www.sussexpast.co.uk Sussex Past & Present December 2014 1

N u m b e r 1 3 4 D e C e m b e r 2 0 1 4

buncton Church essay Prize Winnersmalmstone building Stone Animals Conference reportbridge Farm excavation update

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

MEMBERSHIPDEPARTMENT

Bull House, 92 High Street Lewes, BN7 1XH

Tues-Fri 10am-3pmAnswering machine outside these hours

01273 405737members@sussexpast.co.uk

membership matters Opening Lines

SuSSeX

Past &Present

The Sussex Archaeological Society Newsletter

N u m b e r 1 3 4D e C e m b e r 2 0 1 4

Contents 2 Membership Matters 3 Opening Lines 4 Buncton Church 5 Buncton Church 6 Malmstone 7 Essay Prize Winners 8 Bridge Farm 9 Bridge Farm 10 Conference Report 11 Conference Report 12 Bill Santer, John Bleach 13 Library & Bookshop14 Book Reviews 15 Book Reviews 16 Snippets

Published by the Sussex Archaeological Society,

bull House, 92 High Street, Lewes, e Sussex bN7 1XH

Tel: 01273 486260Fax: 01273 486990

Email: adminlewes@sussexpast.co.uk

Editor: Wendy MurielEmail: spp@sussexpast.co.uk

Research Editor: Luke BarberEmail: research@sussexpast.

co.uk

ISSN 1357-7417

Cover: Lewes Castle, the gun garden in the snow.

Photo: Wendy Muriel

Your Society...looking to build wider partnerships

OPeNING LINeSmemberSHIP

This is the first opportunity I have had to directly contact members since my election as Chair of Council after the AGM in June.

Firstly, I hope you find the articles inside this edition of Sussex Past & Present of interest and also continue to enjoy visits to our properties throughout the year, and if weather conditions prevent outdoor visits then the Society library in Barbican House is always well worth a visit.

Since the AGM the trustees have met regularly. The committee structure has been revised and new trustees given the opportunity to make a positive contribution to Council. In addition, Council has decided to hold two strategy days in November. The first will be a joint day involving both staff and trustees whilst the second will be for trustees only. It is hoped that these two full days working together will give us more time to tackle the underlying problems that the Society faces.

All trustees recognise the important role that the Society needs to play in the county and beyond. We have a tradition of supporting archaeological activities, historical research and conservation and it is important that the voice of society members is heard and listened to.

We are fortunate in that we are the custodians of a number of important buildings. It was wonderful to see so much activity centred around Barbican House and the castle during the Battle of Lewes anniversary events in May. The castle was brought to life by various groups in medieval costume marching through the Barbican. Meanwhile the marquee in the gun garden hosted a successful range of talks and also the unveiling ceremony for the Battle of Lewes tapestry. The gun garden also briefly hosted The White Lion reproduction before its installation on the old town wall on Westgate Street.

More recently, it was also a pleasure to see so many people at Barbican House for the launch of the new photographic exhibition. An especially exciting aspect of the exhibition were the photographs placed in the windows of 55 buildings in Lewes, thereby linking the Archaeological Society more closely to the townscape and hopefully initiating a range of future business and developmental links. The photographic workshops held in October reinforced the Society’s commitment to education and our desire to attract a wider audience to the Barbican. We are also aiming to develop our links with schools by looking at the educational resources we can offer following recent significant changes to the History National Curriculum.

I hope that over the next year we will continue to make more of our buildings and resources to maximise their potential for the benefit of all. In addition, I hope we will begin to see closer working relationships with the various Friends’ groups. As a Society I think we should be giving more thought to building wider partnerships and looking at new ways to develop. We should be proud of our achievements and heritage but also seek to be more involved with the wider community.

The simple message is - let us all work together for the benefit of our Society.

mike ChartierChair of Council

Welcome to the December edition of Sussex Past &

Present.

Saturday 9 may 2015: Tudor and early Stuart

Country House c1500-1640 Conference

We expect this conference to be very popular, and places will be limited as we are using a new venue with restricted capacity (just under 200). I would therefore urge you to book as soon as possible to be sure of a place, as some of our recent conferences in Lewes have exceeded this number. Full details, including how to book, are on the enclosed booking form or online at: www.sussexpast.co.uk/event/tudor.

Regular delegates will notice that the conference fee has risen to £38. On this occasion, given that the venue is not in the centre of town, we felt it advisable to include lunch. However, it is also regrettable that our costs have risen considerably, and whereas in the past many speakers gave their time free of charge, this is no longer the case. The success of our recent conferences is largely down to the quality of the speakers we secure, and we can only accomplish this by paying market-rate fees. When compared with ticket prices for activities such as the theatre, cinema or football matches, we do feel that our conference represents excellent value for money!

Our e-newsletterLaunched in early August, our e-

newsletter for members is proving to be very successful. Designed to fill in the gaps between the publication of Sussex Past & Present, it provides an opportunity to draw your attention to matters

of interest that may not make it into the main newsletter owing to print deadlines or shortage of space. The e-newsletter goes out to over a thousand members, but this represents only two thirds of the membership. If you have not received your copy you may need to check your spam folder or make sure we have a current email address for you, as it’s easy to forget to update when you change it, especially if it’s a work address. Just email me at the address below with e-newsletter in the title and either your membership number or your name and postcode and I can add you to the circulation list or amend your details. You can unsubscribe at any time, and your email addresses, like the rest of the membership information we hold, is never shared with a third party.

We would appreciate having a current email address for as many of you as possible, even if you would prefer not to be sent the e-newsletter, as we increasingly use email to send reminders about subscription renewals and any event bookings. Postage prices being what they are, it really helps to keep our costs down if we can contact you by email wherever possible. If you do have an email address and have not received any of our e-newsletters (three to date), please do email me as above – if you don’t want to receive the e-newsletter but are happy for me to email you about subscription renewals, just include this information in the email you send me.

