Links
Publications
Rambles by Rivers: The Duddon, the Mole; the Adur, Arun & Wey; the Leas; the Dove, by James Thorne, published 1844 (London: Charles Knight & Co.) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries View Online
On the Site of Portus Adurni and the River Adur, by F. Haverfield, M.A., F.S.A., published 1892 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 38, notes & queries, pp.217-221) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2123] & The Keep [LIB/500256] & S.A.S. library View Online
The Site of Portus Adurni and the River Adur, by H. F. Napper, published 1894 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 39, notes & queries, pp.220-221) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2124] & The Keep [LIB/500257] & S.A.S. library View Online
Report on the Condition of the Rivers Arun and Adur, by C. H. J. Clayton, published 1917 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5416]
Sussex in the Past, in and around Steyning, by Viscountess Wolseley, published 1928 (London: The Medici Society) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500161] & West Sussex Libraries
Review by W. H. G. [W. H. Godfrey] in Sussex Notes and Queries, November 1928:Lady Wolseley loves Sussex ardently, and above all things, she desires others to love it too. Her pen runs eloquently, inspired by a single-hearted joy in the beauty of all she sees and the message of human interest which it brings to her. If the book before us needs an excuse, it is sufficient that it can hardly fail to communicate the enthusiasm of its author to those who turn its pages.
Sussex in the Past would be more correctly described as a journey of archaeological discovery through the Hundred of Steyning. Lady Wolseley takes us through the villages and into the ancient houses of the lovely valley of the Adur and discourses of those who dwelt and worked therein in days when this part of the country was full of life and business. The quietude of rural beauty and the evidences of former activity mingle in these chapters as in a tapestry where threads of every colour unite in harmony. If it is beyond the power of the author to make archaeology easy, she has at any rate charged it with an aesthetic quality which should lure many readers to follow her path of enquiry and ultimate discovery.
In her pilgrimage Lady Wolseley has certainly succeeded in weaving, as she sets out to do, " a sort of story that will carry us down the centuries and unite one circle of past generations with another." She disarms criticism by a modest disavowal of authoritative knowledge, yet her reading is wide and her care in quoting her sources is exemplary. In her mission as an interpreter of the charm that lies in the study of topography she has a gentle rebuke for the philistine when she notes that " the critical faculty is far more strongly developed in fellow archaeologists than the appreciative one."
It is a tragic fact that without appreciation of its true content and of its beauty, all knowledge is empty and vain. Lady Wolseley's most happy contribution to the study of archaeology is her insistence that our aim must be a realisation of the beauty of human life and the natural scene in which our lives are cast. Mr. Garnet Wolseley's happy sketches in colour emphasize this message, and the type and format of the book support it by their excellence. Such consistency is too rare.
There is one thing that would help the author to fill the outlines of her canvas with even greater human interest and that is to question the ancient houses more closely and elicit their architectural secrets. One suspects, for instance, that Maudlin Farm may have been a structural part of the mediaeval hospital of St. Mary Magdalene at Bidlington of which the Victoria County History has so interesting an account. Lady Wolseley tracks the hospital down to the year 1553 and picks up the history of the house in 1565. What if this were the very " Maladria in Bidelington " to which (as Miss Rotha Clay tell us) the heir of Nicholas de Malesmeins was taken in 1220, after his perplexed guardian had brought him before the barons of the king's exchequer? Stones and timber are as closely writ with history as any document, and in them we may have the key to a fuller understanding of the lives that have passed before our time.
Sussex in the Past would be more correctly described as a journey of archaeological discovery through the Hundred of Steyning. Lady Wolseley takes us through the villages and into the ancient houses of the lovely valley of the Adur and discourses of those who dwelt and worked therein in days when this part of the country was full of life and business. The quietude of rural beauty and the evidences of former activity mingle in these chapters as in a tapestry where threads of every colour unite in harmony. If it is beyond the power of the author to make archaeology easy, she has at any rate charged it with an aesthetic quality which should lure many readers to follow her path of enquiry and ultimate discovery.
In her pilgrimage Lady Wolseley has certainly succeeded in weaving, as she sets out to do, " a sort of story that will carry us down the centuries and unite one circle of past generations with another." She disarms criticism by a modest disavowal of authoritative knowledge, yet her reading is wide and her care in quoting her sources is exemplary. In her mission as an interpreter of the charm that lies in the study of topography she has a gentle rebuke for the philistine when she notes that " the critical faculty is far more strongly developed in fellow archaeologists than the appreciative one."
It is a tragic fact that without appreciation of its true content and of its beauty, all knowledge is empty and vain. Lady Wolseley's most happy contribution to the study of archaeology is her insistence that our aim must be a realisation of the beauty of human life and the natural scene in which our lives are cast. Mr. Garnet Wolseley's happy sketches in colour emphasize this message, and the type and format of the book support it by their excellence. Such consistency is too rare.
There is one thing that would help the author to fill the outlines of her canvas with even greater human interest and that is to question the ancient houses more closely and elicit their architectural secrets. One suspects, for instance, that Maudlin Farm may have been a structural part of the mediaeval hospital of St. Mary Magdalene at Bidlington of which the Victoria County History has so interesting an account. Lady Wolseley tracks the hospital down to the year 1553 and picks up the history of the house in 1565. What if this were the very " Maladria in Bidelington " to which (as Miss Rotha Clay tell us) the heir of Nicholas de Malesmeins was taken in 1220, after his perplexed guardian had brought him before the barons of the king's exchequer? Stones and timber are as closely writ with history as any document, and in them we may have the key to a fuller understanding of the lives that have passed before our time.
