Bibliography - Chanctonbury, South Downs, West Sussex
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The Hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins found at Chancton Farm, Sussex, by John Clay Lucas, F.S.A., published 1868 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 20, article, pp.212-221) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2105] & The Keep [LIB/507132] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Chanctonbury, Washington and Worthing, by E. V. Lucas with illustrations by Frederick L. Griggs, published 1904 in Highways and Byways in Sussex (Chapter XVI, London: Macmillan & Co.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 41][Lib 12792][Lib 15825] & The Keep [LIB/500142]   View Online

Neolithic Dew-ponds and Cattle-ways, by Arthur John Hubbard, M.D. and George Hubbard, F.S.A., published 1905 (London: Longmans, Green & Co.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Neolithic Dew-ponds and Cattle-ways, by Arthur John Hubbard, M.D. and George Hubbard, F.S.A., published 1907 (2nd edition, 116 pp., London: Longmans, Green & Co.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Excavations at Chanctonbury Ring, 1909, by G. S. Mitchell, published 1910 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 53, article, pp.131-137) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2138] & The Keep [LIB/500271] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Some Roman Antiquities - Wiston, Chanctonbury and Cissbury, by Eliot Curwen and Eliot Cecil Curwen, published 1922 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 63, notes & queries, pp.220-221) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2148] & The Keep [LIB/500281] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Rambles in Sussex, No 4. Steyning, Chanctonbury, Findon, Cissbury and Park Brow, by C. Beckwith, published 1927 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. I no. 9, article, pp.392-393) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2303][Lib 8326] & The Keep [LIB/500137]

Sussex from the Air. 3 - Wolstonbury & 4 - Chanctonbury and The Weald, by E. Cecil Curwen, M.A., F.S.A., published 1930 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IV no. 9, article, pp.754-759) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2308][Lib 2309] & The Keep [LIB/500173]

Sussex from the Air. 10 - The Water Supply of Hill-Forts, by E. Cecil Curwen, M.A., F.S.A., published 1931 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. V no. 3, article, pp.212-219) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2310] & The Keep [LIB/500174]

Camps round Vetus Pons. V - Chanctonbury, VI - Cissbury & VII - High Down, by F. Edwin Hodder, M.A., published 1932 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. VI no. 9, article, pp.568-571) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9325] & The Keep [LIB/500175]

Beaker Sherd from Chanctonbury, by S. S. Frere, published August 1943 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. IX no. 7, note, p.156) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8227][Lib 2208] & The Keep [LIB/500211] & S.A.S. library

Legends of Chanctonbury Ring, by Jacqueline Simpson, published June 1969 in The Folklore Society (vol. 80, issue 2, article, pp.122-131, Taylor & Francis)   View Online

Excavations 1977: Chanctonbury Ring, West Sussex, by Owen Bedwin, published December 1977 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 23, article, p.126, ISSN: 0307-2568) accessible at: S.A.S. library   Download PDF

Excavations at Chanctonbury Ring, Wiston, West Sussex 1977, by Owen Bedwin and David Rudling, published 1980 (Stephen Austin & Sons) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Excavations at Chanctonbury Ring, Wiston, West Sussex 1977, by Owen Bedwin, David Rudling, Sue Hamilton, Peter Drewett and Karen Petzoldt, published November 1980 in Britannia (vol. 11, article, pp.173-222)   View Online

Chanctonbury Ring (NGR TQ 139 121) is one of the best known landmarks in Sussex. It consists of a clump of trees, mostly beech, but with occasional sycamore, situated on the very northern edge of the South Downs, about 8 km (5 miles) from the coast (FIG. I). The height above sea-level is 234 m (780 ft.), and the subsoil is Upper Chalk, though several local patches of Clay-with-flints were encountered during the excavation.

