April 2013 (issue 129) - The Sussex Archaeological Society
April 2013 (issue 129) - The Sussex Archaeological Society
April 2013 (issue 129) - The Sussex Archaeological Society
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N u m b e r 1 2 9 A P R I L 2 0 1 3<br />
Archaeology Round-up<br />
Bridge Farm: a ‘New’ Roman Site<br />
Barcombe Roman Bathhouse<br />
Brede High Woods ‘Big Dig’<br />
Etymology of Plashett Park<br />
www.sussexpast.co.uk <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong>
Membership Matters<br />
MEMBERSHIP<br />
OPENING LINES<br />
Opening Lines<br />
Lorna’s Notebook<br />
A round-up of all that’s new in the membership department<br />
Welcome to the <strong>April</strong> edition of<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present.<br />
Sunday 7 July: <strong>Society</strong> AGM<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Society</strong>’s AGM will be held<br />
this year at Michelham Priory,<br />
and the AGM notice including<br />
the agenda is enclosed with this<br />
newsletter. Further papers will be<br />
available online nearer the time in<br />
the members’ area of the website<br />
– contact me if you need the<br />
password. Lunch is available (prebooked<br />
only) and in the afternoon<br />
you will have the chance for a tour<br />
to see the changes at the Priory<br />
– more details in the Noticeboard<br />
section (centre pages). Please use<br />
the form there to book in advance<br />
so we know how many people to<br />
expect.<br />
Saturday 2 November:<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> and the Georgian Age<br />
c1680 - 1830 Conference<br />
Our autumn conference this year<br />
looks at the impact of the Georgian<br />
period on <strong>Sussex</strong>. It is taking place<br />
rather later than usual, and we hope<br />
that this means more people will be<br />
free to attend. As for the last two<br />
major conferences, the venue is<br />
Lewes Town Hall; however, this time<br />
we are using the Corn Exchange<br />
instead of the Assembly Room, in<br />
the hopes that this will ameliorate<br />
the acoustic difficulties encountered<br />
in the Assembly Room.<br />
Full details are in the enclosed<br />
booking form, and we look forward<br />
to seeing many of you there.<br />
WW1 Conference<br />
We will be holding a one day<br />
conference on Saturday 26 <strong>April</strong><br />
2014 to commemorate the outbreak<br />
of the First World War in August<br />
1914. <strong>The</strong> venue will be Lewes<br />
Town Hall, and it will be followed on<br />
27 <strong>April</strong> with a range of associated<br />
field trips. Further details will<br />
be circulated in due course, but<br />
the topics will be diverse and<br />
thought-provoking.<br />
As part of this event, we plan to<br />
put together a display to remember<br />
those who fought or otherwise<br />
served between 1914-1918, and<br />
we need your input. If you had<br />
family or friends who fought in the<br />
Great War, we would like to hear<br />
from you. <strong>The</strong> aim is to collect brief<br />
biographical details about each<br />
person, ideally combined with a<br />
photograph or a postcard they may<br />
have written during the War. If we<br />
have sufficient material, we plan to<br />
put together a poster display for<br />
the conference which can then be<br />
exhibited afterwards in one of the<br />
<strong>Society</strong>’s properties. We also hope<br />
to include some of these stories<br />
in the short articles section of<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> <strong>Archaeological</strong> Collections<br />
during the period 2015-2018. It<br />
will be our way of commemorating<br />
those whose lives were lost or<br />
irretrievably changed as a result of<br />
that conflict.<br />
We do need to have this<br />
information in good time to plan<br />
these various events, so start doing<br />
your research now! <strong>The</strong> deadline<br />
for receipt of your information is<br />
Friday 4 October <strong>2013</strong>, but it would<br />
be helpful if you could initially email<br />
me on members@sussexpast.<br />
co.uk or contact me at Bull House<br />
so we have an idea of how much<br />
and what type of information we<br />
will be receiving. If you need help<br />
with researching the details we will<br />
be able to provide you with some<br />
guidance on where to look.<br />
Members’ Survey<br />
Last year we asked members’<br />
opinions specifically on our<br />
publications. This year, we would<br />
like to gather some more general<br />
feedback from you to help us<br />
retain and recruit members by<br />
learning what attracted you to<br />
the <strong>Society</strong> and what keeps you<br />
here. You may fill in the copy of<br />
the form enclosed and return it to<br />
me by post, and a version is also<br />
available in the members’ area<br />
of the website (contact me if you<br />
need the password) for you to<br />
complete and email to me. We will<br />
give a summary of the feedback in<br />
a future newsletter and online. It<br />
should only take you a few minutes<br />
to complete, and we would very<br />
much appreciate your time!<br />
Visiting our Properties<br />
My usual reminder at this time<br />
of year - do remember that if you<br />
are planning to visit any of our<br />
properties you must have a valid<br />
membership card to show at<br />
the admissions desk in order to<br />
gain free entry. If you don’t, you<br />
will be asked to pay the normal<br />
admission price and this cannot be<br />
subsequently refunded. Please do<br />
not get cross with our admissions<br />
staff if you have forgotten to check<br />
that you have a current card with<br />
you before setting off.<br />
Lorna Gartside<br />
Membership Secretary<br />
MEMBERSHIP<br />
DEPARTMENT<br />
Bull House, 92 High Street<br />
Lewes, BN7 1XH<br />
Tues-Fri 10am-3pm<br />
Answering machine<br />
outside these hours<br />
01273 405737<br />
members@sussexpast.co.uk<br />
SUSSEX<br />
Past &<br />
Present<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Sussex</strong> <strong>Archaeological</strong><br />
<strong>Society</strong> Newsletter<br />
N u m b e r 1 2 9<br />
A P R I L 2 0 1 3<br />
Contents<br />
2 Membership Matters<br />
3 Opening Lines<br />
4 Barcombe Roman Baths<br />
5 Barcombe Roman Baths<br />
6 Archaeology Round-up<br />
7 Archaeology Round-up<br />
8 Brede High Woods ‘Big Dig’<br />
9 Plashett Park<br />
10 Bridge Farm Survey<br />
11 Peter Sangster Obituary<br />
12 Library & Bookshop<br />
13 John Houghton Obituary<br />
14 Book Reviews<br />
15 Book Reviews<br />
16 Snippets<br />
Published by the <strong>Sussex</strong><br />
<strong>Archaeological</strong> <strong>Society</strong>, Bull<br />
House, Lewes, E <strong>Sussex</strong>, BN71XH<br />
Tel: 01273 486260<br />
Fax: 01273 486990<br />
Email: adminlewes@sussexpast.<br />
co.uk<br />
Editor: Wendy Muriel<br />
Email: spp@sussexpast.co.uk<br />
Research Editor: Luke Barber<br />
ISSN 1357-7417<br />
Cover: Underwater archaeology at<br />
Church Field, Barcombe. Summer 2012.<br />
Photo: David Millum<br />
Your <strong>Society</strong><br />
...looking forward to the new season<br />
Here we are awaiting spring and hopefully better weather than last<br />
year. <strong>The</strong> weather in 2012 greatly affected visitor numbers to our<br />
properties and therefore the main income of the <strong>Society</strong>. We were<br />
required to draw down from reserves to cover a greater than anticipated<br />
deficit. This continued drain on our reserves and the need to address<br />
some significant items is of very serious concern. We have no choice but<br />
to consider a significant range of potential actions which arise from this<br />
reality. In response the Council is preparing to formulate a fundraising<br />
campaign to increase our income and to build up our reserves. We are<br />
also working hard with the Chief Executive and our staff team to make all<br />
of our income generating activities work as efficiently as possible.<br />
We are also looking to obtain support from outside funding bodies and<br />
organisations. I recently attended a meeting with representatives from<br />
Waitrose property department who are offering their expertise and labour<br />
to extend and refurbish the shop at Michelham Priory. <strong>The</strong> Friends of<br />
Michelham Priory are yet again funding a wide range of changes including<br />
enhancements to the Great Barn. <strong>The</strong> northern part of the moat has been<br />
cleared of growth and is looking much better. I recommend a visit to<br />
see the new views. <strong>The</strong> works carried out this year complement those of<br />
last year. <strong>The</strong> property is now much improved and greater income from<br />
functions is anticipated.<br />
A meeting has also been held with a number of grant giving bodies at<br />
Anne of Cleves House Museum, to hopefully fund the new café, garden<br />
and disabled toilet/access provisions. <strong>The</strong> weddings business at both<br />
the Castle and Anne of Cleves House show an encouraging increase<br />
on last year thanks to the efforts of our Eastern Properties Commercial<br />
Manager, Isobel Roberts. At Fishbourne Roman Palace the café has been<br />
redecorated and the garden museum has been refurbished. We also plan<br />
to extend the successful spoil heaps excavation during the Festival of<br />
British Archaeology this summer.<br />
In 2012 the 150th volume of the <strong>Sussex</strong> <strong>Archaeological</strong> Collections was<br />