2015 Subscription ratesA reminder that many of you will

be due to renew your subscription on 1 January. The majority of these will be collected by direct debit, and others will be sent a reminder. Your

renewal date is on your membership card and current subscription rates are as follows:

Individual: £35Joint: £50Family (1 adult): £41Family (2 adults): £53Student: £17Add another £6 for a hardback

copy of the Sussex Archaeological Collections and £13 for postage if you live outside the UK.

Please note that reminders are now being sent by email where possible as this saves us the postage costs. If you receive a reminder by post but have email, please contact me with your address and permission to use email in future.

Gift membershipIt’s easy to buy membership

as a gift, and the turnaround time is usually very fast. You can buy online at http://sussexpast.co.uk/shop/membership or call me to make the arrangements.

Finally, may I wish you all a very happy Christmas and a good 2015!

Lorna GartsideMembership Secretary

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buNCTON CHurCHbuNCTON CHurCH

mysteries & Disasterbuncton Church ten years on

All Saints’ Church (sometimes called ‘Chapel’), Buncton,

may seem like everyone’s favourite Sussex country church. Tantalizingly glimpsed to the north of the A283 between Steyning and Washington, it stands outside any modern village, on a small rise with a fine view of Chanctonbury Hill, accessed by path and footbridge across a ravine. When reached, it seems memorably simple and ancient, its early-Norman origins at once apparent - though this simplicity is somewhat misleading. People behave proprietorially towards it, as if they’d discovered it themselves. But ten years ago, on 10/11th November 2004, someone took advantage of its isolation to

deface it in an outrage without equal (so far as I know) in recent times. This article is intended to serve as a reminder of this event – to which you won’t find any reference in the church itself – and to draw attention to various mysteries, not wholly unconnected, that the building presents.

No-one has published a comprehensive study of the church, which isn’t surprising, since

even the exterior shows it as a remarkable patchwork – at times it was clearly close to collapsing; the most thoroughgoing rescue effort must have been (judging by much Georgian brickwork in the S wall, and a carved date, just legible) in 1758. I have described the fabric of the building at greater length in the Newsletter of the Friends of Sussex Historic Churches Trust (2011), and shall not go into detail here. But one extraordinary feature must be mentioned. East of the early Norman N doorway, on the exterior chancel wall, we come to three once round-headed, now cut down arches, floridly carved with bosses and beakheads in late Norman style, and rather oddly applied to

the wall (Fig. 1). To the S are two further, plain, arches. All these are obviously inserted elements from elsewhere – but when and from where did they arrive? A clue may be in the E wall between them: high-quality but clumsily laid ashlar blocks of creamy Caen stone that extend only about halfway up, but include a good Decorated Gothic E window. Inside there are a beautiful aumbry, piscina and

image-brackets of similar date. It’s known that Sele Priory, at Beeding not far away, underwent urgent repairs c1300, and was anyhow strapped for cash: I conjecture that the monks did some demolition and sold off spare stonework. Examples of this distinctive material, it should be noted, occur in Beeding church, its churchyard wall, its former rectory and possibly even in repairs to Steyning church.

So to the interior, where a greater mystery awaits. The Norman-type chancel-arch is unexpectedly large for such a humble church; it isn’t very well articulated, and John Allen’s website (www.sussexparischurches.com) even tentatively suggests that it could be a post-Norman reconstruction – though it is hard to view it as either 14th century, Georgian or Victorian: again, patching up is probable. It held, anyhow, a most extraordinary relic: on the lower face of the abacus of the N pier, too high up to reach without a ladder or chair, was a small (~ 6”) recumbent figure carved in low relief, with a series of enigmatic hatched roundels above its head. The figure was naked, though earlier damage to the genital area made it questionable as to whether it was male or female (male, I believe, despite indication of nipples) (Fig. 2). It was a notably primitive representation, and on stylistic grounds alone it seems impossible to date – any period from the Celtic or Romano-British onward could be plausible. How on earth did it originate and come to be a component of the chancel arch? What did worshippers over the centuries make of it? It was carved on an apparently inserted block, that also has skilful billet and cable moulding. Cruder incised horizontal lines are continued on the next block, as if to try and integrate it into the building scheme.

The figure was first noted in the mid-C19th, though nobody had much to say about it at first. One speculation is that it represented the mason himself (but why? and why naked?). In the C20th, when such things were less a cause of embarrassment than earlier, it came to be generally classed as a sheela-na-gig: a type of carved figure,

quite widespread in Britain, Ireland and W France from the early Middle Ages to the Reformation, making a grotesque display of genitalia. Such figures are normally on the exterior of buildings, female, and seated rather than recumbent; they are far from titillating, and their purpose

is likely to have been apotropaic (warding off evil). The Buncton figure, whatever its origin, does not seem to fit the pattern; but the propensity of online sources to call it a sheela and/or a ‘pagan’ figure probably influenced the disaster of 2004. I propose, nevertheless, a possible Christian meaning for the carving: that it represented Adam at the moment of his ‘enlivenment’,

or creation. The figure’s posture remarkably echoes that of Adam’s creation in the C9th Grandval Bible (BM Add. MS 10546). There, the figure of God appears, together with fruit-trees of Paradise; there exist other versions with a shaft of light instead. Some indication of divine presence might have been expected at Buncton too, if the

figure is Adam. Perhaps this was on another, now lost, block. Maybe, however, the puzzling hatched roundel above the figure’s head had this role: from ancient times an orb (sometimes cross-hatched) was a symbol of power, even divine power. If we’re in the realm of speculation,

it seems possible that the smaller roundels on a kind of ‘tray’ were fruits (pomegranates?) representing Paradise. They are similar, too, to the hatched bosses on one of the arches adorning the chancel N wall. Any further interpretative ideas would be welcome...

If the figure was Adam, we might expect a corresponding figure of Eve (or maybe the extraction of

Feature Feature

Adam’s rib!) on the S side of the arch. It’s tantalizing that the equivalent abacus is a relatively modern blank replacement. Note, though, that two incised lines appear on the adjacent, older block, just as on the N side, suggesting something had been there. The mysteries continue. What if the known figure had been a cult object from one of the several Romano-British buildings in the vicinity, relocated and ‘rededicated’ as Adam? Such things are rare but not, I think, unknown.

