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www.romansinsussex.co.uk Sussex Past & Present December 2010 1

N U M B E R 1 2 2 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0

New Chief ExecutiveNewick Village Project PAS Round Up SEWAF Shoreham Tenement HistoryThe Star Inn AlfristonWorthing Village History Project

Sussex Past & Present December 2010 www.sussexpast.co.uk2 www.romansinsussex.co.uk Sussex Past & Present December 2010 3

Lorna’s NotebookA round-up of all that’s new in the membership department

For all membership enquiries and to apply, please contact

MEMBERSHIPDEPARTMENT

Barbican House, 169 High Street

Lewes, Sussex BN7 1YE

Tues-Fri 10.00am-3.00pm(Answerphone at other times)

01273 405737Email:

[email protected]

Membership Matters Opening Lines

I am sorry to tell you that due to the ill health of Peter Sangster I have taken over as chairman until the AGM in May next year. Not that I am

sorry to be chairman, it is an exciting time, but I am sure you all join me in sending Peter our very best wishes for a speedy recovery.

The !nancial position of the Society remains challenging and there is still a signi!cant task to be dealt with. However, there are positive signs for the way ahead. The visitor numbers at Lewes Castle have remained bouyant and the work carried out here shows how we can go forward. We hope to make similar changes to what we offer our visitors at Michelham Priory and Anne of Cleves House Museum next year. We hope to continue to develop all our properties in a similar vein. My husband John and I have enjoyed excellent days out at the Medieval Fair at Michelham Priory, a Medieval Day at Lewes Castle, and also visited Fishbourne Roman Palace and the Priest House. Each place is exciting and lovely in its own way and makes me realise how lucky the Society is to have such wonderful properties and talented people to work in them, welcoming visitors or teaching groups of school children. Not to mention the volunteers! John and I also plan an outing to Bishopstone to explore Tidemills and reduce my archaeological ignorance! Here is another example of the good work of the SAS.

Anne of Cleves House has had to remain closed for much of this year because the building work has taken longer than originally envisaged. As my other manifestation is as Chairman of the Friends of Anne of Cleves House I am really delighted to see this lovely building being restored. It will be a great credit to the Society when it is all done and I know it is money well spent. The Friends of Anne of Cleves House are all very grateful to English Heritage and the Monument Trust whose substantial grants have enabled the work to be done. Inevitably there have been fewer weddings there and obviously no visitors, but this has allowed the Friends of Anne of Cleves House and SAS staff to get busy cleaning and decorating. The results are superb! We will have a really wonderful re-opening event once all is done.

We gave retiring CEO John Manley a wonderful send off in the lovely setting of the barn at Michelham Priory. It was good to be able to thank him for all he has done over so many years. A new era has dawned and we all look forward to working with our new Chief Executive Tristan Bareham.

I would like to wish you all a happy and healthy Christmas and 2011, and to thank you all for your support, which is essential to the survival and prosperity of the SAS.

Jane VokinsChair of Council

Positive Signs The way ahead for the Society

OPENING LINESMEMBERSHIP

Welcome to the December edition of Sussex Past &

Present.

Subscriptions increase with effect from 1 January 2011

A reminder that many of you (though not all) are due to renew your subscription to the Society at the beginning of the year. As noti!ed in the last Sussex Past & Present, subscriptions are going up with effect from 1 January 2011, for the !rst time since 2006. The new rates are shown here.It would really help the Society if you would check your membership card now, and, if you are due for renewal on 1 January, arrange for payment straightaway. This will save the cost of sending out reminder notices, which is usually done in late January. Of course, if you pay by direct debit, you need take no further action – you will be noti!ed in writing of the date and amount of the collection. We do still have a few members who pay by Standing Order, and if you have not already received a letter from me reminding you that you need to contact your bank to update the amount you pay, then please make a note to do this as soon as you can. I cannot make any changes to the amount we receive via Standing Order.If you are willing to switch to direct debit, which is the most cost-effective method for the Society, you may download a copy of the direct debit mandate from the Membership section of our website www.sussexpast.co.uk or I can post a form to you on request. If you are not prepared to pay by direct debit, please choose from the following methods:- cheque, payable to “Sussex Past” and sent to the address given

- online at www.sussexpast.co.uk (select ‘membership’ followed by ‘subscription renewal’ and then the appropriate category – the list is below)- by credit card over the phone (number as shown below)

Subscription Type & Description

O Standard Individual £32.50

J Joint (2 adults/same address) £45.50

F1 Family (1 adult + children) £38.00

F2 Family (2 adults + children) £48.50

S Student £15.00

AFF Af!liated Society £32.50

+B Hardback copy of SAC +£5.50

+POST Overseas postage charge +£12

Sat 12 February: The Archaeology of Wooded Landscapes Conference

There is still time to book a place, although tickets are selling very well and we do have tighter restrictions on numbers for this conference than usual because of the size of the venue. Please see the Noticeboard in the centre pages for more information and to book.

Sat 14 May: Early Medieval Churches: Sussex in the

national context

Half Day ConferenceIn order to continue to attract speakers of the quality we had in May, we are !nding it increasingly necessary to pay fees which impact considerably on our costings for conferences. As a result of this, we will unfortunately have to increase the fee that we charge for the 2011 event. We do try to keep our ticket prices as low as we reasonably can, and I hope that our members will continue to !nd the events we

plan good value for money. Details and booking are in the Noticeboard pages.