<strong>issue</strong>d. This is a great achievement, and the Collections are envied by<br />
other societies throughout the country. We are planning a celebration in<br />
September at which all members will be invited to participate together with<br />
authors who have been published in the Collections. More information<br />
will be published in the next <strong>issue</strong> of <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Society</strong><br />
is in good heart, with the library, schools education, research, museums<br />
and collections achieving a very high standard and well used.<br />
<strong>Society</strong> membership increased last year and despite the rise in<br />
subscriptions sanctioned by members is expected to continue to rise in<br />
<strong>2013</strong>. Members’ visits to our properties have doubled over the last two<br />
years. Members are reminded that legacies are a very important way of<br />
helping the <strong>Society</strong>. For most charitable bodies, like the <strong>Society</strong>, this is<br />
a very significant element of their income. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Society</strong> can only survive<br />
with your support.<br />
I hope to see as many of you as possible at the AGM.<br />
Richard Akhurst<br />
Chair of Council<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />
www.sussexpast.co.uk www.sussexpast.co.uk <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong>
Excavations<br />
BARCOMBE ROMAN BATHS<br />
BARCOMBE ROMAN BATHS<br />
Excavations<br />
Research<br />
Reflections on a Cold Plunge<br />
Reporting on the final year’s dig in Church Field at Barcombe<br />
In October 2012 the bathhouse<br />
excavations at Barcombe were<br />
filled in, thus ending five seasons<br />
of excavations in Church Field<br />
and a total of 14 years of fieldwork<br />
for the Barcombe Roman Villa<br />
Project. It also marked the end<br />
of practical field archaeology at<br />
the University of <strong>Sussex</strong> whose<br />
Centre for Continuing Education<br />
(most recently, until its demise:<br />
Community Engagement) CCE - had<br />
joined the Project as partners of the<br />
Mid <strong>Sussex</strong> Field <strong>Archaeological</strong><br />
Team (MSFAT) in 2006. Over the<br />
years many intriguing features have<br />
been exposed at both the villa and<br />
bathhouse sites. This article reports<br />
upon some of the most interesting<br />
discoveries and outcomes of the<br />
final, very wet, fieldwork in 2012.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bathhouse:<br />
Cold plunge room<br />
During the five seasons of<br />
excavations starting in 2008 a<br />
rectangular room, approximately<br />
9m by 5.5m, had gradually been<br />
unearthed at the extreme western<br />
end of the complex. It was named<br />
Fig.1 WR2 at the end of 2011.<br />
Photo: D Millum<br />
West Room 2 (WR2) and consisted<br />
of three outer flint walls 700mm<br />
wide to the north, west and south,<br />
all of which had a substantial 1m<br />
wide chalk wall abutting them<br />
internally (Fig.1). On the eastern<br />
side was a shallower 600mm chalk<br />
internal wall adjacent to what<br />
appeared to be a corridor. <strong>The</strong> flint<br />
wall had scattered tegula lying on<br />
its surface which were interpreted<br />
as part of the wall, rather than fallen<br />
roof tiles, as tegula were found, in<br />
situ, in a lower string course. An<br />
evaluation trench dug to the outside<br />
of the northwest corner showed<br />
a well-built structure with quoins<br />
made from dressed sandstone and<br />
paludina limestone (Fig.2).<br />
Fig.2 <strong>The</strong> NW corner. Scales: 250mm.<br />
Photo: D Millum<br />
Initial theories as to the room’s<br />
function included speculation that<br />
the strength of the walls could<br />
suggest a two-storied structure<br />
or even a watermill. Indeed,<br />
geoarchaeological work by Dr Mike<br />
Allen, and geophysical surveying<br />
by David Staveley, suggest that a<br />
water course passed the structure’s<br />
western flank. However, Ernest<br />
Black felt that the room was a cold<br />
plunge pool and this seemed more<br />
convincing than a counter proposal<br />
of a large latrine.<br />
A priority in 2011 and 2012 was<br />
to investigate the interior of the<br />
room, especially the inside faces<br />
of the walls. As the southwest<br />
quadrant was excavated a scatter<br />
of loose debris on the surface was<br />
resolved into a partition wall across<br />
the room. <strong>The</strong> walls were taken<br />
down internally to their foundations<br />
and a distinct plinth was uncovered<br />
at the base of both the south and<br />
north walls.<br />
Fig.3 Opening in the SW corner. Photo: D Millum<br />
Even more intriguing was the<br />
small square opening at the base<br />
of the extreme south west corner<br />
(Fig. 3). Was this a drain outlet or<br />
water inlet for a cold bath; or did the<br />
plinths imply a suspended floor with<br />
the partition wall merely a sleeper<br />
for bearing joists and the opening<br />
a vent to keep the under-floor area<br />
dry, by drainage and/or ventilation<br />
<strong>The</strong> fuller excavation of this feature<br />
in 2012 recovered part of a copperalloy<br />
spatula and this and a pair of<br />
copper-alloy tweezers from outside<br />
WR2’s southern wall are items<br />
which often form part of Roman<br />
toilet sets. In the north of the room<br />
a black sooty fill to the western side<br />
gave way to a pink opus signinum<br />
layer, with a compacted chalk layer<br />
beneath. Finally the western half of<br />
the partition wall was removed and<br />
distinct differences between the<br />
fills on either side were observed,<br />
with a significant absence of<br />
the opus signinum layer in the<br />
southern area. By the end of the<br />
2012 season, although the interior<br />
of WR2 was fully excavated there<br />
was no evidence that the structure<br />
had been capable of holding water.<br />
However, with so much material<br />
obviously robbed from this building,<br />
possibly within the Roman period,<br />
this lack of evidence could not be<br />
taken as proof that this was always<br />
the case. Another possibility is<br />
that only the smaller southern part<br />
of this room (i.e. the area with the<br />
drain) functioned as a small plunge<br />
pool, whilst the northern part with<br />
its opus signinum floor functioned<br />
as an apodyterium or changing<br />
area.<br />
A bronze ‘wolf and twins’ coin<br />
of c. AD 330-340 was found in the<br />
surface layer of the south east corner<br />
but no datable items were found in<br />
sealed lower contexts. Although this<br />
suggests that WR2 was filled with<br />
sediment by the early 4th century,<br />
it is equally possible that the coin<br />
was a secondary deposition as<br />
part of later sedimentation. <strong>The</strong><br />
black sooty fill in the northwest<br />
corner suggests that this presumed<br />
once recreational building was<br />
subsequently used for a more<br />
industrial purpose.<br />
Fig.5 Temperature zone diagram.<br />
Figure 5 aims to explain a<br />
possible temperature zoning for<br />
the bathhouse and shows WR2<br />
placed at the extreme cold end of<br />
the complex and therefore in an<br />
ideal location for a cold wet use<br />
such as a plunge bath. It should be<br />
noted however that we now think<br />
that there may have been at least<br />
three major phases of building at<br />
this site and that the whole building<br />
may not necessarily have been in<br />
use at one time.<br />
Possible Saxon Remains<br />
Earlier in 2012 David Staveley<br />
had undertaken a new geophysical<br />
(magnetometer) survey of<br />
Church Field. <strong>The</strong> most intriguing<br />
discovery revealed was a strange<br />
‘m’ shaped anomaly upslope<br />
from the baths, much nearer to St<br />
Mary’s Church. This anomaly was<br />
further investigated last summer<br />
and a large part of it was exposed<br />
by mechanical excavation (Fig. 6).<br />
Although unfortunately the site has<br />
been badly truncated by ploughing<br />
(many of the features found were<br />
thus very shallow), discoveries<br />
included: a linear south-west northsouth<br />
orientated ditch; two possible<br />
‘wall trenches’ aligned parallel to<br />
the ditch and some 3.5m apart with<br />
one measuring approximately 8m<br />
in length; a large pit filling the gap<br />
between the northern ends of the<br />
two ‘wall trenches’; another large<br />
pit; three postholes and a drain of<br />
probably later date. Some of these<br />
Image: D Millum<br />
features, i.e. the ‘wall trenches’<br />
and the three postholes, may have<br />
formed parts of a timber building.<br />
<strong>The</strong> strange ‘m’ shaped anomaly<br />
thus proved to have been caused<br />
by a combination of some of the<br />
above listed features. Finds, except<br />
charcoal, were few but included<br />
pottery sherds which have been<br />
provisionally identified as Mid<br />
Saxon. It is hoped that C 14 dating<br />
of some of the charcoal will help<br />
to resolve the age of the remains<br />
exposed. Was there perhaps a<br />
shift in settlement focus from the<br />
villa and baths to the vicinity of St<br />
Mary’s Church, with a deliberate<br />
avoidance of areas containing<br />
traces of Roman buildings<br />
Fig.6 <strong>The</strong> North trench after initial cleaning.<br />
Scales: 2m & 500mm. Photo: L Fisher<br />