The carving, including the roundels, was destroyed by chisel (left-handedly) on the 10th or 11th November 2004; the fragments were left on the floor and put in the care of one of the churchwardens. They were inspected by a representative of English Heritage, who reported that the stone was friable, the fragments small, so ‘reconstructive surgery’ would be needed if they were to be restored – but it was not impossible. A strange ‘ghost’ of the carving can be detected on the impost (Fig. 3). The vandalism was reported in the press, the police made investigations, but since that time everything seems to have stalled and the fragments to have been lost. The police have a suspect, but in the absence of hard evidence are not in a position to make an arrest. It wasn’t, apparently, a random act by a passing stranger, but seems to have been somehow connected with parochial dissension between different groups in the congregation: the supposedly ‘unChristian’ carving was perceived as malign. When I suggested to a churchwarden that a photograph of it could be displayed, I was told ‘it wouldn’t last a week’. So after ten years we still live with the consequences of an act of deliberate vandalism in one of the most precious of Sussex churches: a mystery story that lacks its final chapter.

robin milner-Gulland Emeritus Professor

University of Sussex

Fig. 1. Exterior of the chancel showing cut-down arches. Photo: M Snow

Fig. 2. Buncton Church: carved figure on N impost before November 2004. Photo: M Snow

Fig. 3. The North impost block after vandalism in November 2004. Photo: M Snow

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PrIZe WINNerS

malmstoneA reused roman building stone around medieval Chichester?

mALmSTONeresearch

essay Prize WinnersArchaeology and History essay prizes awarded

On many of my guided walks to look at historic church building

stones, I refer to unpublished research that I’ve been working on since 2005. The following note records one of the more interesting areas of study, which started after I prepared building stone distribution maps for West Sussex in 2006.

Malmstone is a pale-grey, almost white, to dark grey calcareous siltstone, the local equivalent of the Upper Greensand. It is not the best material for a building stone, but is used extensively in the area of its geological outcrop through South Harting, Cocking, Duncton, Bury, Amberley, Storrington, Washington and Steyning. Malmstone is also found, generally as scattered pieces of rubble or brick-shaped pieces, in the fabric of the medieval churches in the Chichester area, which is surprising as the stone is relatively soft, weathers easily and had to be transported over the Downs. It seems to be a poor and relatively expensive choice when better building materials were available.

I recorded large quantities of malmstone in pitched stonework when the render on the walls of St Andrew in the Oxmarket in Chichester was being replaced in early 2010. A visit to the garden of Friary Close in Chichester gave a clue to the origin of the malmstone.

Here, a few surviving square metres of the original stone facing of the Roman city wall is made of malmstone ‘bricks’ very similar to that seen in the medieval churches. Later in 2010, the excavations of the city wall bastion on the Avenue de Chartres, provided further supporting evidence when more malmstone ‘bricks’ were found in the Roman walling.

So, where are we now? The sizes of the ‘bricks’ are relatively consistent but are the Roman examples really comparable with the medieval use, especially as pieces may be broken or inserted differently. How do they compare with the medieval use north of the Downs or the examples in at Roman Bignor and Fishbourne?

So far, I’ve recorded around 4,500 pieces of stone from a large number of locations. The work continues but the statistics look promising in supporting the Roman reuse theory. They also compare well with the standard size of true Roman bricks.

The Romans definitely worked malmstone, despite its debateable building qualities, so where was it quarried? An analysis of all possible routes from the outcrop to Chichester suggests Cocking as a likely source area. Can this be confirmed in any way? The characteristics of malmstone show some variation along its outcrop that tends to point to west of Bury and more likely somewhere between Duncton and South Harting. With help of professional geological analysis, I am now hoping that a range of samples taken from many different sites will narrow down the possibilities and confirm both the medieval reuse of Roman malmstone and the source of the stone. Perhaps then the current Lidar project by the South Downs National Park Authority will help to identify the original Roman quarry, if it hasn’t been overwritten by later medieval quarrying.

David bone

Surviving Roman wall facing in malmstone at Friary Close, Chichester. Photo: D Bone

Distribution map of grey malmstone (yellow circles) and the churches of West Sussex (black dots). Image: D Bone

Wall of Westhampnett church. Roman tile and malmstone is used in the early medieval construction. Photo: D Bone

Feature

David and Anne Bone pictured recently, visiting the Carnac standing stones in Brittany, NW France.

The winners of the Society’s Peter Brandon Prize for History

and the Franz Plachy Archaeology prize were announced at the AGM in June. The aim of this competition was to stimulate research and writing on any aspect of the history and archaeology of Sussex. The standard of entries for both categories was very high, so much so that the judges and members of the Research Committee considered there was no clear winner for the History Prize and therefore decided to split the prize of £500 between David and Anne Bone and Michael Leppard.

David and Anne’s essay entitled ‘Stone from the “dung-heap”. The story of Quarrying the Mixon reef at Selsey’ was judged to have a more holistic approach and therefore deserved to receive the slightly larger award of £300. The essay drew on geological expertise, evidence from excavations, field study of standing buildings and documentary research to tackle the longstanding controversy surrounding the Mixon reef off Selsey Bill. Was it really the site of a Roman fort or other ancient remains and for how long was it used as a quarry for building stone? This essay was very successful in finally providing some firm answers concerning this enigmatic feature.

Michael Leppard’s essay ‘Heretics and martyrs in Marian Sussex: networks and locations’ offered a useful collation of the references to Protestant heretics and martyrs who were persecuted in Sussex in the 1530s, starting with three lists compiled in the early years of Elizabeth’s reign. He demonstrated a clear clustering of dissent in parishes in the Sussex Weald.