Members’ Events – bad weather

It seems particularly appropriate to raise this topic given that we have a conference in February coming up, and bearing in mind what the weather was like last February! Our members and event leaders are generally a robust group of people, and the assumption is always that the event, whatever it may be, will go ahead regardless, although the leader has the discretion to curtail a walk if the weather gets especially bad. Obviously, if there is a severe weather warning in place from the Met Of!ce, you should heed this and assume that the event will not take place.

Battle of Lewes ProjectIf you have an interest in the Battle of Lewes, do check the back page for information on how to get involved with this funded project.

Lorna GartsideMembership Secretary

SUSSEX

Past & Present

The Sussex Archaeological Society Newsletter

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Contents 2 Membership Matters 3 Opening Lines 4 Members’ FAQs 5 Chief Executive 6 The Star Inn 7 Palace water leak 8 PAS Round-up 9 Worthing Village Project 10 Shoreham History 11 SEWAF 12 Newick Archaeology 13 Library & Bookshop news 14 Book reviews 15 Book reviews 16 Snippets

Published by the Sussex Archaeological Society, Bull House,

Lewes, E Sussex, BN71XHTel: 01273 486260Fax: 01273 486990

Email: [email protected]

Editor: Wendy MurielEmail: [email protected]

Research Editor: Luke BarberEmail: [email protected]

ISSN 1357-7417

Cover: Lewes Castle in the snow. Photo: Laura Burnett


NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVEMEMBERS’ FAQS

Answers to Members’ FAQsBackground information about the Society

Feature ResearchFeature

A Vision for the FutureTristan Bareham outlines his plans for the Society

The last few years have been dif!cult for the Society and now is the time to focus on where we are going in the future. Even in the short period of time in which I have been in post I have seen signi!cant positive

signs. I have observed a great deal of honest self re"ection on some of our current shortcomings. I have heard and seen excellent plans and intended actions throughout the organisation. These factors together are very encouraging. It is clear that there are some pressing needs which have to be addressed. There are external challenges; there are also some internal areas where systems, procedures, attitudes and practices are holding us back. These will be addressed; this process has started and will be pursued with determination.

The Society is a wonderful, complex, multifaceted entity. We are a body which has, and celebrates, a strong membership. We are a leading research organisation and carry out signi!cant work in the !elds of archaeology and history. We hold wonderful collections, which are, in effect, the cultural DNA of our local communities, and we are gifted with a stunning range of properties. We are hugely supported by our many volunteers throughout the organisation; we have excellent staff, strong friends’ groups and signi!cant partnerships. The remit I was given during my appointment was to make all of these areas work and I fully intend to ensure that this is achieved. This does mean that we need collective action and responsibility throughout the Society. This needs to be understood and signed up to by everyone within the wider organisation. We need to apply effective business methods and approaches throughout our activities and we need to be much more professional throughout the whole organisation, this is one of my immediate priorities. We need to make many more external bodies interested in working with us and to create more stakeholders in the future wellbeing of the Society. We need to be much more responsive to the changing ways in which our communities wish to engage with their cultural heritage. We also need to be more inventive and proactive in working with the wider community. If we do these things then the business side of the Society will successfully move forward and this in turn will enable us to carry out the whole range of our activities in the way that we would all aspire to.

We do need to be realistic about the timeframe required for this to happen. It may well be another year before we have dealt with the major underlying structural and cultural challenges facing the business and operational sides of our organisation. We need to be more strategic in how we think and work. On from that we will continually have to innovate in what we do and how we do it, this is not a process which will have a !xed destination point. However, this does not mean that it will be all change. There is a great deal of what we are doing now which will be part of our future. The progress we need to make will be considered and it will respect our traditions, but also allow us to control the changes we bring about.

Having managed a self !nancing, public facing archaeological and historical organisation for over twenty years I am more than aware of the pragmatic needs which have to be addressed by the Society to make this vision a reality. I am con!dent that we can and will do so.

Right now there is a real opportunity to start to make things happen. I would like your input on a wide range of issues. For example, I would like you to let me know how you think we can increase our membership, do you know a company or body who may wish to sponsor any aspect of our work; do you have something you feel you can contribute to the Society? My email is [email protected]. I would like to hear from you and I am happy to have the pleasure of written correspondence as well as emails. I look forward to hearing from you, meeting you and working with you.

Tristan BarehamChief Executive

Arising from the members’ survey conducted late last year,

we have identi!ed certain issues that members raise with some frequency. We thought it might be helpful therefore to address these.

Properties – why do we own them?

We are unique among English County Archaeological Societies in owning historic properties which are open to the public. Most were acquired before the present-day laws protecting historic buildings came into force, and while ownership is a privilege, it is a demanding one. Historic properties are expensive and dif!cult to maintain, and other than Heritage Lottery Fund grants received for speci!c projects, the Society receives no external funding to support and maintain its buildings, nor could it afford the endowment required to gift any of them to the National Trust. In 2009 the Society’s Trustees proposed selling certain of the properties, but this was rejected by the Membership at an EGM, and the Society is bound by the wishes of its members.

Sussex Archaeological Collections

SAC is very important to the Society, reinforcing its academic and professional standing while providing a key research source, and it is our intention to continue to include this as part of your membership. We envisage continuing to print in book form, although it may be possible to offer a digital alternative in the future. Past copies are available online. We are aware that the balance of articles in SAC leans towards

archaeology rather than history, and would welcome more contributions from historians. Please contact the Editor, Luke Barber, for more information.

Child/Junior membershipWe do not offer child membership,

as our family memberships already cover children and unaccompanied children cannot visit our properties for safety reasons. Our Education teams in the various properties offer a range of activities for children during the school holidays which are open to all, in addition to the very successful school visits they arrange during term-time. For children aged 8 – 16 who have a particular interest in archaeology, we recommend the Young Archaeologists’ Club, a national organisation, but with regional events. For more details, see http://www.britarch.ac.uk/yac/ or call 01904 671417.