<strong>The</strong> Maltese Connection<br />
Another important outcome of<br />
the 2012 season at Barcombe was<br />
the success of a Senior Volunteer<br />
exchange project with Heritage<br />
Malta. This Grundtwig (European)<br />
funded project - Inclusive<br />
Archaeology and Cultural Heritage<br />
- involved sending six English, over<br />
50s, volunteers to Malta to work on<br />
the Roman baths at Ghajn Tuffieha<br />
and in return for Heritage Malta<br />
to send six of their Senior staff to<br />
Barcombe. This exchange project<br />
resulted in a sharing of ideas and<br />
methods and the forming of new<br />
friendships, plus Mario Casha’s<br />
brilliantly apt cartoons, an example<br />
of which is shown below.<br />
David Millum, David<br />
Rudling & Chris Butler<br />
Project Directors Chris Butler & David<br />
Rudling, and Site Supervisor David Millum<br />
would like to thank all who have helped<br />
at Barcombe since 1999; the respective<br />
landowners, St Mary’s Church and the<br />
Stroude Family, for their cooperation and<br />
encouragement.<br />
Church Field has now been ploughed and<br />
returned to agricultural use.<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />
www.sussexpast.co.uk www.sussexpast.co.uk <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong>
Excavations<br />
ARCHAEOLOGY ROUND-UP<br />
ARCHAEOLOGY ROUND-UP<br />
Excavations<br />
What’s Going on in <strong>Sussex</strong><br />
A round-up of local archaeological investigations<br />
<strong>The</strong> following gives brief details<br />
of some of the more interesting<br />
sites and discoveries made in the<br />
last year as well as forthcoming<br />
volunteer opportunities. Other<br />
sites are reported on more fully in<br />
this newsletter but summaries of<br />
all archaeological work that I am<br />
aware of, even if devoid of finds,<br />
can be found on the website under<br />
the Research page ‘What’s been<br />
happening in <strong>Sussex</strong> Archaeology’.<br />
Volunteer opportunities are<br />
highlighted (*) where known. For<br />
information on particular sites<br />
contact the responsible body<br />
(abbreviated in brackets at the end<br />
of each report) whose details are<br />
given on the web-pages, where the<br />
key to the abbreviations is also to<br />
be found. If you do not have access<br />
to the web then you should contact<br />
me on 01273 405733 or research@<br />
sussexpast.co.uk.<br />
Luke Barber<br />
Research Officer<br />
East <strong>Sussex</strong><br />
*Bishopstone Tidemills: <strong>The</strong> 2012<br />
season saw the excavation of Meadow<br />
Cottage and a smaller earlier cottage to<br />
the south. <strong>The</strong> latter, which is depicted<br />
on the Tithe map, perhaps housed<br />
a shepherd, as it appeared to have<br />
originally been surrounded by stock<br />
enclosures. An extension to the south<br />
certainly housed animal troughs with<br />
elaborate patterned brick bases. Meadow<br />
Cottage, first depicted on the 1st edition<br />
OS map, was a grander residence and<br />
had several large extensions. However,<br />
both cottages gained a flushing outside<br />
toilet at the same time, suggesting a<br />
landlord’s intervention, probably early in<br />
the 20 th century. Fieldwork should resume<br />
in May <strong>2013</strong>. If you wish to volunteer<br />
please contact Luke Barber: research@<br />
sussexpast.co.uk. (SAS).<br />
Brighton, <strong>The</strong> Royal Pavilion: A<br />
watching brief revealed the top of the<br />
tunnel that runs from the Royal Pavilion<br />
to Brighton Museum, including a glass<br />
topped light shaft. (BHAS).<br />
Eastbourne, ‘Pococks’: A four- week<br />
community excavation of a building<br />
once known as ‘Pococks’ uncovered<br />
evidence to show there that had been a<br />
significant building on the site since at<br />
least the C13th. Despite being buried<br />
beneath 3m of overburden in the 1960s<br />
substantial remains of a chalk cellar and<br />
stone wall footings remained (Eastbourne<br />
Museum).<br />
Folkington to Friston Water pipeline:<br />
Monitoring of a 4km long easement<br />
identified two major sites. South of<br />
Folkington, in the area of Broughton, a<br />
settlement first recorded in the Doomsday<br />
Book, parts of medieval tenement plots,<br />
outbuildings and pits were revealed. At<br />
the Friston end of the scheme a large Iron<br />
Age / Romano-British farm complex was<br />
recorded (Kent <strong>Archaeological</strong> Projects).<br />
Mountfield,British Gypsum: A woodland<br />
survey recorded 160 sites within the<br />
area. <strong>The</strong>se included earthworks and<br />
enclosures, of possible medieval date<br />
and significant quantities of wellpreserved<br />
industrial archaeology. <strong>The</strong><br />
latter includes open mine shafts, quarries,<br />
miners’ roads, leats, water management<br />
features and brick buildings associated<br />
with quarrying operations (CBAS).<br />
Ore, Old St Helen’s Church: A<br />
community excavation of the interior of<br />
the church uncovered a number of 18thto<br />
early 19th- century brick built tombs.<br />
Although deposits were very mixed,<br />
finds dating back to the Late Saxon<br />
period were recovered together with<br />
an important assemblage of decorated<br />
medieval floor tiles (CBAS) (Fig. 1).<br />
Rye: 31 Mermaid Street, Rye: Monitoring<br />
recorded up to 1.5m of stratified deposits,<br />
including two medieval stone walls with<br />
an associated stone box drain and flag<br />
stone floor. As the trench was some 10m<br />
from the street, the remains may relate to<br />
a detached kitchen block (ASE).<br />
Sedlescombe, Park View the Street:<br />
<strong>Archaeological</strong> work uncovered some<br />
40 early post-medieval tannery tanks<br />
in addition to a number of ditches and<br />
structural remains. <strong>The</strong> bulk of these<br />
were to be preserved in situ by the new<br />
development (ASE).<br />
*Stanmer, Rocky Clump: <strong>The</strong> 2012<br />
excavations revealed the corner of an<br />
Iron Age enclosure, with an associated<br />
trackway. A number of pig burials were<br />
found and significant amounts of Late<br />
Iron Age decorated pottery. <strong>The</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />
season will begin on Saturday 6th <strong>April</strong><br />
and will investigate the interior of the<br />
enclosure. Contact John Funnell at john.<br />
funnell@brightonarch.org.uk or call<br />
01273 607127 or use the BHAS website<br />
at www.brightonarch.org.uk<br />
Fig.1 Community excavation within Old St Helen’s Church, Ore.<br />
Photo: Chris Butler <strong>Archaeological</strong> Services<br />
West <strong>Sussex</strong><br />
Broadbridge Heath, Land south of<br />
Broadbridge Heath: Excavations have<br />
located significant prehistoric remains<br />
including a small Mesolithic/Neolithic flint<br />
scatter, Early Iron Age features including<br />
at least one four-post structure and a<br />
close group of four Middle Iron Age<br />
round house eaves-drip gullies. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
was also part of a Late Iron Age to C1st-<br />
AD settlement, bounded on three sides<br />
by watercourses and low-lying alluvial<br />
marsh, and including a round house<br />
eaves-drip gully and possible hearth.<br />
Roman activity consisted of a C1stenclosure<br />
with radiating long boundary<br />
ditches and a sunken lane. Early<br />
Medieval enclosures and two rectangular<br />
beam-slot structures, dating to the 12th<br />
century, and a further, separate, High<br />
Medieval beam-slot building and small<br />
yard enclosure were also discovered<br />
(ASE) (Fig. 2).<br />
Burgess Hill, Land off Manor Road:<br />
Small-scale excavations found post-holes<br />
and an eaves-drip gully of a Later Bronze<br />
Age round house and a pit containing<br />
contemporary loom weights. (Thames<br />
Valley <strong>Archaeological</strong> Services).<br />
Chichester, Eastgate Square:<br />
<strong>Archaeological</strong> excavations revealed<br />
several Roman rubbish pits and a large<br />
quarry. Two Roman burials were also<br />
recovered: an infant interred in a rubbish<br />
pit and an adult buried in the base of<br />
the quarry. <strong>The</strong> bulk of the deposits<br />
relate to the medieval and post-medieval<br />
cemetery: 1764 burials were recorded,<br />
including shroud and coffined burials, as<br />
well as a number of post-medieval brick<br />
tombs (ASE).<br />
Crawley, site of former <strong>Sussex</strong> House,<br />
High St: Excavations have recovered<br />
part of a possible rectilinear beam-slot<br />
structure, clay extraction pits, plot<br />
boundaries and other pits containing<br />
large quantities of ironworking slag. All<br />
appear to be of High Medieval date,<br />
including several complete jugs from the<br />
base of a well (ASE).<br />
Fig. 2 Excavation of Medieval building at Broadbridge Heath.<br />
Photo: Archaeology South-East & RPS Consulting<br />
Crawley, east side of Gatwick Airport:<br />
<strong>Archaeological</strong> work has so far revealed<br />
an Iron Age enclosure/field system and<br />
Bronze Age funerary related features<br />
(Network Archaeology).<br />
Horsham, Land at Millfield, Southwater:<br />
<strong>The</strong> excavations of a Roman agricultural<br />
enclosure, probable cremation burial,<br />
and trackway have taken place. This is<br />
the first known Roman site of this nature<br />
from the Southwater area. Evidence of an<br />