The Franz Plachy prize of £500 for Archaeology was awarded to Diana Jones for her essay on ‘Mesolithic Broad Halfpenny: A landscape context for new evidence on the Sussex Greensand’. This

essay looked at the evidence from fieldwalking on the Bignor Park Estate that produced a significant concentrat ion of Mesol i th ic

flintwork in the Broad Halfpenny valley. This provoked a broader landscape study in order to better understand why hunter-fisher-gatherers chose to converge on this tributary of the Western Weald. Archaeological, geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental data were used to create a picture of the environment these people were living and hunting in.

At the time of writing David and Anne’s essay has already been included in the forthcoming 2014 volume of the Sussex Archaeological Collections and it is hoped that versions of Michael’s and Diana’s essays will be published in future editions.

Luke barberResearch Officer

Diana Jones did not wish to have a picture published.

Michael Leppard. Photo: B Earle

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researchbrIDGe FArm

bridge Farm 2014A year of incredible rarities

brIDGe FArm

As reported in Sussex Past & Present 133 (p5), this summer

saw the Culver Archaeological Project (CAP) excavating an area of the Romano-British settlement at Bridge Farm that showed an 18 x 6 metre rectangle of 13 round anomalies observed in a geophysical survey. The team believed that this represented a pattern of postholes for a substantial building and, if so, the first building to be excavated at the settlement.

The dig, which as usual was open to volunteers and students, ran through July and into early August with over 60 people turning out to help during the six weeks despite a modest charge to defray excavation costs. The success of this year’s dig more than validates one of the aims of CAP’s 2013 National Lottery Funded project to encourage and support community interest in the discovery and appreciation of the local historic environment.

The site duly revealed a variety of ditches, pits, hearths and post holes, including the 13 one metre wide holes that formed the

rectangular feature in the geophys (Fig.1). In the first three weeks the team concentrated on the remainder of the site, tracing three major ditches and numerous small post and stake holes, as well as two hearths. Whilst the hearths still require further analysis initial interpretation favours one being

an oven whilst the other, which contained several lumps of iron slag, may be a secondary forging hearth. Local small scale ironworking would

not be unexpected adjacent to a large settlement, especially one so close to the Weald.

Two large pits were also excavated and have been initially interpreted as shallow wells for gathering surface water from the high water table. They both certainly needed constant bailing and/or pumping during excavation (Fig. 2). One of the pits was particularly interesting as towards its base was a layer of large stones, chiefly of Paludina limestone with chalk, ferruginous sandstone and Downland flint; all foreign to the site. This layer also had blackened animal bones beneath it (probably cattle) and waterlogged roundwood above, the latter possibly representing the remains of a wattle structure or lining. Above this layer was found a single piece of waterlogged timber. Soil from the fills surrounding this layer was 100% sampled and flotted with some remarkable success. Not only was a silver coin (yet to be identified) found but a plain wrap-around finger ring and then a rather unpromising lump of earth turned out to be the back half of a shoe/sandal complete with hobnails. The unexpected wealth of artefacts in this pit together with

the need for constant pumping of the fast infilling water meant that this feature took all six weeks and beyond to fully excavate and record.

All the features brought forth a wealth of Roman pottery including some pieces of Samian and some fine beaker fragments including some possibly from the Nene Valley (Fig. 3) (pottery report awaited).

Several coins were also found both from excavation and metal detecting including two of Lucius Verus c. AD169, around the time that the adjacent settlement was most likely enclosed by defensive ditches. Previous surface detecting of this area had revealed coins from Galba AD68 to Gratian c AD380 and during the excavation a zoomorphic enamel brooch in the shape of a hare (Fig. 4). But unknown to the team the real archaeological treasures were yet to be discovered!

The final three weeks were given over mainly to the excavation of the 13 large postholes and a series of smaller adjacent postholes which have been interpreted as a building of a different phase. At first it was thought that the metre wide post holes were disappointingly shallow but then it was remembered that

excavationexcavation

Fig 1. Photograph of survey poles marking the postholes. Photo: S McGregor

last year many features had a hard manganese layer well above their lowest fill and it was decided to test a couple of the holes to see if this also applied here. Sure enough, with the manganese pan removed, a 400-500mm diameter post-pipe was revealed. These were half sectioned with some difficulty as they were discovered to average a metre in depth and then at the bottom was discovered the in situ remains of waterlogged posts. A busy period ensued during the last few days of the dig as all 13 post holes revealed in situ post-bases (Fig. 5). These, whilst rare in themselves being the rotted remains of the bases of probably every main post of this large timber frame building, turned out to be just the entrée as when trying to feel beneath one of the posts to record its depth another timber was felt to be lying flat beneath it and this one felt as if it was carved. A

decision was made to remove this fragmented post base to inspect the timber below which was thus verified as being a sawn timber with some form of carving and appeared quite robust. Careful excavation of the surrounding soils and river gravels was undertaken, mainly by bare hands at full arm stretch, until the timber could be lifted safely without risk to its integrity. The revealed artefact was indeed a carved beam end showing an ogival carved end with a possible lap joint for another timber and had been in a conclusively sealed Roman context (Fig. 6).

Whilst the team knew that any site with waterlogged timbers is of

great importance and that carved timbers from Roman sites are rare, particularly in Sussex, they were not fully aware of how rare this item was until being put in touch with Damian Goodburn, an archaeological woodwork specialist, by the Museum of London. He confirmed that architectural moulded timbers of the Roman period are very rare. From a photograph he

observed that one face has an odd sloping housing joint cut in it and that the overall form and apparent scale of the timber suggested it came from a relatively high status structure; but he was unable to define the type of element it originally was. What we do know is that it became a pad for a post at some time during the 300 years of Roman activity in a bend of the River Ouse just south of Barcombe Mills. Was it just spolia, the reuse of recycled building materials, or was there some more significant meaning in its use in providing closure for a previous structure and/or continuity with the new build? We shall never know but hopefully we can research its previous use providing we can find some relevant comparables.

The team are now looking at a winter of post excavation analysis of both the artefacts and features in order to interpret and phase the possible activities on this part of the settlement before thinking about next year’s project on this large, exciting site of potentially national importance.