Members’ events - weekday v weekends and location

The range of ages, interests and availability among our members is wide, and although we do our best to offer something for everyone, we cannot always succeed. We try to achieve a balance of events across the whole week, but are constrained by the availability of event leaders and venues. Wherever practicable, we prefer to use rooms in our own properties for talks and workshops, thus avoiding hiring fees we would have to pass on. However, rooms such as the Education Resource Centre at Barbican House are heavily used by the Education teams during the week, and they have booking priority. As a result, the events which suit that

space unavoidably take place at weekends. The availability of this room at weekends also explains why many of our talks take place in Lewes, although we do try to achieve a balance across the county for walks etc. You may not be aware that many of our events are led by members of the Society, and while some are experts in their !eld, others are enthusiastic amateurs who give up their time for free. All are keen to share their interests and to learn from others, so no-one should feel intimidated about attending an event.

The Society is Lewes-centricTo some extent, this is

unavoidable, as not only are two of our museums sited in Lewes, but so is our Head Of!ce, Bull House. Moreover, as you will be aware, Sussex as a county is very spread out, and Lewes is our most central base. Events that are scheduled further into the west of the county (for example, the 2008 annual conference) always attract some complaint from members in the east about the distance they would have to travel to attend, and vice versa. This is one reason why the annual conference is generally held at Sussex University – it is as central a location as we can manage! We do make a point of holding the AGM in our various properties in different parts of the county, but to some extent a Lewes base is unavoidable. Members will be aware that both Fishbourne (in the west) and Michelham (in the east) do organise their own programmes of events which, while not targeted speci!cally at members, are open to all.

Lorna GartsideMembership Secretary

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/yac/


THE STAR INN

The Star Inn, AlfristonResearching the history of an iconic building

NEW FINDS AT PALACEExcavation

The half-timbered, jettied front and grotesque wood-carvings

of the Star Inn at Alfriston evoke another age and many theories have been propounded, many tales told, about the building’s past. Facts though are in short supply.

Alfriston’s strategic position on the South Downs Way, the pilgrim route between Chichester and Canterbury, might well have meant a resting place to medieval travellers – but no evidence of this has survived. In fact, until recently, not only had no de!nitive date been established for the oldest part of the building but there was nothing recorded to show it as an inn or tavern before 1658.

Then, in August 2010, the ultimate authorities on timber-framed buildings, David and Barbara Martin, were commissioned to produce a full archaeological survey of the building. Christopher Whittick, senior archivist at ESRO, who provides documentary evidence to inform the Martins’ work, knows that I’ve been researching the

history of Alfriston. He rang to ask if I could comment on the Martins’ stylistic dating of the remaining original structure of the Star Inn at 1490 +/- 30 years?

Coincidentally, I’d just been on the trail of a !fteenth century owner

of the Star site, a man called John Archer who (in his will) said he was of Exeter. Among the records of Battle Abbey, which then owned the site, was mention of Archer having been admitted to the property in 1479. There was little else to go on. It seemed likely that he was already well-off when he came to Alfriston since his recorded contacts were among the more prosperous families in the Cuckmere, including the Profoots and Brookes, major wool producers and landowners. Archer’s second wife was a Profoot. Tracking that family led to the court rolls of Milton Street where I found reference to a property once belonging to the Profoots but now of a John Archer als Cutler (als = alias or otherwise) Where had I seen that name?

In the Battle Abbey records about Alfriston there was a complaint that a John Cotelere had left timber on the high road and extended his building 2# feet into the main road. If Archer and Cotelere/Cutler were in fact the same person then the combined references showed him purchasing, then building on, a site (just like the Star) that faced onto two roads. It had to be worth a trip to Exeter, a city once !lled with timber-framed town houses traditionally decorated with wood carving. Indeed, there I found record of both Archer and Cutler families, tavernkeepers selling wine, mead, cider, perry and ale in the eastern ward near the Cathedral. The Cutlers also traded in "eeces, skins and cloth and in the 1440s a John Archer als Cutler was Mayor of Exeter on several occasions. A marked slump in cloth exports from Exeter in the 1460s had perhaps propelled his son to !nd fortune elsewhere.The combined evidence makes a compelling case for John

Archer als Cutler as builder of the Star Inn in 1483, the year he was

building on his corner site. The Martins also identi!ed features indicating the likelihood that the oldest part of today’s Star had been built as an inn or tavern.

A footnote to this story concerns one of the carved ecclesiastical !gures that adorn the front of the building and reputedly represents St Giles. However Dr Colin Brent pointed out that St Giles (ca 650-710 AD) was not a bishop and the !gure is clearly mitred. St Hubert (ca 656-727 AD) on the other hand became Bishop of Lièges, and he

The Star Inn, photographed in 1962, with timber framing exposed. Photo: SAS collection.

The Star Inn photographed in the early C20th, with timber framing concealed under plaster. Photo: SAS collection

Research

was most usually depicted with a stag. An engraving from the Gentleman’s Magazine of 1787 shows the carving innocent of the subsequent centuries of paintwork

and it is clear that in the original the ‘rabbit’ was in fact antlered. Intriguing then to !nd that among those holding St Hubert as their patron saint are not only archers but also metalworkers.

Juliet Clarke

One of the grotesques adorning the building façade. Photo: SAS collection.

Engraving from the Gentleman’s Magazine of 1787 showing earlier appearance of ‘bishop’.