ancient watercourse and the remnants of<br />
medieval middens were also uncovered<br />
indicating that a previously unknown<br />
medieval settlement or farmstead is likely<br />
to have been very close by (ASE).<br />
Selsey, flood alleviation (Medmerry):<br />
Monitoring and excavations have revealed<br />
elements of a Late Bronze Age landscape,<br />
significant Roman and medieval remains<br />
and evidence of the WW2 defences and<br />
aircraft firing range. More details can<br />
be found at http://www.environmentagency.gov.uk/static/documents/<br />
Leisure/Medmerry_archaeology.pdf<br />
(ASE/Environment Agency).<br />
A busy year ahead<br />
on the ‘Big Dig’ at<br />
Brede High Woods<br />
On Tuesday 9th <strong>April</strong> we will be<br />
returning to the iron working site<br />
that we started work on last year<br />
(see article on following page).<br />
<strong>The</strong> excavation and work in this<br />
part of the wood will take place<br />
over three weeks which will give<br />
us enough time to thoroughly<br />
explore the iron-working site. As it<br />
is difficult to estimate in advance<br />
how much time we will need to<br />
spend at the iron-working site we<br />
may also be investigating further<br />
charcoal platforms, carrying out<br />
a walk over survey on the site<br />
and surroundings of Austford<br />
farm and seeing whether we can<br />
find any remains of World War<br />
Two activities within the woods<br />
nearby.<br />
From 17th-22nd June <strong>2013</strong> we<br />
will be finalising the archaeological<br />
excavations and consolidating<br />
the remaining foundations at<br />
Brede High Farmhouse. Whilst<br />
in nearby Coneyburrow Wood<br />
(or Coneybury on old maps), we<br />
shall be excavating a saw-pit<br />
and some charcoal platforms.<br />
During this period we will have<br />
an open day to which the public<br />
will be invited to view a live<br />
dig. We will display some of<br />
our findings, including the oral<br />
history aspect of this project,<br />
and involve schools in charcoal<br />
making activities.<br />
We will have a final week at<br />
Brede in mid September, details<br />
to be announced in due course.<br />
To join in with the excavations<br />
contact: brede@cbasltd.co.uk.<br />
For more information about the<br />
wood visit: www.woodlandtrust.<br />
org.uk/brede.<br />
Vivienne Blandford<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />
www.sussexpast.co.uk www.sussexpast.co.uk <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong>
Excavations<br />
BREDE HIGH WOODS<br />
PLASHETT PARK<br />
Research Feature<br />
Brede High Woods ‘Big Dig’<br />
Successful first year uncovers remains of farm buildings<br />
<strong>The</strong> Woodland Trust, which<br />
acquired Brede High Woods (6<br />
miles north of Hastings, East <strong>Sussex</strong>,<br />
NGR TQ793201) in 2007, secured a<br />
‘Your Heritage’ HLF grant of £50k<br />
to run a community archaeology<br />
project to help uncover more<br />
about the archaeology and history<br />
of this 262 hectare site. <strong>The</strong> grant<br />
runs from October 2011 to June<br />
2014. Chris Butler <strong>Archaeological</strong><br />
Services is leading the project on<br />
behalf of the Woodland Trust and<br />
we have successfully completed a<br />
rewarding first year of investigations<br />
during which we attracted over 100<br />
volunteers, some of whom regularly<br />
turned up in what were, at times,<br />
truly appalling weather conditions.<br />
<strong>The</strong> year started fine and dry when<br />
we surveyed a gill stream in Thorp’s<br />
Wood to investigate a potential early<br />
iron working site. Various lumps of<br />
the waste product of iron making<br />
(slag) and the baked clay remains<br />
of the furnace lining were found. A<br />
Roman coin, found in the vicinity<br />
of the site late last year, has been<br />
dated to the Emperor Valens, circa<br />
364-378 AD. We shall return to this<br />
site in <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong> for a three-week<br />
period of excavation and surveying<br />
in the immediate area.<br />
Our first dig of the year was on<br />
the site of Brede High Farm, where<br />
over a period of three weeks more<br />
than 25 volunteers worked on the<br />
site carrying out a range of activities<br />
including excavation, recording<br />
and finds processing. Together<br />
with a combination of geophysical<br />
surveys, looking at old maps and<br />
excavation, some foundations of<br />
the farmhouse were found but it<br />
was the farm buildings that were<br />
easier to locate. <strong>The</strong>se included<br />
pigsties and the foundations of<br />
an oasthouse. A large amount of<br />
building material, pottery, glass<br />
and metal was recovered during<br />
Excavating the iron working site, Brede High Woods.<br />
the excavation which was cleaned<br />
up and is now in the hands of<br />
specialists for analysis. Most of<br />
the finds date to the late 19th and<br />
early 20th century, though some<br />
are possibly earlier. <strong>The</strong> site was<br />
backfilled, although some of the<br />
walls have been left exposed.<br />
Further work will be carried out<br />
here this year and this will hopefully<br />
make it easier for the casual visitor<br />
to understand what now remains.<br />
<strong>The</strong> house was first recorded on<br />
a map in 1767 and probably dates<br />
to the late 17th century. It was<br />
comprehensively demolished in<br />
the 1930’s when the Powdermill<br />
reservoir was being built.<br />
We then moved to the site of<br />
Austford House and its coach<br />
house. Initially the walls of the coach<br />
house were stabilised as they were<br />
in danger of collapsing. In October<br />
the floors of the coach house were<br />
cleared of metres of mud and debris,<br />
revealing some interesting features<br />
which included a deep, render-lined<br />
waterproof tank, which under the<br />
wet conditions soon filled up with<br />
Photo: V Blandford<br />
water. <strong>The</strong> yard between the coach<br />
house and the foundations of the<br />
house was exposed. A large, well<br />
built cellar with a complete flight of<br />
steps was uncovered and, on the<br />
south facing front of the house,<br />
a substantial bay window and<br />
porch were revealed. This site was<br />
backfilled in November.<br />
We are also carrying out oral,<br />
documentary and historical<br />
research. We were lucky enough<br />
to interview a local man who had<br />
lived at Brede High Farmhouse just<br />
prior to its demolition and he was<br />
able to fill in some valuable details<br />
about the scullery, water pump and<br />
locations of the toilets in a shed<br />
at the bottom of the garden. He<br />
was also able to provide us with a<br />
picture of the farmhouse.<br />
If you would like to take part in<br />
this project please contact Chris<br />
Butler Associates via email brede@<br />
cbasltd.co.uk or call 01323<br />
811785.<br />
Vivienne Blandford<br />
Even some woods and farms<br />
in <strong>Sussex</strong> have names which<br />
are known in different forms round<br />
the world. One example is Plashett<br />
Park, Wood and Park Farm located<br />
north-east of Ringmer, near Lewes.<br />
Plashett Park was a gentleman’s<br />
hunting park and the gentleman<br />
concerned in this case was the<br />
Archbishop of Canterbury until the<br />
Dissolution when it was acquired<br />
by the Gage family.<br />
Location of Plashett Park Image: J Kay, SAC 138<br />
In the early 14th century there<br />
were, according to South East from<br />
AD1000 (Brandon & Short), 380 deer<br />
parks for hunting in Kent, Surrey<br />
and <strong>Sussex</strong>; the possession of a<br />
park had become a status symbol,<br />
even for knights and the lesser<br />
gentry. So it is not surprising that<br />
almost adjoining Broyle Park (the<br />
name of which is derived from the<br />
old French breuil, meaning hunting<br />
park, see the writer’s article in this<br />
What’s in a Name<br />
From Cardinal Richelieu to Plashett Park<br />
journal of August 2005) there were<br />
others nearby, and one is called<br />
Plashett Park.<br />
Mawer & Stenton’s ‘Place<br />
Names of <strong>Sussex</strong>’ tells us that<br />
the name is of Romance origin<br />
from the Late Latin plessetum,<br />
plassetum a woven enclosure.<br />
Why woven Because the fence<br />
was of living wood with interlacing<br />
branches (Delisle, L’Agriculture en<br />
Normandie au moyen age). Sharing<br />
similar etymology are English<br />
words like pleached and plaited.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are similar names in Essex<br />
(Pleshey), Herefordshire (Platch),<br />
Hertfordshire (Plashes), Norfolk<br />
(Plasset), Northumberland (Plessey<br />
Woods), and even in London, East<br />
Ham, where Plashet Grove still<br />
exists (Weinreb & Hibbert’s London<br />
Encyclopedia and Reaney’s Essex,<br />
EPNS).<br />
<strong>The</strong> fence or hedge was, in the<br />
case of our Plashett, intended<br />
to keep the deer in the park.<br />
But elsewhere it was used as a<br />
fortification, to keep people out.<br />
<strong>The</strong> corresponding name in France<br />
is Plessis and it is widespread in<br />
the northern part of that country<br />
because there the emphasis is<br />
not on keeping animals in (the<br />
appropriate name for which is parc)<br />
but on keeping humans out. It is the<br />
name of a chateau, a fortification.<br />
Nine place names are listed in the<br />