David millum AIfA mA bA Deputy Director

Culver Archaeological Project

Fig. 3. Globular Nene Valley beaker. Photo: D Millum

Fig. 6. A very rare carved Roman timber used as a pad for post 9. Photo: S McGregor

Fig. 5. The Deputy Director trying to find post remains! Photo: S McGregor

Fig. 4. Zoomorphic (hare) enamelled brooch. Photo: D Millum

Fig. 2. Rob Wallace and John Kane excavating and metal detecting the well. Photo: D Millum

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CONFereNCe rePOrT

Animals! understanding human culture through the ubiquitous others

CONFereNCe rePOrTFeature

This year’s annual Conference, held at the University of

Chichester, in association with the University of Nottingham, on September 6th was something to savour. It didn’t disappoint! A stellar line-up of experts explored the diversity of human relationships with animals in the past. That relationship, of course, has changed through time. Take chickens for example. They were raised by priests in ancient Rome to foretell the future. Nothing significant was undertaken without consulting the sacred chickens for favourable omens. Grain was fed to the chickens. If they ate voraciously the signs were good; if they refused to eat and drink then the auguries were bad and any decisions or even military actions were postponed. Roman naval commander Claudius Pulcher famously lost a battle by ignoring the fact that his chickens had refused to eat. He furiously threw them into the sea, telling them that they could at least drink!

Turning to the Conference, the first speaker, Oliver Craig, made us feel at home right away by showing a picture of a Sussex Pond Pudding. He then explained how new scientific techniques were being used to analyse food residues

in unglazed cooking pots, allowing him to identify what animal species had been cooked and eaten by prehistoric hunter-gatherers and early farmers.

Martyn Allen, who wrote most of his PhD at Fishbourne Roman Palace, then brought us the latest news from the Rural Settlement in Roman Britain project. He suggested that cattle pastoralism had grown during the Late Roman period and that there was more evidence for cattle being moved long distances.

Nina Crummy reminded us that the Romans utilised some rather strange animal products as cures: the fat of lions, the brains of camels, the ashes of burnt camel dung and the fat of bears were all presumably smeared on or consumed as a remedy for various ailments. Julius Caesar, famously self-conscious about his thinning hair, might well have put a finger or two of bears’ fat on his scalp before retiring each night.

Richard Jones, former Research Officer of the Society, brought us all down to earth with a lecture on that all important, but often neglected, topic - animal dung and its role in agriculture. It is a case of different peoples, different practices. In Africa, the amount of cattle dung

on display could convey messages about affluence. In India, where the cow is revered, manuring can be perceived as spreading cosmic forces. In prehistoric Britain horse droppings might have been regarded as sacred, while some Bronze Age barrows seem to be constituted from manure. What was fascinating was the medieval rationale for the importance of manuring. Knowing that spreading the stuff made plants grow, but lacking any scientific knowledge of how that happened, the medieval mind saw manuring as a way of restoring ‘balance’ to the earth. Thus clay (cold) was fed (hot) sheep dung; (dry) sand and chalk (moist) cattle pats. Manure in mind we headed off to lunch, appetites undaunted.

New insights continued to come thick and fast in the afternoon. Matthew Collins and his team, using some sophisticated technology, are now able to identity from what animal skins different parchments were made. In the medieval period it appears that sheep-skin was used for archival parchments and goat-skin for books. Perhaps sheep was used more for legal documents because it is, apparently, more difficult to erase writing from a

parchment made from sheep-skin. The next topic was the

Agricultural Revolution (1760-1840). Widely hailed as a time of intensive improvements in the rearing of livestock, Richard Thomas demonstrated that animals had, in fact, been bred selectively for size since the 13th century. He preferred a ‘gradualist’ approach to animal improvements, suggesting that the Agricultural Revolution actually bred smaller animals, with much more emphasis on specific body parts. Wealthy landowners in the 18th and 19th centuries had their best-breeding bulls and rams memorialised in artwork and hung on their walls, for the admiration of their guests.

Julius Caesar (again) noted that the Britons did not eat cockerels, hens or hares - regarding them as taboo. Chickens were fittingly the subject of our next speaker - Mark Maltby. Did you know that there are twice as many chickens in the UK than human beings? Mark showed that during most of the Iron Age there is indeed a lack of chicken

bones from archaeological sites, backing up Caesar’s statement. However, in the Late Iron Age the remains of chickens become more common, even featuring on a special bronze coin found in the Chichester area - the Chichester Cock Bronzes. Personally, I think the increased emphasis on hens and cocks in the Late Iron Age was due to increasing Gallic influence and probably settlement in southern Britain.

Last but by no means least came Naomi Sykes, a past digger on the late 1990s excavations at Fishbourne Roman Palace. She spotted the remains of fallow deer in some of the late 1st century deposits and successfully used strontium analysis to prove that these deer had been imported and then bred in the local area, most obviously to graze the southern park at the Palace. As Roman Britain crumbled so the fallow deer disappeared. It was the Normans who re-introduced the species and they did so in a big way, stocking over 3,000 deer parks by AD 1300.

Feature

The Dishley ram, bred by Robert Bakewell of Dishley Grange, the originator of the new and improved breed of Leicestershire sheep that was bigger and matured more quickly.

Cockerels, here depicted on a Roman mosaic, were venerated rather than eaten in early Roman times.

Medieval muck spreading to improve fertility of the soil. It was thought that applying it according to the phases of the moon was crucial for its efficacy.

Sculpture depicting the ritual evisceration of a bull to examine the entrails in the practice of augury.

Ruminating on the Conference a few days later a couple of points came to mind. First, perhaps an omission on the day, I would have liked to have heard one lecture on the way animals influence us, exploit us even, rather than vice-versa. The most obvious example is our pets. Romans had pets too. Pets form as much a relationship with us as we do with them; dogs get excited when offered ‘walkies’ and cats seek a warm lap to curl up on. We are bound to animals in complex ways, as they are to us.

