISSN: 0307-2568) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

The Owtons of Bishopstone, by Alan Beattie, published September 1980 in Sussex Genealogist and Family Historian (vol. 2 no. 2, article, p.63) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8671] & The Keep [LIB/501188] & CD SXGS from S.F.H.G.

Owton is a family name which, during the 16th & 17th centuries, was very common in the coastal parishes of East Sussex, but does not occur now - at least in that spelling. One such family lived in the Bishopstone area.

A Study of the Chronological Development of the Bishopstone Lynchet by Least-Squares Analysis of the Distribution of Datable Artefacts, by L. Allen, published 1982 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 120, archaeological note, pp.207-209) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8620] & The Keep [LIB/500307] & S.A.S. library

Bishopstone. Samian Pottery Report (S.A.C. Vol 115, p.179), by Joanna Bird, published 1983 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 121, corrigenda, p.203) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8902] & The Keep [LIB/500308] & S.A.S. library

An Estuarine Mollusc from Bishopstone Village, by Ed Jarzembowski, published 1988 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 126, archaeological note, p.229) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10371] & The Keep [LIB/500303] & S.A.S. library

Religious Survey 1851 - Lewes district, edited by John A. Vickers, published August 1990 in The Religious Census of Sussex 1851 (Sussex Record Society, vol. 75, pp.74-94, ISBN-10: 085445036X & ISBN-13: 9780854450367) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10578][Lib 13824] & The Keep [LIB/500452][LIB/507827] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Lewes district incl. Ditchling, Wivelsfield, Westmeston, East Chiltington, Streat, Plumpton, Hamsey, Chailey, Newick, Barcombe, Ringmer, Glynde, Beddingham, West Firle, Ripe, Chalvington, Selmeston, Alciston, Berwick, Newhaven, East Blatchington, Bishopstone, Denton, Tarring Neville, Piddinghoe, Telscombe, Southease, Iford, Kingston-near-Lewes, Stanmer, Falmer, Rottingdean & Ovingdean

Bishopstone - Land Tax 1785, edited by Roger Davey, published 1991 in East Sussex Land Tax, 1785 (Sussex Record Society, vol. 77, p.22, ISBN-10: 0854450386 & ISBN-13: 9780854450381) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 11681][Lib 13075] & The Keep [LIB/500454][Lib/507860] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

East Sussex Census 1851 Index: Newhaven Area - Glynde, Beddingham, West Firle, Ripe, Chalvington, Selmeston, Alciston, Berwick, East Blatchington, Bishopstone, Denton, South Heighton, Tarring Neville, Newhaven, Piddinghoe, Southease, Telscombe, Rodmell, Iford, Kingston, Stanmer, Falmer, Rottingdean, and Ovendean, by June C. Barnes, published 1 March 1994 (vol. 23, booklet, 108 pp., C. J. Barnes & printed at Battle Instant Print Ltd., ISBN-10: 1870264223 & ISBN-13: 9781870264228) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/503435] & East Sussex Libraries

Bishopstone and Seaford: A Second Selection (Britain in Old Photographs) , by Patricia Berry and Philip Pople, published 1995 (128 pp., Seaford: S. B. Publications, ISBN-10: 0750909285 & ISBN-13: 9780750909280) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries

Parish Profile no. 2: Bishopstone, by Reg Towner, published September 1995 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 11 no. 7, article, p.245) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14878] & The Keep [LIB/501263] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

Bishopstone Tide Mills, Newhaven and its environs, by Peter Longstaff-Tyrrell, published 1996 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 26, article, pp.20-25, ISSN: 0263-5151) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506527]   Download PDF

The milling of grain using natural power sources has focused on the windmill and water mills operated by the flow of rivers and streams. A certain romantic nostalgia has developed around buildings that survive and the equipment used. Coastal mills, operated by the ebb and flow of the tide, though fewer in number, played an important role in the milling industry however. The damage from pollution caused by the generation of power from carboniferous energy sources is now realised, and a greater appreciation of the value of natural sources of power has resulted, leading to the construction of wind towers in recent years to generate electricity, and the consideration of various schemes to harness tidal power.