Paris region alone (Noms de Lieux<br />
d’Ile-de-France by Marianne Mulon),<br />
the strangest of which is Plessis-<br />
Robinson, a Plessis which was first<br />
mentioned in 839 and was named<br />
progressively, Plessis–Raoul,<br />
Plessis-Piquet, Plessis-Liberté at<br />
the time of the Revolution, back<br />
again to Plessis-Piquet in 1801 and<br />
finally, in 1909 it took on the name<br />
of a cafe/dance hall named after<br />
Swiss Family Robinson, the name<br />
of which was inspired by Robinson<br />
Crusoe.<br />
We must not forget the family and<br />
business name Plessis and its kin<br />
in this country and elsewhere since<br />
at least 1204 (Gilbert de Plessis,<br />
Oxford Dictionary of Surnames,<br />
Reaney & Wilson). One example<br />
is the family name of Cardinal<br />
Richelieu, Chief Minister of Louis XIII<br />
and claimed to be the world’s first<br />
Prime Minister (Cardinal Armand-<br />
Jean du Plessis de Richelieu). Other<br />
occurrences of the name include<br />
the industrial company Plessey<br />
(now no more), Plessis Armouries,<br />
a South African cricketer (Francis<br />
du Plessis), two rugby players of<br />
distinction (Bismarck and Jannie)<br />
and a former Liverpool footballer<br />
born in the French West Indies<br />
(Damien Plessis).<br />
Finally, a notorious, now overruled,<br />
US Supreme Court case: Plessy v<br />
Ferguson 1896 (races separate but<br />
equal) bears the name.<br />
All this from the name of a<br />
hedge.<br />
Colin Child<br />
<strong>The</strong>ft of millstones from famous <strong>Sussex</strong> landmarks<br />
Five millstones worth £5000 have been stole from the site of the famous Jack and Jill Windmills at Clayton.<br />
<strong>The</strong> demand for unusual garden ornaments is fuelling this type of theft. If you are buying anything of this<br />
nature, please check the <strong>The</strong> Salvo Directory website www.salvo.co.uk which has a list of over 200 items<br />
believed to have been stolen and question any seller carefully as to where your prospective purchase came<br />
from.<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />
www.sussexpast.co.uk www.sussexpast.co.uk <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong>
Excavations<br />
CAP PROJECT UPDATE<br />
PETER SANGSTER<br />
Obituary<br />
Survey Reveals Roman Site<br />
Substantial HLF Grant will enable further investigation<br />
Fig.1. Geophysical survey results (D Staveley 2012)<br />
Ordnance Survey data supplied by the EDINA digimap service. Crown copyright/database 2010. All rights<br />
reserved.<br />
During early 2011 David Staveley<br />
conducted a magnetometer<br />
survey in a large field at Bridge<br />
Farm, Wellingham, Nr Lewes<br />
(TQ43301440) on behalf of the<br />
Culver <strong>Archaeological</strong> Project<br />
(CAP). He was looking for the<br />
Roman London to Lewes road that<br />
Ivan Margary had suggested ran<br />
down the east side of the Ouse at<br />
this point (Margary 1948). <strong>The</strong> initial<br />
results were so outstanding and<br />
unexpected that the survey was<br />
extended over the next two years<br />
as a clear picture of a substantial<br />
Roman settlement in a bend of<br />
the River Ouse emerged from the<br />
geophysical images. <strong>The</strong> location is<br />
just across the river from Culver Farm<br />
where a Roman road and industrial<br />
workings have been discovered just<br />
to the north east of the Barcombe<br />
villa and bathhouse complex (see<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present 128, Dec<br />
2012). <strong>The</strong> settlement pattern is<br />
apparently interrupted by a double<br />
ditched enclosure suggesting more<br />
than one phase of activity on the<br />
site. In the magnetometer images<br />
the enclosure appears to overlay<br />
the settlement but the chronology<br />
was not conclusive and the CAP<br />
directors, Rob Wallace and David<br />
Millum, agreed that this was one of<br />
the main questions to be resolved<br />
when planning the subsequent<br />
excavations for July and August<br />
<strong>2013</strong>. <strong>The</strong> later surveys revealed<br />
radiating roads heading to the<br />
north, east and west, with smaller<br />
trackways and boundaries<br />
indicated by ditches in the area<br />
surrounding the main settlement<br />
(Fig.1).<br />
<strong>The</strong> interpretation of the<br />
buried features as Roman was<br />
supported by the Roman pottery<br />
and tile collected by systematic<br />
field walking in early 2011. <strong>The</strong>n<br />
in late 2012 David Cunningham,<br />
a local metal detectorist who had<br />
collected an assemblage of finds<br />
from the site over several years,<br />
was introduced to CAP by Robin<br />
Hodgkinson of the Independent<br />
Historical Research Group.<br />
a. Galba denarius AD 68/9<br />
b. Trajan denarius AD 97-117<br />
c. Septimius Severus denarius AD 206<br />
d. Gratian siliqua AD 375-8<br />
Fig.2 A small selection of the detected<br />
Roman coins. Photos: D Millum<br />
This extensive collection<br />
ratified the longevity of the<br />
settlement as it included various<br />
coins from the Republican era<br />
right through to Gratian in the<br />
late 4th century AD (Fig.2). Whilst<br />
it is likely that the worn nature of<br />
the republican coins indicates use<br />
in the 1st to 2nd century AD (D<br />
Rudling pers. comm.) rather than<br />
when they were minted, the coin<br />
sequence still indicates a 300-<br />
year time span. In early December<br />
2012 CAP organised a thorough<br />
and systematic metal detecting<br />
survey by the Eastbourne, West<br />
Kent and Ringmer groups, who<br />
found a further 15 Roman coins<br />
mainly dating from the 3rd century<br />
AD. Over the next few months the<br />
full results of this survey and Mr<br />
Cunningham’s collection will be<br />
scrutinised and fully recorded.<br />
Further exciting news was<br />
received in October when the<br />
project was awarded a substantial<br />
grant of £90,900 from the Heritage<br />
Lottery Fund which has enabled<br />
a comprehensive programme of<br />
surveys and excavations to be<br />
planned for <strong>2013</strong>, with a strong<br />
focus on the involvement of the<br />
local community including nearby<br />
schools. <strong>The</strong> main excavation has<br />
been set for a six-week period<br />
from 1st July to 10th August <strong>2013</strong>,<br />
to be open seven days a week to<br />
encourage the widest possible<br />
participation. Further details will<br />
be posted on the project’s website,<br />
www.culverproject.co.uk.<br />
David Millum, AIfA MA<br />
Deputy Director of the Culver<br />
<strong>Archaeological</strong> Project<br />
References: Margary, I. 1948. Roman<br />
Ways in the Weald. London, Phoenix<br />
House.<br />
Acknowledgements: David Staveley<br />
for the use of his magnetometer<br />
survey image and for his expertise and<br />
perseverance over many months of<br />
data collection; David Cunningham for<br />
access to his artefact collection; David<br />
Rudling for his identification and dating<br />
of the coins; and to Mark Stroude for<br />
allowing CAP continued access to his<br />
land.<br />
Peter Sangster<br />
1944 - 2012<br />
Peter Sangster was co-opted to the Finance Committee of the<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> <strong>Archaeological</strong> <strong>Society</strong> in 2003 and elected to the Council<br />
of the <strong>Society</strong> as a Trustee in 2005. He became Chair of the Finance<br />
Committee in 2007, was re-elected as a Trustee in 2008, serving as<br />
Chair of Council from 2008 until 2010. He retired from Council at the<br />
end of his second term as a Trustee in 2011.<br />
<strong>The</strong> sound financial advice that Peter was able to offer the <strong>Society</strong><br />
was quickly recognized as a great asset for the organisation. Peter had<br />
over 40 years experience in the Financial Services Industry, moving<br />
from banking to property insurance and finally to marine insurance.<br />
Given that the <strong>Society</strong> required a balanced Council of people with<br />
both archaeological/historical experience and business/financial<br />
expertise, Peter more than ably added to the ranks of the latter.<br />
In his first address as Chair in SP&P (115, August 2008) he<br />
commented that while the expenses of the <strong>Society</strong> had been<br />
reasonably controlled, annual income had varied due to the vagaries<br />
of visitor numbers, and had declined in the last three years. During<br />
his two-year tenure Peter reduced the running costs of the <strong>Society</strong><br />
and, logically enough, was an important figure among a small group<br />
of Trustees who took responsibility for drafting a new Strategic Plan<br />
for the organisation. That plan, broaching the thorny <strong>issue</strong> of property<br />
sales, did not find favour with the members. Peter also successfully<br />
oversaw the completion of the lottery-funded works at Lewes Castle<br />
and Barbican House, which increased visitor numbers and income,<br />
and the vital repair works required at Anne of Cleves House. Finally<br />
he served on the panel which selected a new CEO for the <strong>Society</strong><br />
- Tristan Bareham.<br />
Peter led many challenging meetings during his time as Chair of<br />
Council with patience, diplomacy and a respect for the governance<br />
procedures of the <strong>Society</strong>. He was both firm and fair in his dealings<br />