Secondly, and passionately articulated at the end of the Conference by Naomi, is the importance of the Society’s Margary Grants to novel research. Naomi was awarded £400 from the Society’s Margary Fund which allowed her to initiate her ground-breaking research on the fallow deer from Fishbourne. She even handed around the actual copy of her grant application and we all treated it with the kind of reverence reserved for a sacred medieval parchment. It was this seed-corn Margary money that was pivotal. Sure, Naomi obtained much bigger grants later on, but without that Margary Grant she might never have got started. I think that Ivan Margary would take pride knowing that the Society continues to make profitable use of his outstanding generosity and enthusiasm for the past.

John manley

All images were taken from the conference presentations.

Folding knife with a handle in the form of mating dogs. Found at Silchester in a pit containing other dog remains, it is thought to be a fertility symbol.

Plate depicting the god Mercury surrounded by various symbolic animals e.g. goat and cockerel.

Roman sculpture showing a bull, sheep and pig as companion animals i.e. representatives of the gods on earth, that could guide the spirits to the Underworld.

Liming sheep skins in the production of parchment.

Sussex Past & Present December 2014 www.sussexpast.co.uk12 www.sussexpast.co.uk Sussex Past & Present December 2014 13

bILL SANTer LIbrArY & bOOKSHOPLibrary

Library News Library closed for cleaning in January

The library will be closed for one week from Monday 5th January 2015 so that thorough cleaning can take place. Please only

contact us by e-mail or telephone during that week if your enquiry is really urgent.

Colin and Judy Brent have deposited in the Library their Lewes, Cliffe and Southover house histories which trace the owners and occupiers of houses from the 16th and 17th centuries until the 1830s, although sometimes beyond that date. Data from land tax, parish rates, manorial records and title deeds are supplemented by relevant entries in local diaries and newspapers especially the Sussex Weekly Advertiser. These histories are available in hard copy and on a data base which can be searched for persons and occupations.

I list below some recent additions to the Library (all 2014):

ALLEN, Michael J ed. Eastbourne: aspects of archaeology, history and heritage

BLISS, Roy Balcombe at War 1914-18

FLINT, Nick Cautionary Pilgrim: walking backwards with Belloc

HAYES, Martin Great War Britain: West Sussex & WHITE, Emma Remembering 1914-1918

JOHNSTONE, David E Sparsholt Roman Villa Excavations by & DICKS, Jonathan David Johnstone

LEA, David Saxonbury Hillfort, East Sussex: an & ENGLISH, Judie analytical survey

THOMAS, Adrian ed. The Birds of Sussex

We are grateful to the following for their donations to the Library: S Berry; C & J Brent; P Combes; J Pennington; P Platt; R Reffell [for ENHAS]; S Williams.

esme evans Hon. Librarian

Obituary

Bill Santer was a valued library volunteer for about 20 years, until only shortly before his death. He was one of the few practising

archaeologists among the volunteers – he was active with Brighton & Hove Archaeological Society right until the end. He also took a deep interest in Sussex history, especially Brighton, and often regaled us with tales of his exploits as an Eastbourne schoolboy in wartime.

Bill looked after the Archaeology Room in the Library, keeping it meticulously tidy and in order (not easy in that room) and latterly labelled and shelved all the incoming stock after cataloguing. If anything could not immediately be found, not just in the Archaeology Room, you could be sure Bill would eventually find it.

He was generous with his donations to both the Library and the Bookshop at Barbican House, and his sorties to car boot sales augmented our stationery supplies. He could also be called upon to help transport e.g. a filing cabinet from Lancing and a trolley from the old Lewes library.

Despite multiple medical problems, of which he invariably made light, he had an unfailing and quirky sense of humour (only Bill could have a mobile ringtone of a cuckoo – loud!), and we shall miss him.

esme evans

William Leonard Santer (bill)1932 - 2014

John bleach retires!

BookshopA ‘VIP’ appeared last year and I should have brought attention to it before now. Edited by N P Brooks and S E Kelly, Charters of Christ Church Canterbury, pts 1 & 2 (Oxford University Press for the British Academy), presents texts with discussion of the 184 surviving Anglo-Saxon charters of the Christ Church archive. Part 1 contains an Introduction and charters 1 – 69A; part 2 has charters 70 – 184 and indices of personal names, place names and diplomatic, with a Latin glossary and a list of words and personal names used in boundary marks.

While only about ten charters in the book have a direct Sussex interest they include the later-8th century grant by Ealdwulf, king of the South Saxons, with its confirmation by Offa, king of the Mercians, of sixteen hides at Stanmer, Lindfield and Burleigh, to Hunlaf, comes, for the building of a monastery. Also included are the grant in AD 772 by Offa of eight hides at Bexhill to Oswald, bishop of Selsey, for the building of a minster, and the early-11th century grant of woodland at Lower Hazelhurst in Ticehurst by King Cnut to Archbishop Ælfstan.

The volumes are part of the ‘Anglo-Saxon Charters’ series within which Susan Kelly’s excellent edition of the Selsey charters appeared in 1998. The two-part Charters of Christ Church Canterbury may not contain the undiluted Sussex focus of the Selsey volume, but for anybody interested in Anglo-Saxon matters they are Very Important Publications as well as containing a sprinkling of magic Sussex dust.

They’re not cheap (£50 each), and the bookshop doesn’t get much discount, but it will go halves and offer 10%. So, the pair for £90. Postage at cost or collect from Barbican House (or Fishbourne R P by arrangement).

John bleach

John Bleach, who will be a familiar hirsute face to many who have visited the Barbican House Museum and shop, was presented with a

long service award by the Chair of Council, Mike Chartier, at an informal ceremony held in the gardens of Anne of Cleves House on the 3rd of October. It celebrated his 37 years as a Custodian at Barbican House and although this occasion marked John’s official retirement we are delighted to announce that he will continue as the bookshop manager in a voluntary capacity.