Current appearance of ‘bishop’, altered by several layers of modern paintwork. Photo: J. Clarke

Water leak reveals more at Palace

Portsmouth Water engineers helped safeguard the 2,000-

year-old mosaics at Fishbourne Roman Palace after discovering a water mains leak - 50 years after workers trying to lay the same pipe !rst uncovered the palace. The leak came to light when museum staff noticed that some of the mosaics were waterlogged and called in Portsmouth Water to detect the cause.

After exploratory work, engineers discovered that one of the collars used at joints along the pipe had corroded. Once a trench had been dug to carry out the repairs a team of archaeologists took the opportunity to search for additional artefacts and uncovered substantial !nds, including Roman roof tiles and pieces of animal bone thought to originate from some of the earliest fallow deer found in Britain. CDC curator Dr Rob Symmons said: “The excavation yielded a remarkable amount of material, including pottery roof tile, animal bone, and ironwork. The roof tiles recovered will be of particular interest as they were not widely retained when the bulk of the Palace was excavated, and will help !ll a key gap in our knowledge. An animal bone was also found that initial analysis suggests is the foot bone of a fallow deer. This would be one of the earliest fallow deer ever found in Britain (the other early examples also coming from the Palace) and it is likely that this bone will form a central part of a DNA and carbon dating project in the near future.”

Portsmouth Water are looking to resite the trunk main, which supplies Birdham and the Witterings, away from the Palace in the near future.

‘Ruins, Rotas & Romance’ a 50th Anniversary exhibition about the people who excavated the Palace runs until the 15th December.


PORTABLE ANTIQUITY SCHEME WORTHING VILLAGE

Best Finds of 2010The Finds Liaison Officer reports on significant finds

Research

Worthing Village ProjectHeritage Lottery funded research into the town’s origins

Worthing is today the biggest town in West Sussex, with a

population of over 105,000 people. Yet once it was a small village, so small, indeed, that it had no church of its own but came under the jurisdiction of Broadwater parish. It was only with the arrival of wealthy visitors, including George III’s youngest daughter, Princess Amelia, in 1798, that this sleepy village began to be developed as a seaside town. However, the upper class visitors, who came for their health, stayed at the new, fashionable terraces built along the seafront. They kept their distance from the village and its population of farm labourers and part-time labourers and part-time and part-time !sherman.

So where was this village, with its old-world cottages, farmhouses and inns? Well, although some pre-resort buildings did exist close to the seashore, most were built inland. The old village of Worthing was located at the northern end of High Street, North Street, (formerly Middle Street), the northern end of Chapel Road (formerly North Street), Little High Street, and the southern end of what is today Upper High Street. Two hundred years ago, the Jack Horner was the Anchor Inn, and Lyndurst Road

was Anchor Lane. The Swan was a private house, only becoming a public house in 1849. Where Sussex Road and Ashdown Road run today, there were once slaughter houses and barns. Just north of Newland Road ran the Teville Stream, crossed over by a bridge. It was close to this bridge on the night of 22nd February 1832, that the smuggler William Cowerson was shot dead by Lieutenant Henderson of the Coastguard. So, although you might not know it, this part of Worthing is where our ancient ancestors settled, lived and farmed. There is evidence of human habitation going back to the Bronze Age over 3,000 years ago. Much later, the Anglo-Saxons built their village here – the village that would become known as Worthing.

The Worthing Village Heritage Project is a two-year project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which local resident and historian Chris Hare has been appointed to manage. It will delve into the history of the old village, charting its fascinating story from the earliest times to the present day. It is hoped

to involve other local historians in this important research and work with as many local residents as possible.

The project will encompass varied aspects of local history including researching old maps and documents relating to the old village; researching the history of the village’s surviving buildings, and also the history of those buildings that have been demolished; smuggling and the old village; looking at the history of the Sidney Walter Centre, both as a community centre and as a school, and exploring the origins of Home!eld Park and the Teville Stream. Oral history interviews with some of the long-term residents in the community will be carried out and they also aim to make a !lm about life in the old village district today, so that future generations will be able to see how we lived in 2010!

If you would like more information about the project, you can contact Chris Hare at [email protected] or call him on 07794600639.

Old cottages in Chapel Road Photo: Worthing Library

Newland Road sweep Photo: Worthing Library

Feature Research

This is the second annual roundup of some of the best !nds

recorded in Sussex by the Portable Antiquity Scheme.This year we have created just under 2,500 records of 4,288 archaeological !nds made by members of the public in East and West Sussex, the oldest is a Palaeolithic hand axe and the most modern an 18th century iron patten from a shoe. The major change this year has been an upgraded website and database which will hopefully make it much easier for people to !nd objects of interest and has also speeded up recording. Please have a look at www.finds.org.uk.

I have tried to pick out three of my recent favourites which I hope you will !nd of interest. More information on all the pieces can be found on our database using the reference numbers given.

The !rst is a miniature Bronze Age palstave axe, SUSS-C41D04 (above) from near Chichester. The form is typical of palstave axes with stop ridge, side wings and wide curved blade although it appears

to be mis-cast with a bump by the stop ridge on one side. Miniature axes are known in the Bronze Age as single !nds and from hoards, much like the larger versions. They maybe toys, or ritual models or simply have a different function than the larger ones.

SUSS-CABBE6 (above) is a gros tournois of Louis IX of France (1226-1270), minted at Tours, 1266-1270 AD. It was found on an allotment in Winchelsea and is in wonderful condition. It therefore can’t have been in circulation very much and was probably lost soon after minting which coincides with the formal founding of New Winchelsea (in 1288). The gros tournois provided one of the models for the large silver coin (the groat) !rst introduced in England in about 1279.