with everybody, and always exercised a keen editorial hand in drafting<br />
the minutes of meetings he chaired. He was a frequent and friendly<br />
visitor to Bull House, discussing matters of the day with key staff,<br />
always finding an opportunity to chat affably with other personnel. He<br />
proved as generous with his time and he was with his expertise.<br />
Peter’s greatest challenge, met with a typical, upbeat vigour, was<br />
the prognosis he received in June 2010 when his oncologist, having<br />
diagnosed an aggressive tumour on the lung, gave him between 12<br />
and 18 months to live. Faced with a finite time left, he devoted himself<br />
to enjoying each and every moment with his family and friends, and<br />
to deepening his involvement with the Baptist faith. He also wrote a<br />
book about his life, describing himself all too modestly as a ‘normal<br />
and average’ person, promoting its sales as widely as possible, since<br />
all proceeds and royalties would go to Macmillan Cancer Support.<br />
He is survived by his wife, Linda, and loving children Duncan and<br />
Penny.<br />
John Manley<br />
10 <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />
www.sussexpast.co.uk www.sussexpast.co.uk <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong> 11
Library<br />
LIBRARY & BOOKSHOP<br />
JOHN HOUGHTON<br />
Obituary<br />
Library News<br />
Thomas Masson Moore Bequest<br />
make no excuse for returning to the Thomas Masson Moore bequest,<br />
I referred to in the previous <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present, as, too late for<br />
inclusion in that <strong>issue</strong>, the final money from the bequest enabled me<br />
to buy two rare items which we would otherwise have not been able<br />
to acquire.<br />
Firstly, J L Andre’s Chests, Chairs, Cabinets & Old English<br />
Woodwork (published by S Price of Horsham in 1879), in an author’s<br />
edition, which was clearly the property of “Simmons, Cabinet maker,<br />
Lewes”, with detailed examples including one in the possession of R<br />
G Rice. Andre was one of the early supporters of the SAS.<br />
Secondly, an edition of M A Lower’s Handbook for Lewes (1845),<br />
of which we already have a copy, but this is again an author’s copy,<br />
given to Mr Courthope, and has four extra preliminary pages to any<br />
other edition we have seen, plus blank pages bound in at the end<br />
with mounted newspaper cuttings of the period. <strong>The</strong> bookseller had<br />
had it rebound in an appropriate style.<br />
Each of these cost £200, and are a fitting tribute to Thomas Masson<br />
Moore (who I am told was particularly interested in early guidebooks),<br />
as well as important additions to our stock.<br />
This illustrates how important such bequests are to the support and<br />
enhancement of the Library and how much they are appreciated.<br />
I list below some recent additions to the Library (all 2012):<br />
HINTON, Ian<br />
KINORY, Janice<br />
JERROME, Peter<br />
Alignment and location of medieval churches<br />
BAR British Series 560<br />
Salt production, distribution and use in the<br />
British Iron Age<br />
BAR British Series 559<br />
St Edmund smiles<br />
WESTMAN, Andrew Chichester City Walls<br />
We are grateful to the following for their donations to the Library:<br />
C Brent; J English; J Pennington; M Pratt; D Tankard; C Whittick;<br />
A Winser.<br />
Esme Evans<br />
Hon. Librarian<br />
Bookshop<br />
THE Spring offer from the Bookshop<br />
rings the changes somewhat<br />
by presenting not one or two,<br />
nor, even, three books – but one<br />
hundred and fifty seven. <strong>The</strong>y are<br />
all in very decent condition, even<br />
though the oldest of them has been<br />
around for over a century and a<br />
half. A few of them have bookplates<br />
– L F Salzmann (1899 - before the<br />
dropping of the final ‘n’), Courthope<br />
and Burrell Hayley being amongst<br />
the previous owners. Packed with<br />
interesting articles – indeed, there<br />
is never a dull moment – they are<br />
an essential part of the library for<br />
the student of <strong>Sussex</strong> studies.<br />
One hundred and fifty four of these<br />
books are available at ONLY £300<br />
(i.e., less than £2 per volume, which<br />
is tantamount to giving them away).<br />
<strong>The</strong>y’re boxed up and ready to<br />
go. Buyer collects. This bargain,<br />
of course, is volumes 1-149 (hard<br />
back) of <strong>Sussex</strong> <strong>Archaeological</strong><br />
Collections plus the five index<br />
volumes.<br />
And the other three A delightful<br />
de luxe edition of the Alecto <strong>Sussex</strong><br />
Domesday contained in the original<br />
red drop-down presentation book<br />
box (rather than the usual slipcase).<br />
Vol. 1 has the facsimile and maps;<br />
vol. 2 the translation and indexes;<br />
vol. 3 the modern interpretative<br />
articles. Another bargain at only<br />
£180. (If I understand correctly<br />
the Alecto Domesday website<br />
– visited 14 Feb., <strong>2013</strong> – will supply<br />
the <strong>Sussex</strong> Domesday in red<br />
presentation book box for £495.)<br />
Lastly, do let me know if you<br />
would like to be circulated with<br />
the occasional list of second-hand<br />
books from Alan Stevens’ library. I<br />
include a few <strong>Sussex</strong> titles in each<br />
list, and medieval architecture is<br />
often well represented also.<br />
See ‘Noticeboard’ for contact<br />
details.<br />
John Bleach<br />
Barbican House Bookshop<br />
John Houghton, a former General<br />
Administrator and President<br />
of the <strong>Society</strong>, died on 6 February<br />
at the age of 92. John Charles<br />
Yoxall Houghton was born on 7<br />
September 1920 at Kew, the son<br />
of Henry Houghton, a surveyor and<br />
estate agent, and his wife Stella.<br />
<strong>The</strong> family moved to Chiddingly<br />
and John attended Eastbourne<br />
College, proceeding to Imperial<br />
College, University of London. But<br />
the war intervened after only a year,<br />
and it was a matter of perpetual<br />
regret that he was never able to<br />
complete his studies. He saw<br />
active service in North Africa, was<br />
badly wounded at El Alamein and,<br />
after lengthy recuperation, fought<br />
all through Italy, including action at<br />
Monte Cassino; he left the army with<br />
the rank of Captain. In 1948 John<br />
married Betty Bowden who hailed<br />
from Chiddingly, and had herself<br />
served at Bletchley Park. He had<br />
joined the Ford Motor Company in<br />
1945 and left, as Chief Export Sales<br />
Manager, to become Managing<br />
Director of the London General Cab<br />
Company in 1962. In 1966 John<br />
and Betty settled at Swanborough<br />
and together opened Meridian<br />
Designs in Lewes High Street, a<br />
shop with everything for house and<br />
home. John became immersed in<br />
Lewes and its many organisations;<br />
one of his great achievements was<br />
leading the campaign to save All<br />
Saints Church in Friars Walk, and<br />
to superintend its conversion as<br />
a concert hall, educational centre<br />
and meeting venue.<br />
John was a moving spirit of the<br />
Lewes <strong>Archaeological</strong> Group, and<br />
its founding chairman from 1969.<br />
His fascination with the town’s<br />
topography and buildings led him<br />
to act as advisor for the Lewes<br />
episode of Alec Clifton-Taylor’s Six<br />
More English Towns (1981). He had<br />
by then embarked on the prodigious<br />
John Houghton<br />
1920 - <strong>2013</strong><br />
task of investigating the ownership<br />
and occupancy of every tenement<br />
within the ancient borough, from<br />
which came ‘Burgage tenure and<br />
topography in Lewes’ in SAC<br />
124 (1986), Unknown Lewes. An<br />
historical geography (1997) and<br />
<strong>The</strong> Great River of Lewes (2002).<br />
John joined the <strong>Sussex</strong><br />
<strong>Archaeological</strong> <strong>Society</strong> in 1968<br />
and from 1977 to 1981 served on<br />
its governing body as a co-opted<br />
member representing the County<br />
Council, which at that period<br />
provided an annual grant. In 1981, on<br />
giving up both ESCC and Meridian<br />
Designs, he became General<br />
Administrator, the title he proposed<br />
in preference to Secretary. In those<br />
days, the honorary officers were<br />
actively involved in management<br />
(other than of the semi-autonomous<br />
Fishbourne and Michelham) and<br />
much was achieved over the next<br />
six years through a robust but close<br />
partnership. John’s boundless<br />
energy resulted in a successful<br />
shop at Barbican House, a newlook<br />
series of guidebooks and<br />
publicity material, mechanising the<br />
<strong>Society</strong>’s accounts and membership<br />
records, inaugurating a septennial<br />
maintenance programme, and<br />
much more besides. John’s<br />
achievements were formidable<br />
– whether launching the Lewes<br />
Town Model, finding a new future<br />
for Parsonage Row, holding Beard’s<br />
Brewery liable for the collapse of<br />
Brack Mount onto the Lewes Arms<br />
or the architects for the decay of<br />
the cover building at Fishbourne,<br />
his dogged persistence brought<br />
successful conclusions to many<br />
a seemingly intractable problem.<br />
Anticipating his own (third)<br />
retirement and seeing that the<br />
<strong>Society</strong>’s ways of working were no<br />
longer fit for purpose, he prompted<br />