An Analysis of Some of the Interactions of Geography and History in the Arun and Adur Valleys, by Alice F. A. Mutton, 1931 at University of London (M.A. thesis)
The Church of St Peter de Vetere Ponte on the Adur, by Rev. H. E. B. Arnold, M.A., published 1932 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. VI no. 11, article, pp.731-733) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9325] & The Keep [LIB/500175]
The Agricultural Geography of the Adur Basin in its Regional Setting, by H. C. K. Henderson, 1935 at University of London (Ph.D. thesis)
The Stratigraphy of the Chalk of Sussex: Part I. West Central area - Arun Gap to Valley of the Adur, with zonal map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1937 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 48 issue 4, article, pp.356-373) View Online
Abstract:In this paper are recorded the results of a Survey of the Chalk of the portion of the Sussex Downs that extends from the Valley of the Adur to the Arun Gap, a distance of 13½ miles.
The Stratigraphy of the chalk of Sussex: Part IV. East central area - between the valley of the Adur and Seaford, with zonal map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1951 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 62 issue 1, article, pp.31-64) View Online
Abstract:The paper records the results of a zonal survey of the Chalk in the area between the valley of the Adur and Seaford. It reveals some new and interesting facts relating to the geological structure of the area. For instance, the previously described anticline of Kingston near Lewes is found to comprise three folds, i.e. (a) Kingston Anticline, (b) Hollinghury Anticline, and (c) Beddingham Anticline. The Kingston Anticline is limited to the area between Mount Caburn and Newmarket Plantation. Faulting is associated with these folds. The Beddingham Anticline extends eastward beyond the district. Other folding, both synclinal and anticlinal, with faulting, are also described. The form of the outstanding valley, known as the Coombe, East of Lewes, is explained. The results are supported by considerable field evidence.
The Estuary of the Adur, by H. C. Brookfield, published 1952 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 90, article, pp.153-163) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2175] & The Keep [LIB/500339] & S.A.S. library
The Sussex Rivers, by David L. Linton, published November 1956 in Geography (vol. 41, no. 4, article, pp.233-247, Geographical Association) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507956] View Online
Towing Paths in Sussex, by G. D. Johnston, published May 1958 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XV no. 1, article, pp.7-13) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8233] & The Keep [LIB/500217] & S.A.S. library
The Adur, by W. D. P. [W. D. Peckham], published May 1966 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XVI no. 7, reply, p.245) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8234] & The Keep [LIB/500218] & S.A.S. library
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
Inscriptions on Sussex Bridges, by G. D. Johnston, published May 1971 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XVII no. 7 and last, article, pp.209-233) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8235] & The Keep [LIB/500219] & S.A.S. library
An Adur Landscape of Long Ago, by T. P. Hudson, published July 1977 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 8, article, p.21) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/8] & The Keep [LIB/500479]
Short Economic and Social History of Brighton, Lewes and the Downland Region Between the Adur and the Ouse, by Colin E. Brent, published 1 December 1979 (16 pp., Lewes: East Sussex County Council, ISBN-10: 0861470192 & ISBN-13: 9780861470198) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500068] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Salt-Making in the Adur Valley, Sussex, by Eric W. Holden and T. P. Hudson, published 1981 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 119, article, pp.117-148) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7989] & The Keep [LIB/500306] & S.A.S. library
Botolphs and Coombes in the Adur Valley, by Janet Pennington, published January 1984 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 27, article, pp.8-15) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/27] & The Keep [LIB/500480]
The ownership, occupation and use of land on the South Downs between the rivers Arun and Adur in West Sussex, c1840-c1940., by John Douglas Godfrey, 1999 at Sussex University (Ph.D. thesis) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
Abstract:This thesis reports on a study of land ownership, land occupation and land use in an area of about 100 square miles on the South Downs in Sussex at three points in time. The thesis is based on a study of three principal sets of records, occasionally supplemented by other material. The study area comprises the area covered by 16 contiguous modern parishes between the rivers Arun and Adur. The study covers the period c.1840-1940 and the three principal sets of records examined are the Tithe Surveys of 1834-47, the Valuation Office Survey of 1910-15 and the National Farm Survey of 1941-43. The study, which focuses on medium and large holdings, describes the structure of land ownership, land occupation and land use in the selected area, making use of significant material which has only recently become available and has not previously been studied, and enables trends to be identified relating to such issues as the changing fortunes of landowning families, the balance between owner-occupation and tenant farming, farm size, the balance between pasture and arable, agricultural improvement and the progress and efficiency of measures such as the wartime plough-up campaigns. These trends are discussed in a regional and national context, referring to research undertaken elsewhere and to available national material. The study also identifies problems which may arise from the inter-relating of the three documentary sources, all of which were designed for separate purposes (tithe commutation, taxing of land values, Second World War food production campaign and post-war planning), and it proposes solutions to these problems which may be of value to future researchers.
The River Adur and the Knepp Estate, by Richard Symonds, published March 2012 (18 pp., [Horsham ?]: Horsham District Archaeology Group) Download PDF
As preparatory work to rewilding Adurwithin the Knepp Castle Estate, West Grinstead, by reinstating old meanders, consists of a history of that stretch of river
Iconic Adur Ferry Bridge opened, published December 2013 in Building engineer (vol. 88, no. 12, article, pp.28-29) accessible at: R.I.B.A. Library
Mabey Bridge Ltd manufactured 700 tonnes of steel for this new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists at Shoreham-by-Sea. Incorporates a central swing section to allow river traffic to pass.
Worthing & Adur Chamber of Commerce: A History, by Chris Hare, published 2015 (Worthing & Adur Chamber of Commerce) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
With DVD, which can also be viewed alongside the book at www.worthingandadurchamber.co.uk/hlf