Bishopstone - 18c. Schools, edited by John Caffyn, published 1998 in Sussex Schools in the 18th Century (Sussex Record Society, vol. 81, p.49, ISBN-10: 0854450424 & ISBN-13: 9780854450428) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13825][Lib 13828] & The Keep [LIB/500458][Lib/507864] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Bishopstone and the lost village of Tide Mills, by David Lyndhurst, published 1 June 2001 (36 pp., Seaford: S. B. Publications, ISBN-10: 1857702247 & ISBN-13: 9781857702248) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507955] & East Sussex Libraries

Bishopstone: a pre-Conquest minster church, by Pamela Combes, published 2002 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 140, article, pp.49-56) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15109] & The Keep [LIB/500299] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Bishopstone, generally assumed to be a minster church, was not identified as such in a recent survey of parochial development in 11th-century Sussex.1 Despite that omission, the church incorporates some Anglo-Saxon architectural features, and manuscript evidence of the status of its chapelry at South Heighton has now come to light. This article considers the date and circumstances of its foundation, the extent of its parochial and its place in the historical topography of the hundred of Flexborough.

John Towner of Bishopstone, by Reg Towner, published March 2003 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 15 no. 5, article, pp.195-201) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15249] & The Keep [LIB/508827] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

John Towner was a fisherman and spent his adult life in the service of Bishopstone Parish Church where he was parish clerk and sexton for 42 years. He married Mary about 1744 and they had eight children between 1744 and 1765. He died in 1794.

Excavation and survey in Bishopstone, East Sussex, 2003, by G. Taylor, published 2004 in Society of Medieval Archaeology Newsletter (30, article, pp.6-7)

Two almshouses in Sussex, by Michael Saxby, published June 2007 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 17 no. 6, article, pp.278-279) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15860] & The Keep [LIB/508990] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.

The Rye and Bishopstone almshouses

The Symbolic Lives of Late Anglo-Saxon Settlements: A Cellared Structure and Iron Hoard from Bishopstone, East Sussex, by Gabor Thomas and Patrick Ottaway, published 2008 in The Archaeological Journal (vol. 165, article, pp.334-398)   View Online

This paper examines the character and significance of a cellared structure discovered during recent excavations on the site of a later Anglo-Saxon settlement at Bishopstone, East Sussex. The structure in question formed a focal element within an estate centre complex administered by the Bishops of Selsey from c. AD 800, otherwise surviving in the celebrated pre-Conquest fabric of St Andrew's parish church. The excavated footprint of this cellared structure is examined in detail and conjectural reconstructions are advanced on the basis of comparative evidence garnered from historical and archaeological sources. The collective weight of evidence points towards a tower, possibly free-standing, with integrated storage/cellarage accommodated within a substantial, 2 m-deep subterranean chamber. This could represent a timber counterpart to excavated and extant masonry towers with thegnly/episcopal associations. The afterlife of this structure is also considered in detail on the grounds that it provides one of the most compelling cases yet identified of an act of ritual closure on a Late Anglo-Saxon settlement. Alongside being dismantled and infilled in a single, short-lived episode, the abandonment of the tower was marked by the careful and deliberate placement of a closure deposit in the form of a smith's hoard containing iron tools, agricultural equipment and lock furniture. One of the few such caches to be excavated under controlled scientific conditions, it is argued that the contents were deliberately selected to make a symbolic statement, perhaps evoking the functions of a well-run estate centre.