The third, SUSS-05BC17 (above) was found by a metal detectorist in

Lewes and is a highly unusual item which is thought to be a prosthetic nose. These were often used in the late Medieval and Post Medieval periods by people who had lost their nose to disease or accident, most famously Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, who had a silver nose. When his grave was excavated copper staining was found on the skull and it was suggested he had an ‘everyday’ nose of copper as well as the silver one (for best?). A very similar example to this is also illustrated in a 16th century medical text.

Last year I asked for volunteers and had a good response. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all my volunteers without whom we would not be able to record so much material. Also the !nders, if they don’t come forward with their !nds to record there would be no scheme and so much information about the past would be lost.

By the time you read this I will have left to take up a new job in Somerset. My successor is Stephanie Smith and her contact details are the same as given below. We hold regular !nds days around the two counties and are always interested to hear from people who have !nds they have made and would like to record. We can be contacted at Barbican House Museum, 01273 405731 or email: [email protected].

Laura BurnettFinds Liaison Officer (Sussex)

http://www.finds.org.uk



SHOREHAM HISTORY SEWAF

Tenement History of ShorehamResearching rental lists of New Shoreham Borough and Manor

Tracing the Past in WoodlandsThe South East Woodland Archaeology Forum

Feature

In 1782, while he was superintending the construction

of the new timber bridge at Old Shoreham, Joseph Hodskinson produced a map and up-to-date Rental of the 160+ tenements in the Duke of Norfolk’s Borough and Manor of New Shoreham. This is an excellent resource for the study of each before and after this date.

Apart from the often scrawled nature of the Rental lists, there are many other problems of identi!cation. Rents can only help where they occur and remain unchanged over successive Rentals. Holdings were split up or amalgamated and payments combined, often without indication of the individual sums, and probable changes in topography at a time when this coast was subject to periodic severe storms also make it dif!cult. Trespasses upon the Lord’s waste added to change, and there is the local predilection for periodically re-naming both Streets and Holdings.

That the Steward or his Deputy might have been a comparative stranger to the Town is an added problem, possibly exploited by the locals. Rents were often in arrear – up to ten years at times – and if a holding is absent from a Rental, it may be simply that

no Rent was offered or none was payable. Tenants could well be at sea, or simply “not Atome” like old Raven in 1750. It is likely that at times of extreme hardship such as 1703-4, when the “whole Town was shattered” according to Defoe, the Steward had to be realistic in his pursuit of arrears.

The Borough is quite a small area, so that space was always valuable. It is known that sheep were grazed in the Churchyard, doubtless because there was little other common land – only the Ham and Green Ham. Two small lengths of highway were incorporated into

Research

Plan of New Shoreham, 1817 (Barbican House Museum collection)

holdings with the Lord’s consent, and the East end of the High Street re-aligned, doubtless as a result of erosion by the sea before 1650.

A study such as this is cannot provide every answer, which the still outstanding queries of sixty years clearly show; but a picture gradually emerges of the townsfolk before the age of the Census, and it should be possible to link this through to more recent times. Henry Cheal, my predecessor at Marlipins, began this study in 1947 and I have continued this task, the computer now making the linking of data easier than by using card index or notes. I would like to carry this research as far back as possible using earlier Rentals (to 1660 at present) and earlier where there are deads extant. I have checked the more obvious sources, like the Arundel Archive, but would like to know of any information which I may not have seen.

Michael [email protected]

Hon. Curator,Marlipins Museum, 1954-1989

River Adur and New Shoreham, c1830 (Marlipins Museum collection)

David Brown (right) leading a woodland archaeology course at Flimwell Photo: Plumpton College

The South East Woodland Archaeology Forum (SEWAF) is

run by a committee of four people, two of whom are archaeologists and two woodland owners, and is open to anyone with an interest in woodland archaeology. It operates entirely by members volunteering their time and expertise. There are no subscription fees and it has no funding.

During the winter months (roughly October to April) SEWAF undertakes quick walkover surveys of woods on behalf of owners and managers. There is no charge and it comprises a reasonably comprehensive ground survey, combined with reference to historic maps. Most woods will have some features such as old sawpits or charcoal burners’ hearths and we expect to !nd most of them, but inevitably there will be things that are missed. More importantly, the aim is to give the landowner an idea of whether they have features which are historically signi!cant and how they might take their research forward. Sometimes a written report is provided, but often there is no call for one.

We have had requests from farmers to identify possible features in their wooded areas; wildlife trusts to guide their management; estate managers to provide a basis for educational material; the Forestry Commission to prevent damage to features from harvesting operations and woodland agents to prepare a report for potential buyers. Some woods are on private land, whereas others are open to the public. Since we started a year ago, SEWAF has been asked to survey almost 50 woodlands in Kent and Sussex, ranging in size from 400 acres to some as small as 5 acres.

One of the aims of the group is to ensure that archaeological features found in woodland are recorded on the county Historic Environment Record. SEWAF is also closely involved with the three-year Heritage Lottery-funded Historic Environment Awareness Project concentrating on the Weald Forest Ridge, an area stretching from Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells to Horsham (see SP&P 121).

SEWAF is actively involved in promoting woodland archaeology in the south east by running an introductory course in woodland archaeology for Plumpton Agricultural College at the Woodland Enterprise Centre at Flimwell, giving talks to local interest groups about woodland archaeology and the Weald Forest Ridge project, advising on who to contact for specialist information regarding the history of a woodland and providing a training programme for would-be surveyors. We also had stands

at this year’s Weald Woodfair in Ringmer, Sussex and at the Kent County Show in Maidstone.