John reflected on his time working for the Society: ‘My first association with the Society (not counting a dimly-remembered school visit to Barbican House Museum in 1959) was as a volunteer archivist. In autumn 1976 under the friendly and watchful eye of Ken Dickins, the Society’s Honorary Archivist, I worked a few hours a week in the library at Barbican House cataloguing a collection of deeds relating to South Malling. It wasn’t until March 1977 that I joined the long line of custodial staff employed by the Society to look after visitors to the Castle and Museum, a line stretching back to Sergeant Morgan in 1848. The custodial staff in 1977 consisted

John receives recognition of 37 years of service to the Society from the Chairman of Council, Michael Chartier with CEO Tristan Bareham looking on. Photo: S Bridger

of a single custodian who acted as ticket seller and gate-watcher (Sergeant Morgan’s job in a nutshell) from Monday to Friday, with two A-level students looking after the site at weekends.

Since then, many delightful Garland Days and other stimulating open-air events have come and gone, the Bookshop has developed in interesting and not unprofitable ways, and across all the years my colleagues have been a well-nigh constant and secure source of friendship and support. To have worked at Lewes Castle and Barbican House Museum for 37 years has been both a privilege and great fun. Thank you, SAS and colleagues’.

We wish him well in his ‘retirement’.

Sussex Past & Present December 2014 www.sussexpast.co.uk14 www.sussexpast.co.uk Sussex Past & Present December 2014 15

booksbOOK reVIeWS

booksbOOK reVIeWS

News from Victorian Newhaven

THE foreword for this book states clearly that the Newhaven of Victorian times was a very different place to the Newhaven of the 21st century; the dynamism of the expanding 19th century port contrasting dramatically with the depressed economy of the present. Stanley Bernard has prepared this publication from his MA dissertation and has done a good service to the town, as any scholarly study of a community is to be welcomed, the more so as bright prospects are thin on the ground in Newhaven. The book is comprised of two sections, the first an overview of the community at the time of the 1841 census and how that community developed during the century, especially with the coming of the railway and the changes that occurred by the 1880s in terms of occupation and services. The various census returns have been closely studied and the often sparse information contained within them backed up with primary press comment and secondary material.

The second section - ‘Victorian news’ in the contents list, but ‘Stories from the newspapers’ in the

text - takes the reader into events both national - the coronation of the Queen and local - a series of Victorian ‘orrible murders’.

As befits the distillation of a dissertation, the references are full - five pages - and the publications and documents widely sourced, with some ‘usual suspects’ familiar to SAC - amongst them, Berry, Brandon and Brent! But also some period sources from less obvious publications - The Irish Monthly 1889 and Bristol Selected Pamphlets 1837. Following on from this wide ranging referencing there is a very full index, something often missing from similar self-publications.

There are indications here that this is indeed self-published, as it is crying out for a good proof reading; according to the acknowledgements this has been done…however there are passages of names that cry out for commas to break up the line of type, there are several mis-uses of words, e.g. ships do not flounder [a flatfish] but ‘founder’; people do not emanate [issue from] the upper classes but ‘emulate’ them. The slim volume of 92 pages is copiously illustrated with 65 images but herein lies a problem, the images, both photographs and maps, are far too small and some are simply irrelevant; some needed a photographers ‘eye’ to crop the amount of modern road space or areas of foreground grass. Fewer images of larger size and of more relevance would have been beneficial.

As a supporter of Newhaven Conservation Trust and of the Newhaven Castle Hill Local Nature Reserve I fully welcome this useful addition to the town’s oft-ignored history and one that should hopefully fire-up similar research into areas of Sussex urban life.

Geoffrey meadBy Stanley Bernard, 2014. Paths

Publishing. ISBN 978-0-95351867-8. Softback, 93pp. £10.99.

Arundel Church with the Fitzalan Chapel:

a brief history THIS nicely produced guide is on the whole well balanced, with sections on the ‘new’ church of the 1380s, the Reformation and its effects, the church in the early modern period, 19th-century and more recent restorations or reorderings, and the contentious history of the Fitzalan Chapel (structurally the chancel of the medieval church). The various complexities are lucidly explained, and the author avoids getting bogged down in too much detail. However, the less than two pages devoted to the development of the church from Anglo-Saxon minster to Norman priory and then to a college of secular clergy comes

across as rather breathless. The importance of the substantial reuse of carved stones from an earlier church is given rather short shrift; the caption to the two illustrations of such pieces gives no hint of their date or significance.

The text is interspersed with a number of mini-essays on topics ranging from wall painting to bells, easily identified as ‘extras’ by being reversed out against a darkish blue background. There are over 75 high-quality illustrations, including a clear coloured plan and several historical drawings, which contribute valuable information about the state of the church at various dates. One of these, a 1771 engraving by Benjamin Green, contributes to the debate about whether the building was rendered externally or not. The source of this engraving is given, but it is a matter of some regret that the other historical illustrations are devoid of any attribution other than their date; ideally one would expect to be told the name of the artist and the source, or the location in the case of unpublished unique items.

Such criticisms apart, this is an attractive, informative, well-written and well-produced booklet, on which the author (whose name is modestly hidden in the small print

eastbourne - aspects of

archaeology, history and heritage

THIS volume has been produced to honour the tireless efforts of Lawrence Stevens, and his wife Pat, in researching and promoting the archaeology of Eastbourne for about forty years. I understand that Lawrence, the worthy recipient of a “festschrift”, was taken completely by surprise by its presentation to him during a conference this summer, so the occasion was touching and delightful.

The first chapter is a short biography of Lawrence and describes his research, teaching and encouragement of other archaeologists and historians in the area. The extent of the Stevens’ interests is indicated by the range of papers. On my first perusal, three contributions stood out as particularly note-worthy: Hayley Forsyth’s analyses of skeletal material (“Eastbourne Ancestors”) from two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries (Ockynge Hill and ECAT) - dating, inferences of nutrition, childhood home location, and disease; Martin Bell and Chris Butler’s chapter on their excavation below the Long Man of Wilmington, with the conclusion that it is a post-medieval construct, created between AD1540-1710 (brick fragments tell the story) and David Rudlings’s synopsis of the 1970’s fieldwork on Bullock Down in the light of current interpretations of Romano-British rural settlements and votive practices.