Bishopstone and the lost village of Tide Mills, by David Lyndhurst, published 25 August 2008 (revised edition, 46 pp., Seaford: S. B. Publications, ISBN-10: 1857703340 & ISBN-13: 9781857703344) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries

Available again after being out of print for seven years, this little book gives the definitive history of this extraordinary parish, with full maps and pictures, from the Iron Age to 2008. It is fully updated with 8 extra pages of full colour photographs. Bishopstone, once a port and a centre of political power, today gives little evidence of its past importance. Tide Mills even less. Yet it was once a village with a population of around 100, most of them working in one of the country's busiest corn mills. It had its own railway station and between the wars, a marine hospital for disabled children.
The author, David Lyndhurst has lived in Bishopstone many years.

Tidemills 2008: Digging up Grand-dad's china - Excavation of the Stationmasters' cottage, by Luke Barber, published August 2009 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 118, article, pp.10-11, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The 2008 season at Tidemills saw the completion of excavations on the first of the studied houses at the site. The building, known as the Stationmaster's cottage, is situated just to the south-west of the level crossing, by the former station. Prior to the excavations little was known of the cottage. A number of incoherent walls could be seen protruding through the undergrowth and, following some basic cartographic work, it appeared that the building should prove quite straightforward. Excavations showed this assumption to be wrong yet again! The project is starting to see a repeating pattern of apparently detailed historical sources, including cartographic and photographic, giving a too simplistic view which can only be rectified through archaeological survey and excavation. The only photograph so far discovered of the Stationmaster's cottage shows a snap-shot of two sides of the building in its final form and the maps, although showing extensions miss out on functional detail, internal modifications and changes to the outbuildings and gardens.
However, the archaeological evidence relies heavily on the historical sources: a truly integrated project for a change!

The Later Anglo-Saxon Settlement at Bishopstone: a downland manor in the making, by Gabor Thomas, published 31 December 2010 (280 pp., Council for British Archaeology, ISBN-10: 1902771834 & ISBN-13: 9781902771830) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries

Well known for the Early Anglo-Saxon settlement previously excavated on Rookery Hill and its impressive pre-Conquest church, Bishopstone has entered archaeological orthodoxy as a classic example of a 'Middle Saxon Shift'. This volume reports on the excavations from 2002 to 2005 designed to investigate this transition, with the focus on the origins of Bishopstone village. Excavations adjacent to St Andrews churchyard revealed a dense swathe of later Anglo-Saxon (8th- to late 10th-/early 11th-century) habitation, including a planned complex of timber halls, and a unique cellared tower. The occupation encroached upon a pre-Conquest cemetery of 43 inhumations.

This is a hugely impressive volume and the author and his 25 contributors are to be congratulated for bringing the results of a complex excavation that completed in 2005 to publication in 2010. Would that every other archaeologist could match this speed! Since this project commenced when Gabor was employed as Research Officer for the Sussex Archaeological Society, the Society can afford to give itself a modest pat on the back.
This was a classic chalkland excavation, just to the north of the present church at Bishopstone (near Newhaven, East Sussex): strip the turf and thin topsoil, and the dark impressions of post-holes and pits showed up nicely against the white-ish chalk. So what was found? Two broad phases constitute the pre-Norman archaeology - a number of shroud burials (8th and 9th centuries) that may have formed part of a field cemetery prior to the building of the church and a subsequent elite settlement comprised of rectangular timber buildings associated with a large number of pits.
It is the settlement, with its rich array of finds and environmental data, that provides the most fascinating insights into late Anglo-Saxon life, but also raises the greatest challenges in interpretation. The timber buildings showed different construction techniques, and some may have been arranged around courtyards. However, the lack of stratigraphic depth meant that phasing the buildings was problematic. One can sense the excavator's frustration when four competing interpretations are laid out for one structural complex. Exceptional among the buildings was a deeply-cellared tower-like structure that may have been a strong room. Some 78 pits were found, a number beginning life as timber-lined storage pits, ending up as cess or rubbish pits.
The animal bone report makes for intriguing reading, presenting conclusions from an analysis of 28,135 fragmentary bones. The significant percentages of pig and marine fish suggest high-status occupants, who occasionally feasted, and lived an almost protourban lifestyle. An elevated status was also enjoyed by one local feline who seems to have been fed a lot of sea fish - an aristocratic puss that no doubt lorded it over its largely feral companions on site. There are a number of hints in the report that the lifestyles of some of the occupants incorporated un-Christian practices: the 'closure hoard' of iron-work buried in the tower's cellar, and the 43 'associated bone groups' from the pits echo earlier prehistoric and Romano-British behaviours.
In laying out his definitive interpretations of Bishopstone Gabor is at pains to be evenhanded. Through the lens of history Bishopstone could be considered as an Anglo-Saxon minster. Switch lenses to an archaeological one, and the site could be viewed as the centre of a successful estate. The time-depth of the current site suggests that the end of the nearby early Saxon settlement of Rookery Hill could have been broadly contemporary with the first burials at Bishopstone.
This volume represents an important contribution to the later Anglo-Saxon history and archaeology of Sussex and of southern Britain. I am sure it will be quoted extensively by other scholars, and its interpretations and data will be both repeated and no doubt re-worked. From inception to publication it's a great piece of work - well done to all concerned.