The group’s website, www.sewaf.org.uk, provides information about archaeology and history groups in the south east, courses in woodland archaeology and who to contact with a query, plus information about woodland archaeology in general.

Meetings are held twice a year at Bedgebury Visitor Centre, Flimwell and visits to woodlands take place throughout the year. Anyone interested in joining in with any of these activities should get in touch with me at [email protected] and I will be happy to put you on the emailing list.

David BrownDavid will be leading a field trip to Brede High Woods on Sunday 13 February 2011 in connection with the ‘Archaeology of Wooded Landscapes’ conference. See Noticeboard section.


NEWICK VILLAGE LIBRARY & BOOKSHOP NEWSLibrary

Library NewsLibrary receives large donation of books

As we move into autumn and winter, we welcome back the students (formal and informal) and researchers who use the library.

The runs of journals that we hold are now incorporated into the Library catalogue on line (for those who need reminding, the link to the catalogue appears on both the Library and Research pages on the Society’s website - www.sussexpast.co.uk).

I list below some recent additions to the Library (all 2010):

BUCKBERRY, Jo Burial in late Anglo-Saxon England.

& CHERRYSON, A

CLARKE, Helen Sandwich - the “completest medieval

& others town in England”.

COATES, Richard The Place-Name History of Rottingdean

and Ovingdean.

COLLIS, Rose New Encyclopaedia of Brighton.

TOMLIN, RSO The Roman Inscriptions of Britain: Vol. III

& others Inscriptions on Stone.

WHITING, Robert The Reformation of the English Parish

Church.

We are grateful to the following for their donations to the Library: W Abbott; D Bone; AJ Brunning, FSC; P Combes; E Critchley; J Goodwin; G Gosney; M Green; P Harrison; M Langley; A Matson; S Ray; R Salter (WSCC Archaeological Reports).

In addition, I am most grateful to Ms Felicity Ford, who has donated a large collection of books, pamphlets and lea"ets, the property of her late grandfather Leslie Beacons!eld Bristow of Eastbourne. He played an active role in the Society (he was a Member from 1944-1961), including as a member of the Sussex Archaeological Trust, which was then responsible for the buildings that the Society owned. Many of these items we do not already hold, and some are probably rare survivals of ephemeral lea"ets of the time.

Esme Evans Hon. Librarian

Excavation

The Little Stiances ProjectNewick Primary School pupils help archaeologists

Pupils from the village primary school in Newick, East

Sussex have recently enjoyed an ‘Archaeology Week’ as part of a project organised by University College London Centre for Applied Archaeology (UCLCAA). The venture allowed 230 children aged between 4 and 11 years old to become involved in archaeology, usually for the !rst time.

The archaeological potential of the site, which survives as a series of earthworks in a pasture !eld called Little Stiances, was !rst identi!ed in the 1970s. Recent research con!rmed that there had been a cottage within the !eld from at least the mid-18th century onwards. It was demolished in the early 20th century.

An initial geophysical survey by a team from UCLCAA (below) con!rmed the presence of buried masonry associated with the cottage and garden. Other features picked up in the survey included ?earlier enclosures, with apparently no associated masonry remains, suggesting the presence of possible additional medieval structures at the site.

Then came the school’s ‘Archaeology Week’. Members of staff from UCLCAA were able to show the children various archaeological methods including site reconnaissance, map work and !nds recognition. The pupils also helped one of UCLCAA’s surveyors

with a full topographical survey. And last-but-not-least, the children embarked on the closely supervised archaeological excavation of a number of test-pits.

Finds from the test-pits included a range of pottery dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries, large quantities of brick and tile, and an assortment of other artefacts, such as clay pipes and a scatter of Mesolithic "intwork. Finds of particular interest to the children included a half penny of George III (dated 1770-5), a Victorian clay marble and a heavily corroded padlock, although all !nds were greeted with an infectious enthusiasm (especially pottery ‘with patterns AND writing on it’ to quote one pupil!).

In terms of academic signi!cance, the recovery of Mesolithic "intwork was of particular importance, and !ts a pattern of hunter/gatherer activity in the region based on the system of river valleys. The presence of 15th century pottery con!rms the longevity of more permanent habitation at the site.

A public Open Day was organised to allow visitors to look around the site and see what had been

uncovered. Despite poor weather, there were nearly 200 visitors, mostly family groups consisting of an old site hand, siblings and mum and dad who came along to be

shown which hole ‘I dug’ and what ‘I found’’.

There are a huge number of people to thank for their help. Firstly an enormous debt of gratitude is owed to John and Catherine Sclater for allowing access to the land and for their continued support throughout the project. Thanks are also due to Tony Turk for sharing his extensive knowledge, to Luke Barber of the Sussex Archaeological Society for examining the !nds, and to Mrs Thomas, the Headteacher and all the staff, parents, relatives, and pupils from the school for all their hard work. The project could not have gone ahead without generous !nancial support from various sources, including the provision of a Margary Grant from the Sussex Archaeological Society.

Simon StevensSenior Archaeologist

UCLCAA

Young archaeologists help to examine a test pit Photo: Simon Stevens

Bookshop TWO well known and much respected Sussex authors with excellent additions to the county bibliography are featured in the current members’ offer.

Peter Brandon, The Discovery of Sussex (Andover: Phillimore, 2010, published at £25, £20 for members) is an examination of the social, cultural and environmental changes which went into the making of modern Sussex from the end of the 18th century.

Richard Coates, The traditional dialect of Sussex (Lewes: Pomegranate Press, 2010, £14.50 published price, members £13) explores the dialect itself, the works written in it, and the attempts to understand it by linguists from the 19th-century to the present.