On my second reading I found further interesting topics, for instance in Mike Allen’s paper which provides dateable sequences for the inundation and drying out of the Willingdon Levels against hillwash data from elsewhere in town and also in that by Chris Greatorex, ostensibly about Crowlink Barrow, but leading on to a consideration

of Beaker evidence on the Beachy Head block of Downland. This area is also the subject of Julie Gardiner’s paper on Neolithic flintwork, with thoughts on socio-economic reasons for differences by location and date. It was also interesting to learn that the 1963 discovery of boat fragments in a sewer trench, might now be dateable to the Norman or Saxon period, shunting a medieval interpretation back to 10th-11th centuries AD, so it was a much rarer and more significant vessel. Finally, the topic of Lawrence Stevens’ own particular interest in mills has been tackled by Peter Hill in an informative paper on the local examples.

This celebratory volume has variety, yet academic substance, and will introduce readers to many interesting aspects of Eastbourne’s heritage. I congratulate both the recipient and the editor, and commend the volume.

Caroline Wells Edited by Michael J Allen, 2014. Published by ENHAS. ISBN 978-

0-9542918-6-0. Softback, 104pp. Sales enquiries to 12 The Village, Meads, Eastbourne BN20 2RD.

Shoreham Airport – An Illustrated History FOR anyone interested in Shoreham Airport and its unique place in Aviation history, this is for you. The publication, comprising 160 pages with 178 illustrations, has a sensible balance of text to photographs. The book is structured chronologically, from “Those Magnificent Men” (pre 1914), 1914-1918, 1919-1939 etc. There is some wonderful narrative of people and events from 1911 onwards, starting with the first landing of a Bleriot monoplane arriving from Brighton. A number of key events, including the regular financial challenges faced by the Airport, are covered succinctly. Although the pictures are black and white this adds to the evocative feel of the Airport through every period covered. A more balanced selection of photographs would have been beneficial as the majority of photographs are post-1960; although more than 50 years of history had elapsed since the earliest flights, less than 20 pictures are from that period. The final chapter covers the role and invaluable work of the Shoreham Airport Rescue and Firefighting Service, who have been a key service for over 90 years. The publication price represents good value for what is a reasonably comprehensive narrative of a unique Sussex treasure.

Patrick Clinton By Peter C Brown, 2014. Amberley

Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-3355-8. Softback, 160pp. £15.99.

inside the back cover), the Friends of St Nicholas Church and the publisher are to be congratulated.

David ParsonsBy Nick Plumley, 2014.

Pitkin PublishingISBN 978-1-84165-567-3

Paperback, 40pp, £5 + £1.50 p&pfrom St Nicholas’ Parish Church

Office.

Sussex Past & Present December 2014 www.sussexpast.co.uk16

Snippets

THE Sussex Past & Present newsletter is published three times a year, in April, August and December. The next issue will be published in April 2015; the copy deadline is 13 February. Short articles, 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 spp@sussexpast.co.uk, 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 (preferably 97-2003 format) for text and send images in JPEG or TIFF 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 £40). Contact Lorna Gartside on 01273 405737 for details.

Dora Kemp

Stories Through a Glass Plate

The Fallow Deer of Fishbourne

rNLI Puts Out Call for Help

Next Issue

AS this issue was being finalised we learned the sad news of the death of Dora Kemp, who for many years was the typesetter for the Sussex Archaeological Collections, together with the three books produced so far by the Society in conjunction with the South Downs National Park Authority. It is hoped to include a full obituary in the next issue.

THE RNLI is looking for anyone interested in history, research and writing to help put together a book to mark the 150th anniversary next year of the Shoreham Lifeboat station. The book will cover the station from its beginnings, the war years and its memorable services, right up to 2015 and the anniversary events. Volunteers with the time and expertise to carry out research, collate information and write some sections of the book should contact Keith Phelps, the Station Operations Manager, on 07973 561608.

IF you are quick you can catch the final weeks of an exhibition that reveals the remarkable story of the fallow deer remains found at Fishbourne Roman Palace. Recent research suggests that Fishbourne may be the place where fallow deer were first introduced to Britain. This exhibition, which runs until the end of the year in the Collections Discovery Centre, explains how analysis of fallow deer bones found at the site (see Animals! conference report page 11) has provided some interesting evidence for what was happening here nearly 2000 years ago. The display also gives visitors a chance to try their hand at some of the techniques archaeologists use for studying animal bones and an opportunity to find out more through a series of short films. The exhibition has been put together by experts at the University of Nottingham working in conjunction with Fishbourne staff. It is part of a wider project looking at fallow deer in the past and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. For more information on the project please visit www.fallow-deer-project.net/home.

‘Stories Through a Glass Plate’ was an exhibition of photographs shown in 80 lightboxes in 55 shop windows along Lewes High Street recently. The photographs were taken from the Edward Reeves studio archive and were shown in the location where they were originally taken many years before. The light boxes have been built to be re-useable and this was the first in a series of exhibitions planned about different aspects of life in Lewes and the surrounding countryside. Edward Reeves took up studio photography in the mid 1850s and his great grandson is still running the business in Lewes today. The studio is believed to be the oldest continously operated photographic studio in the world. It houses an archive of over 100,000 glass plates taken by the first three owners, together with approximately 150,000 images taken by Tom Reeves the current owner, on film and digital files. Unusually the family has kept all the business ledgers and the related paperwork and therefore this archive is both a unique record

of the daily life of Lewes and the history of commercial photographic practice. These exhibitions are a precursor to a much larger project to digitise the Reeves archive and records to make them more widely available. This is dependent on a succesful Heritage Lottery Grant application which will have a much greater chance of success if community support and interest can be demonstrated. If you saw and enjoyed the shop displays please email the organisers at info@reevesarchive.co.uk to express your appreciation and support. Alternatively write to Edward Reeves Studio at 159 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XU.