Seven Anglo-Saxon pennies from the Chancton (Sussex), by Lorraine Knowles, published 1981 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 119, archaeological note, pp.216-217) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7989] & The Keep [LIB/500306] & S.A.S. library

Reminiscences [by people attending Chanctonbury Day Centre], by Sue Parsons, published 1998 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13894]

Chanctonbury Ring, Wiston, West Sussex (West Sussex 107), Assessment Excavations 1988-1991, by David Rudling, published 1998 (Field Archaeology Unit) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Chanctonbury Crashes, the Story of Five German Aircraft That Never Returned from the Battle of Britain,, by Martin F. Mace, published June 1998 (32 pp., Historic Military Press, ISBN-10: 1901313026 & ISBN-13: 9781901313024) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Chanctonbury Ring revisited: the excavations of 1988-91, by David R. Rudling, published 2001 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 139, article, pp.75-121) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14916] & The Keep [LIB/500292] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The Great Storm of October 1987 caused major destruction to the trees at Chanctonbury Ring, an important prehistoric and Romano-British archaeological site. Subsequent proposals to replant the destroyed trees led to a series of trial excavations within the Ring in order both to assess the archaeological remains to be affected by the proposed replanting scheme, and to re-locate the two main Roman masonry buildings discovered during tree planting works in 1909. Along with the results of the archaeological investigations of 1987-91 the findings of earlier investigations, including those associated with a major programme of tree-planting in 1977, have been reassessed. This fresh analysis suggests an earlier, Late Bronze Age, date for the construction of the hillfort, and identifies the 'ancillary' Romano-British masonry building as a polygonal temple with a rectangular entrance chamber. Large quantities of pigs' teeth and skull fragments found in the vicinity of this temple indicate that it may have been associated with a cult of the boar.

A topographical survey of Chanctonbury Ring, West Sussex: an interpretation of the prehistoric landscape from the Neolithic to the Middle Iron Age, by Mark Tibble, published 2008 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 146, article, pp.53-74) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15997] & The Keep [LIB/500364] & S.A.S. library   View Online

This article results from a topographical survey of the landscape and hillfort of Chanctonbury Ring, West Sussex, carried out in the summer of 2003 and the winter of 2004 by the author. Produced as an undergraduate dissertation for the University of Southampton, the survey has recorded the site as it was in 2004 and has provided a base for future management. It has also recorded previously unsurveyed features which may prove to be Bronze Age round barrows. The aim was to contextualize the hillfort within its immediate topographical setting. This has provided a background against which an interpretation might be made of the prehistoric use of the landscape. This work approached the idea of the landscape as being inscribed with meaning and significance that is carried over a long timescale beginning in the Neolithic, although it is interpreted against the varying cultural backgrounds of the prehistoric communities. It also considers the construction of the Late Bronze Age hillfort and views this construction in part as the creation of a physical link to the mythical past.

Chanctonbury Ring; The Story of a Sussex Landmark, by Janet Pennington, published 2011 (138 pp., Downland History Publishing, ISBN-10: 0955570328 & ISBN-13: 9780955570322) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Janet Pennington is an indefatigable researcher who writes on a wide range of historical subjects concerning Sussex, and she has lifelong connections with Chanctonbury as this book makes clear. She became interested in Charles Goring 1744 - 1829, former owner of Wiston Estate near Steyning, West Sussex, who in 1760 planted the ring of trees around the prehistoric bank and ditch of Chanctonbury Hill. The author explores his motives and methods including the traditional story that he daily carried bottles of water for the saplings, which led her to investigate wells and dew ponds on the Downs that could have been used. She touches on geology and landscape, and the use of Chanctonbury as a beacon site both official and informally.
One chapter is assigned to archaeology, from early antiquarian efforts to more recent excavations in the 20th century especially following the Great Storm of October 1987, when over 75% of the trees were damaged or fell. This revealed extensive damage to two Roman temple sites within the Ring and many archaeologists called for the Hill to remain treeless to preserve these remains. However public opinion favoured replanting, carried out with great care in 1990, and by 2011 the Ring was showing promise of its former glory.
A selection of literary references to the Ring is quoted in Chapter 5 as witness to its status as landmark and icon for writers. The book has many historic and modern illustrations; the colour reproduction of a few older paintings is rather dull, and some maps and plans are so reduced that you need a magnifying glass to decipher the notation. Details on the site's location could be helpful to non-local visitors, and the story is told thematically so I would have liked to see a chronology of the Ring and its history. This is a meaningful story to anyone familiar with the South Downs in West Sussex, and knowledge of the context and history will surely enhance the visitor's experience of Chanctonbury Ring and its special atmosphere.

Chanctonbury Rural District: Official Guide, published (no date) (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 4236]