Both can be collected from Barbican House, or posted at cost.

John BleachBarbican House Bookshop


BooksBOOK REVIEWS

BooksBOOK REVIEWS

BLOODLINEThe Celtic Kings of

Britain

IN his latest book Miles Russell brings his imaginative attention to the period from Caesar to the end of the !rst century AD. He points out, early on, that he is NOT ‘saying that everything that has been said about Roman Britain in the past is wrong’ but, of course, his show of false modesty rather suggests that he IS claiming exactly that. He quickly goes on to rage against a story of Roman Britain riddled with “Established Facts” (his initial capitals) which he has now discovered are less founded in substance that he previously thought. In intensely irritating and puerile asides he questions the interpretations of others. An example will suf!ce: ‘The invasion army !rst landed at Richborough in Kent’; Miles’ retort is ‘Really? Were you there?’ Ugh! Pity the printed page on which such prose falls. This is the gastronomic equivalent of !nding a slug lurking under the last leaf of your enjoyable salad. And having railed at the efforts of others, for the remainder of the book Miles then duly gives us his version of the Established Facts.

Those of us who have followed, seriously or otherwise, the musings of Miles will not be disappointed in the latest outpourings. All the old favourites are there, plus one or two new ones. For instance it is claimed that the bulk of the Roman invasion force, complete with elephants, did sail the short crossing to Richborough, a short time after the !rst force landed in the Chichester area. Then there is the linking of Dio’s Togodumnus with Tacitus’ Togidbunus. Some readers will be surprised to learn that Togidbunus may well have engaged the army of Boudicca in battle. Nero (increasing in popularity these days) pops up quite a bit – in the reinterpretation of the boy’s head from Fishbourne, in a monumental statue head (‘possibly Nero’) from Bosham and ousting Claudius in the Suffolk !nd of 1907. The piece de resistance is the coupling of the dubious 17th century record of a supposed inscription at Chichester with the discovery in 1825 of an altar stone mentioning one Lucullus. From this miscegenation Miles contrives a Governor of Roman Britain (of Celtic ancestry) living at Fishbourne Roman Palace in the late 80s AD. To be fair to Miles, he is not shy of quoting his critics, citing at least 12 of whom critiqued his Lucullus theory when he aired it a few years ago. But needless to say, none of the author’s story-lines are moored by evidential anchors.

The last point I want to make is that this is a deeply conservative text, cloaked in the guise of radical insight. And that is a pity. I do sense that Miles has read a lot of the required reading, but his asides on the works of others suggest that he has screened out the latest (and not so latest) theoretical insights. This is a text full of chiefs, dynasties and battles of the sort contemporary scholarship currently eschews. Those searching for the masses will search in vain.

But don’t let me put you off. This

is an entertaining read. And don’t let me persuade you on the merits or otherwise of this offering either. Let the history of Romano-British scholarship decide when any of Miles’ story-lines become the next generation’s Established Facts. But, reader, let me advise you, at least for your health… while we wait… I wouldn’t hold your breath, if I were you.

John ManleyBy Miles Russell, 2010.

ISBN 978-1-84868-238-2.Paperback by Amberley Publishing.

Price £18.99.

SANDWICHThe ‘completest medieval town in

England’MOST who have an interest in historic towns will be aware that a major research project has been in progress at Sandwich, Kent. Funded by English Heritage, the aim has been to adopt a truly interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeology, building recording and documentary records to give an integrated and wide-ranging analysis of the town from its Saxon beginnings through

to its Tudor decline. With so much anticipation there is a danger that expectations rise to such an extent that the results, when published, are a disappointment. I have no reservations in reporting that this is not the case here. So often what claims to be an interdisciplinary study is nothing more than a series of essays written by individual experts. Sandwich was promoted as being different, with all authors contributing to each section. This aim has been fully attained.

It is inevitable there will be some criticisms. For me, on occasions I wished for a little more detail. Where buildings with unusual plan-forms were described I would have liked discussion of alternative interpretations, if only to indicate that these had been considered and rejected. In one instance an exceptionally small hall was referred to — far smaller than any discovered in the sister Cinque-port town of Rye — yet, disappointingly, I could !nd no plan of it.

The least successful chapter, I thought, was the conclusion. In both style and content this is very different to the rest of the book. To my mind, it tends to preach, stating how the Sandwich format should be adopted as a template for future studies. I totally agree, but are the authors the right people to tell us? Should it not be the readers who make such judgements? Perhaps this chapter was a requirement of those funding the project. If so, it is a quirk which is worth overlooking. For anyone interested in medieval towns, this study deserves to head reading lists for many years to come.

David MartinSenior Historic Buildings Officer,

Archaeology South-EastBy Helen Clarke, Sarah Pearson,

Mavis Mate and Keith ParfittOxbow Books, 2010.

ISBN 978-1-84217-400-5.Hardback, 326 pages. £35.00.

DINOSAUR DOCTORThe Life and Work of

Gideon MantellIN the !rst half of the 19th century, Gideon Mantell (1790-1852), based in Lewes, then Brighton and !nally London, !rst discovered a series of remarkable fossils, the most renowned of which came to be called dinosaurs. He wrote many books and papers on geology; opened a museum in Brighton’s Old Steine; lectured widely to the public and courted famous men of science, aristocracy and even royalty. But this extraordinary man had !rst quali!ed as a general practitioner (then known as a ‘surgeon’) and throughout his life excelled as a man of medicine, To cap it all, Mantell kept a personal journal in which he laid bare much of the daily struggle that ill-health, over work and family concerns meant to him.