Bishopstone, St. Andrew - Church monuments, edited by Nigel Llewellyn, published 2011 in East Sussex Church Monuments, 1530-1830 (Sussex Record Society, vol. 93, pp.37-39, ISBN-10: 0854450750 & ISBN-13: 9780854450756) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 17926] & The Keep [LIB/500470][LIB/507876] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries   View Online

Tidemills Farmyard: "and on that farm he had some pigs", by Luke Barber, published August 2011 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 124, article, pp.10-11, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The 2010 season proved a busy one again with a mixture of vegetation clearance, standing structure recording and excavation. Most work concentrated on the farmyard area situated to the north of the main village, but to the south of the stationmaster's cottage (see SPP No. 118). The historic maps showed two main buildings in this area. The largest, a barn, was situated next to the road with a long building to the south-east. The latter is shown with pens along part of its south-eastern side and was thought to be an animal shed.

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.

At the Heart of Things: The 2013 season at Tidemills, by Luke Barber, published April 2014 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 132, article, pp.4-5, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507923] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The Society's research project at Bishopstone Tidemills pushed on into the heart of the village during the 2013 season. Unlike other areas the building remains here do not survive to a notable height and the low, thick vegetation cover hid the vast majority of walls to the casual observer. However, as soon as one actually fought a way in, it was very apparent that a myriad of walls awaited the volunteer team.

The 2014 Season at Tidemills: Discovering how Mr Catt kept his pineapples warm!, by Luke Barber, published April 2015 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 135, article, pp.4-5, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507923] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The 2014 season proved to be another busy one. Although some time was spent finishing off excavating and recording structures from 2013, most efforts moved south, investigating three new buildings and a greenhouse.

All is Hush'd: Bishopstone Church and Churchyard, by Rodney Castleden and Ann Murray, published 27 October 2016 (360 pp., Seaford: Blatchington Press, ISBN-13: 9781326801885) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries

The story of Bishopstone church and churchyard in Sussex, with a complete record of all the inscriptions. After intensive recent research, more is known about the history of Bishopstone than about most other English villages. It began as a hilltop settlement in the fifth century - a very early Saxon colony. 200 years later, the hilltop dwellers came down into the valley, where they set up a high-status minster, the administrative centre of an estate belonging to the bishops of Selsey. The beautiful Saxon church was part of this early centre, which flourished a thousand years ago. The book is an indispensable resource for family history and local history. It is also of more general interest because of its glimpses of the Saxon colonization process. It is 360 pages long, illustrated with photos and drawings. There are plans of the church and churchyard, as well as an index, to help the reader locate inscriptions - or even a lost relative.

Excavation at Tidemills, by Luke Barber, published December 2017 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 143, article, p.6, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507923] & S.A.S. library