the fundamental review, reporting<br />
as ‘Aims and organisation for the<br />
1990s’, which paved the way for<br />
a more corporate and integrated<br />
approach to management. But<br />
although he had briefly served as<br />
Mayor of Bologna, he was far from<br />
being a bureaucrat – there was<br />
much of the showman in John, and<br />
for once the tired old metaphor<br />
sums it up – his enthusiasm was<br />
truly infectious.<br />
After handing over to Derek<br />
White in 1988, John redoubled his<br />
local history research and returned<br />
to serve the <strong>Society</strong> again, as<br />
President for 1992 to 1995, actively<br />
exercising his ex officio membership<br />
of Council. His readiness, indeed<br />
eagerness, to maintain his interest<br />
into his last year impressed us,<br />
especially when he joined his fellow<br />
vice-presidents to grapple with<br />
current problems.<br />
John Houghton represented the<br />
best in the traditions of the <strong>Sussex</strong><br />
<strong>Archaeological</strong> <strong>Society</strong> – a member<br />
whose commitment led him to take<br />
an active part in its management<br />
while maintaining his scholarly<br />
pursuits. We need more John<br />
Houghtons – although the original<br />
will always be inimitable.<br />
John Farrant &<br />
Christopher Whittick<br />
12 <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />
www.sussexpast.co.uk www.sussexpast.co.uk <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong> 13
Books<br />
BOOK REVIEWS<br />
BOOK REVIEWS<br />
Books<br />
East [& West] <strong>Sussex</strong><br />
Place Names<br />
THESE are very green books. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
contain a lot of recycled material.<br />
<strong>The</strong> technique of the author (APS)<br />
is to take entries from standard<br />
works, namely the English Place-<br />
Name <strong>Society</strong>’s (EPNS) volumes<br />
for <strong>Sussex</strong>, Ekwall’s Concise<br />
Oxford dictionary of English<br />
place-names or Mills’ Oxford<br />
work of similar national scope,<br />
give a couple of old spellings, and<br />
sometimes expansively paraphrase<br />
one or more entries, using curious<br />
wordings, e.g. that the recorded<br />
spellings “speak of” or “tell us of”<br />
what is denoted, or “refer to” a<br />
meaning when he means “mean”.<br />
He then adapts material selectively<br />
from some books written by local<br />
experts, mainly on pub names and<br />
street-names, and includes this<br />
under the relevant town or village<br />
name. As regards major placenames,<br />
therefore, he is dealing<br />
with opinions often between 53<br />
and 84 years old, and he takes no<br />
account at all of respectable recent<br />
work such as Watts’s monumental<br />
if flawed Cambridge dictionary<br />
of English place-names (2004),<br />
Forsberg’s book on Lewes (1997)<br />
or the vast amount of new material<br />
and reinterpretation in the 11 years<br />
of the <strong>Sussex</strong> Locus focus series<br />
(1996-2007) and the Journal of<br />
the EPNS, let alone Cox’s work<br />
on pub names (1994). This leads<br />
APS into etymological howlers<br />
such as those found under Weald<br />
(in both books!), and into out of<br />
date pronouncements on e.g. East<br />
Grinstead and Firle.<br />
<strong>The</strong> reliability of the material does<br />
not even match up to that of the<br />
elderly sources, and there are quite<br />
a number of dreadful failings. <strong>The</strong><br />
entry for Eastdean (East <strong>Sussex</strong>)<br />
mentions the minor names Open<br />
and Closed Winkins, which are<br />
really in the East Dean in the other<br />
half of our county, and which seem<br />
to have, along with Malecomb,<br />
cloned themselves into lands of<br />
the East <strong>Sussex</strong> village, hopefully<br />
unbeknown to programmers of<br />
satnavs. <strong>The</strong> river Limden is in the<br />
wrong book, having been diverted<br />
into the wrong river Rother. <strong>The</strong><br />
entry for Kingston by Lewes is<br />
really about Kirdford. Arundel<br />
contains stuff from Ashburnham.<br />
Langney appears in both volumes<br />
with identical wording. <strong>The</strong>se facts<br />
suggest that this was originally one<br />
book which has been carelessly<br />
ruptured into two (you’ll pay for<br />
the same impoverished preface<br />
twice if you buy both). At a more<br />
picky level, there are transcription<br />
errors such as those in the names<br />
or words which give rise to the<br />
first elements in Landport (St<br />
John Without), Iping, Duncton and<br />
Raughmere (Lavant) and the whole<br />
of Heene (Broadwater) and Worth<br />
(and many others), indicating a<br />
disdain for accuracy. Pulborough<br />
is explained invertedly as ‘the pool<br />
by the hill or mound’. Sometimes<br />
unsophisticated readers are likely<br />
to be led off into unlit bogland, as<br />
with Maresfield, where alternative<br />
etymologies are given but it is left<br />
to readers’ expertise or insouciance<br />
to decide how on earth mere feld<br />
can give rise to the current name.<br />
Even where there is basic accuracy,<br />
the reader is sold short – no<br />
clue is given about why Marden,<br />
Westham, Barcombe, Newhaven<br />
or Frostbourne in Fairlight are<br />
interesting in their various ways,<br />
or how the Domesday spelling<br />
Cloninctune can possibly be<br />
relevant to Donnington.<br />
<strong>The</strong> imbalance of the urban<br />
material can be judged by the<br />
entry for Eastbourne. It is 15 pages<br />
long, has three lines on Eastbourne<br />
(correct, but omitting to say that<br />
the mentioned contrasting and<br />
far less well known Westbourne is<br />
not even to be found in the same<br />
book), about two pages on streets<br />
and minor places (largely adapted<br />
from John Milton’s book of 1995),<br />
about five on pubs, and nine pages<br />
infested by gloomy b/w photos,<br />
some irrelevant (like that of Warren<br />
Hill, not mentioned in the entry).<br />
In Lewes, far more is said about<br />
the woodcock of Cockshut Road<br />
than about the name of the town<br />
itself, dismissed in a bare two lines<br />
(including a mistake) because APS<br />
does not investigate the relevant<br />
history.<br />
Now I would be the first to agree<br />
that the standard books can be<br />
formidable. Over the decades<br />
the EPNS has missed a trick by<br />
not getting out something more<br />
accessible to the general reader<br />
than its academic tomes. This<br />
matter is in hand, with its ‘popular’<br />
dictionaries available for some<br />
counties, not at the moment<br />
including <strong>Sussex</strong>. But APS has not<br />
even provided a stopgap, and he<br />
is not the man to do it. He shows<br />
signs of mis- or not understanding<br />
key points (Clapham, Amberstone<br />
in Hailsham, Warbleton, Slinfold,<br />
and the true import of some Old<br />
English elements like -ing(a)-;<br />
most hilariously of all Grevatt’s in<br />
Easebourne) whilst at the same time<br />
lacing his text with authoritativeseeming<br />
but curdled remarks such<br />
as: (Cowfold) “Found as Coufaud in<br />
1232, this early record is easy to see<br />
as Old English cu fald and ‘the small<br />
enclosure for cows’”, and a bizarre<br />
one on the supposedly posthumous<br />
naming of Etchingham.<br />
<strong>The</strong> reviewer would recommend<br />
the out of print and by no means<br />
faultless single-volume popular<br />
book by Judith Glover (Batsford,<br />
especially the unextended second<br />
edition of 1986) as much superior<br />
to these pretty-covered but<br />
pretty depressing books, which<br />
are regrettably already available<br />
on Kindle and in National Trust<br />
bookshops. Find a way of recycling<br />
your copies if you already have<br />
them.<br />
Richard Coates<br />
By Anthony Poulton-Smith, 2012.<br />
East <strong>Sussex</strong> Place Names and West<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> Place Names. DB Publishing.<br />
ISBN 978-1-78091-016-1 (191 pp)<br />
and 978-1-78091-017-8 (189 pp).<br />
Paperback. £9.99 each.<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> Coast<br />
Through Time<br />
THERE are many books of<br />
photographs of the beautiful<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> coastline, but Douglas<br />
d’Enno in his book <strong>Sussex</strong> Coast<br />
Through Time is more concerned<br />
to focus on the social changes<br />
which have occurred over the last<br />
150 years on or near the shoreline.<br />
He does this by presenting us with<br />
a series of contrasting images<br />
beginning with Camber Sands in<br />
the east, and ending 90 miles away<br />
in Chichester Harbour using a<br />
mixture of paintings, postcards and<br />
photographs dating from the latter<br />
part of the 19th century.<br />
An early pairing is labelled ‘Rye<br />
Harbour Postmaster’ and shows<br />
Mr A G Hedgler looking out of the<br />
front door of the Post Office in the<br />
1920s, compared with the current<br />
use as residences of both the<br />
Post Office and the neighbouring<br />
Methodist Chapel. Similar<br />
contrasts are shown by those of<br />
central Shoreham, whilst those of<br />
East Brighton show what Brighton<br />
people are missing whilst the Black<br />
Rock site still awaits development.<br />
In researching the book the author<br />
made use of many local experts<br />
who shared their knowledge of<br />
building use and offered glimpses<br />