Little wonder then that this man’s life has been well examined. Amongst the most signi!cant publications is a biography by Sidney Spokes (1929), his abridged Journal by Curwen (1940), a history by Deborah Cadbury (1988) and most scholarly of all, a biography by Dennis Dean in 1999. So the question is – did we need another?

In his introduction, Critchley suggests that “..a critique, rather than a straight biography, is needed…”. I am not sure that he achieves this. Indeed this book is not a straight biography – he divides Mantell’s life into themes including ‘Fossils’, ‘Museum’, ‘Brighton’ and ‘Soiree’. An unfortunate result of this is that there is quite a lot of confusing duplication where an event touches on more than one theme. For example there are three passages describing Mantell’s trip to Horsham in 1848 to look at the Iguanodon jaw belonging to George Holmes.

Most of the book follows familiar ground. But this fresh approach is not without interest. Critchley interjects interesting aspects of social history including the !rst chapter on ‘In"uences’. He examines Mantell’s health and personality. Being a consultant neurologist by profession, Critchley is better placed than any other author to synthesise and re-evaluate both Mantell’s medical practice and his several ailments including severe scoliosis. It is this aspect of the book that I enjoyed the most and is the most signi!cant addition to our appreciation of Mantell’s life.

There are too many errors in the text. (Is a celt really a ‘brass musical instrument’?; Mantell bought a terebratula from Sowerby’s - and it is not a “stinging or boring fossil”). I would like to have seen a clearer indication of where the many quotes came from – Mantell’s journal, correspondence, or press etc.

Nevertheless, an attractive book, which no-one with any sort of interest in Mantell will want to be without.

John CooperRoyal Pavilion & Museums,

Brighton & HoveBy Edmund Critchley, 2010

Published by Amberley publishingISBN 978 1 84868 947 3

Paperback, 256pp. Price £18.99

Sussex Past & Present December 2010 www.sussexpast.co.uk16

Next Issue

Snippets

THE Sussex Past & Present newsletter is published three times each year, in April, August and December. The next issue will be published in April 2011. Copy deadline is February 11th. Letters and ‘snippets’ are welcome; longer items should be kept to a maximum of 500 words unless prior arrangements have been made with the editor, Wendy Muriel, at [email protected], or Luke Barber on 01273 405733. Please note that we require images with most contributions, preferably in high quality colour format. To submit digitally, please use MS Word (97-2003 format) for text and send images in JPEG or TIF formats, at a minimum resolution of 600dpi. Correspondence and details of events should be sent to Wendy Muriel, Editor, Sussex Past & Present, Bull House, 92 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1XH, or emailed to the above address.

Rates for insertions into the newsletter, which goes out to over 2000 members, start at £100 (plus minimum handling charge of £20). Contact Lorna Gartside on 01273 405737 for details.

Volunteers Wanted! KTP Scheme Visioning Day

ON 3rd November, a number of the Society’s trustees, staff, volunteers and Friends gathered for a day’s seminar at Michelham Priory on “Presenting our Properties and Museums”. The day concentrated on topics such as displays, guidebooks and lea"ets, plus identifying key themes that each property can offer the visitor. Ideas raised in discussion will help inform future improvements in layout, content and style to enhance the visitor experience.

RECENT graduate Jennie Gadsby, selected from a shortlist of six candidates, has been offered an unique opportunity to help give Fishbourne Roman Palace a major facelift, thanks to a joint initiative with Bournemouth University. The Government scheme, known as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), enables a business and university join forces to offer paid work experience.According to Property Director, Christine Medlock: “The museum gallery represents the best working practices of 40 years ago and this is an opportunity for someone who’s graduated in the past !ve years to play a major part in developing the museum to today’s standards. We urgently need to undertake this research as we have to understand how the Palace museum and gallery can be innovatively redesigned to ful!ll the expectations of today’s visitors. The Palace is one of thePalace is one of the most important Roman sites north of Rome and has built up an enviable reputation for academic integrity and educational excellence. This will be the !rst time that the museum has been redesigned since opening in 1968 and Jennie will have a unique chance to help with the planning and development of this major tourist attraction. The project is scheduled over a 40-week period and will demand a keen attention to detail, testing proposals and ideas against data collected from a variety of sources (visitors, curators, designers, school teachers, and a range of other stakeholders)”.Training and academic support will be provided. Employed by Bournemouth University but based at Fishbourne, Jennie will take up position on the !rst of November 2010.

YOUR Research Committee has discussed the feasibility of a closer involvement with the dissemination of information about the activities of local history societies and groups around the historic county. We envisage a regular report on ongoing talks, events, research etc. which might be published either within Sussex Past & Present, or on our web pages. But in order to do this we need volunteers! If anyone is interested in this proposition, please contact the chair of Research Committee, Brian Short, at [email protected], or via Bull House.

OUR Battle of Lewes Project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is now well underway. We are honoured to announce that eminent historian Professor David Carpenter has agreed to be a patron, as has Baroness Andrews, the Chair of English Heritage.We are now looking for researchers with an interest in !nding out more about this signi!cant Lewes event. Funding for research activities can be made available. There will be opportunities for both experts in the !eld and those who are completely new to it. A key role for the researchers will be to advise project members and others in the community about the battle as we move towards its 750th anniversary in 2014, with research needed into social and political history and archaeology. We already have some very exciting projects emerging, ranging from a narrative battle embroidery using authentic materials to a battle radio station! The signi!cance of different sites involved in the battle is also being examined.Please contact our project of!cer Edwina Livesey for more information on [email protected].

Battle of Lewes Project


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