Stane Street (from the Old English for “Stone Street”) is one of the important Roman roads that connected the far-flung areas of Britain to Londinium. At Alfoldean where Stane Street crosses the Arun, many Roman remains have been found including a settlement with a mansio, or official resting point for Imperial couriers and officers.
Chanctonbury Ring is a nationally important archaeological site. Originally a Bronze Age hill-top enclosure, the Romano-British built two temples within the ramparts. It is thought these religious buildings played a role in a local boar cult. With the site’s position above the Weald, this theory holds some weight, especially after excavations revealed dozens of wild pig skulls within one of the structures. These temples were in use until the arrival of Christianity when they seem to have been abandoned.
Chantry Hill
Chanctonbury Ring
Chantry Hill dominates the skyline south of Storrington. A Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age univallate cross-ridge dyke survives near the top, once controlling movement from the Greensand onto the Downs. Two damaged but extant Bronze Age burial mounds also survive near the car park at the summit.
One of the jewels in the crown of Worthing’s downland, this Middle Iron Age hill fort (constructed in 300BC) is the second largest in Britain. The only local site of its kind to have been built in this period, it was probably a communal meeting place for the people living between the Arun and Adur rivers. Also contained within the ramparts are the remains of hundreds of Neolithic (3500 BC) flint mine shafts.
Devil’s Jumps, Treyford
Harrow Hill
These five Early/Middle Bronze Age bell barrows (2000-1500BC) are some of the best preserved in Sussex. There is minimal damage to these burial mounds from agriculture or previous archaeological excavation. One minor investigation revealed cremated bones which suggests a later Middle Bronze Age date for their construction. The barrows are aligned with the sunset on Midsummer’s Day.
Harrow Hill is one of the four local sites where flint mining took place during the Neolithic period (3000 BC) Over 100 flint mine shafts were sunk into the Upper Chalk on the hill, many of which are still preserved today as hollows in the grassland. A Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age enclosure sits atop the eminence, which excavations have revealed may have been the site of Anglo-Saxon ritual activity involving the deposition of cattle skulls.
Sullington Hill
The Trundle
Sullington Hill dominates the skyline above Sullington village. A well-preserved cross-ridge dyke cuts across the hill near the summit. This feature is in excellent condition, and dates from the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age.
The Trundle is a nationally important archaeological site. Originally a Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure, the site developed into a univallate hill fort during the Iron Age. Excavations have revealed at least 13 house platforms from this period, with further occupation during the Roman period. It was also the site where Clubmen set up camp during the English Civil War.