into the lives of the people in the<br />
images. A 1939 postcard of the<br />
Pagham Riviera Lido Holiday Club<br />
was sent by someone who had<br />
to leave because of evacuation. ‘I<br />
wish Hitler at the bottom of the sea’<br />
the sender cries.<br />
It is noteworthy that many of<br />
the photographs have never been<br />
published before in a book, and<br />
this distinguishes <strong>Sussex</strong> Coast<br />
Through Time from other volumes<br />
of before and after images. It<br />
should be of interest to both general<br />
readers and social historians.<br />
Maria Gardiner<br />
By Douglas d’Enno, 2012.<br />
Amberley Publishing. ISBN:<br />
978-1-4456-0546-3.<br />
Paperback, 96pages, £14.99.<br />
Lewes<br />
Through Time<br />
IN respect of the photographic<br />
heritage of the town and its<br />
accessibility to researchers and<br />
other interested parties, Lewes<br />
is fortunate – and doubly so.<br />
Firstly, there survives a friendly<br />
photographic business (with a<br />
magnificent archive) that has<br />
been active in and around the<br />
town since the 1850s. Secondly,<br />
the Lewes area is home to a<br />
number of indefatigable collectors<br />
of postcards of local views who<br />
recognise the potential value of<br />
their respective collections to the<br />
social and local historian. One of<br />
the infatigables has selected some<br />
treasures from his collection (2,000<br />
strong – and counting, I am reliably<br />
informed) and joined with Amberley<br />
Publishing to present this latest title<br />
in the ‘Through Time’ series.<br />
<strong>The</strong> conjoining of ‘then’ and<br />
‘now’ images is well-tried and<br />
tested (though this book does not<br />
stick rigidly to the familiar formulaic<br />
format), and results in a graphic<br />
presentation of the changes in<br />
townscape, traders and traffic over<br />
the last 100 years or so. Changes<br />
in businesses and road use are<br />
a given; alterations in the fabric<br />
of the townscape, also, are to be<br />
expected, but the amount of change<br />
can vary from town to town.<br />
On the whole, and here I disagree<br />
with the tag to the photograph<br />
on page 2, Lewes has not been<br />
decimated, whether ‘in the name of<br />
progress’ or in the name of anything<br />
else. Change occurs – slum<br />
clearance in the 1930s (Westgate<br />
Street, page 48; lower North Street,<br />
page 70); war damage (Stag Hotel,<br />
North Street, page 68); post-war<br />
concern with inter alia traffic flow<br />
and car parking (Malling Street,<br />
pages 9, 11-13; Cliffe crossroads,<br />
page 22; Little East Street, page<br />
69). And, always there will be a<br />
destructive fire or two or three<br />
or four – Lewes Sanitary Steam<br />
Laundry, now housing (page 5);<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bear Hotel, rebuilt as JCH<br />
Martin and now Argos (pages 27-<br />
8); Smith’s, now Mimi and A & A<br />
Nails (page 41); Dusart’s, now A &<br />
Y Cumming and Lewesiana (page<br />
45).<br />
But, the impression gained from<br />
reading and viewing Bob Cairns’<br />
informed and informative ‘through<br />
time’ journey around Malling, Cliffe,<br />
Lewes and Southover, is that much<br />
of the townscape fabric recorded<br />
in the early-20th century has<br />
survived. Further to this, some of<br />
the buildings that have appeared in<br />
the intervening years – the art deco<br />
of Argos, the restrained balconied<br />
statement of Mimi and A&A Nails,<br />
for example (both new builds on<br />
fire sites, I note) – are undoubtedly<br />
adornments to an essentially 19thcentury<br />
and earlier townscape.<br />
John Bleach<br />
By Bob Cairns, 2012.<br />
Amberley Publishing.<br />
ISBN: 978-1-84868-807-0.<br />
Paperback. £14.99.<br />
14 <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />
www.sussexpast.co.uk www.sussexpast.co.uk <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong> 15
Snippets<br />
Help Uncover the<br />
Hidden Past of<br />
Petworth Park<br />
THE National Trust is inviting<br />
volunteers and local communities<br />
to get involved in an exciting project<br />
investigating the archaeology of the<br />
700-acre Petworth Park. Volunteers<br />
will have the chance to learn about<br />
and get involved in all aspects<br />
of archaeological investigation,<br />
including documentary research,<br />
field-walking, geophysical survey,<br />
environmental sampling and<br />
excavation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> trustees of <strong>The</strong> Monument<br />
Trust have provided a generous<br />
grant to the National Trust for a five<br />
year programme of restoration and<br />
conservation in Petworth Park. As<br />
well as conservation work such<br />
as tree planting and repair and<br />
maintenance of walls, the grant will<br />
also fund a detailed archaeological<br />
survey of the Park.<br />
Many people are familiar with<br />
Petworth House, a spectacular Grade<br />
I listed building, home to the National<br />
Trust’s finest collection of pictures<br />
and sculpture, but the parkland in<br />
which it sits is poorly understood.<br />
Petworth Park today is very different<br />
from the original park which was<br />
created at least 750 years ago. Today<br />
the park is made up of gentle rolling<br />
slopes, tranquil shady glades of trees<br />
and grand vistas. But historic maps<br />
and documents suggest that in the<br />
past the park has included canals<br />
and formal gardens, rampart terraces<br />
and monumental stables, Henry VIII’s<br />
banqueting hall and a Second World<br />
War military camp – not to mention<br />
the site of the original manor house.<br />
<strong>The</strong> project will address all of<br />
these aspects of the park’s history<br />
as well as looking to the earlier<br />
human occupation of the area, giving<br />
volunteers the opportunity to help<br />
unearth the secrets and stories that<br />
lie preserved in the landscape and<br />
beneath the ground.<br />
If you think you would be interested<br />
in volunteering with the project,<br />
whether it’s bringing to light new<br />
evidence from the archives, getting<br />
your hands dirty through excavation<br />
or simply walking and reading the<br />
Petworth Park landscape, you<br />
can find out more or register as<br />
a volunteer by e-mailing susan.<br />
rhodes@nationaltrust.org.uk or<br />
calling 01798 345525.<br />
Near Lewes Hoard<br />
Appeal<br />
Emma O’Connor, Museums Officer<br />
and Stephanie Smith, Finds Liaison<br />
Officer, would like to thank everyone<br />
for their generous donations in<br />
support of this purchase.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Society</strong> is still looking for some<br />
funding to assist with exhibition and<br />
conservation of this material. <strong>The</strong><br />
process for acquisition has been<br />
delayed somewhat due to the high<br />
volume of material being dealt with<br />
through the Treasure Act process.<br />
We anticipate that the material will<br />
be acquired later in the spring.<br />
People in the<br />
Iron Industry<br />
THE Wealden Iron Research Group’s<br />
on-line database of iron-working sites<br />
has been in existence for five years,<br />
and continues to be updated when<br />
new sites are discovered or when<br />
additional information becomes<br />
available.<br />
A new facility allows users to<br />
search for people associated with<br />
the iron industry. More than 2000<br />
individuals have already been<br />
included, ranging from the owners<br />
and tenants of iron sites to those<br />
employed in various roles in smelting,<br />
forging and other occupations.<br />
People are linked, where possible,<br />
to both ironworking sites and other<br />
individuals with which they are known<br />
to have been associated. Records<br />
include bibliographic references and<br />
selected archival extracts.<br />
Access is unrestricted and ‘fuzzy’<br />
searching enables variants of<br />
personal names to be searched for<br />
easily. This project will remain a ‘work<br />
in progress’, and users who are able<br />
to contribute material from sources<br />
(such as parish registers) not already<br />
included are invited to contact the<br />
Editor via the site - www.wirgdata.<br />
org. Access is also available via<br />
the Group’s main website - www.<br />
wealdeniron.org.uk.<br />
Jeremy Hodgkinson<br />
Wealden Iron Research Group<br />
Next Issue<br />
THE <strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present<br />
newsletter is published three times a<br />
year, in <strong>April</strong>, August and December.<br />
<strong>The</strong> next <strong>issue</strong> will be published in<br />
August <strong>2013</strong>; the copy deadline is<br />
14th June. Short articles, letters and<br />
‘snippets’ are welcome; longer items<br />
should be kept to a maximum of 500<br />
words unless prior arrangements have<br />
been made with the editor, Wendy<br />
Muriel, at spp@sussexpast.co.uk,<br />
or Luke Barber on 01273 405733.<br />
Please note that we require images<br />
with most contributions, preferably<br />
in high quality colour format. To<br />
submit digitally, please use MS Word<br />
(preferably 97-2003 format) for text<br />
and send images in JPEG or TIFF<br />
formats, at a minimum resolution of<br />
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16<br />
<strong>Sussex</strong> Past & Present <strong>April</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />
www.sussexpast.co.uk