ANGLO-SAXON BURY Anglo-Saxon Bury an Early Medieval Port?

Research ANGLO-SAXON BURY Anglo-Saxon Bury An Early Medieval Port? ocated in the picturesque Arun LValley, the small village of Bury may have a hidden past as an Anglo- Saxon port. Initially, this seems rather far-fetched considering Bury’s current inland position in Sussex (Fig.1.), but one must consider that the coastline and river courses were signi cantly different in the 10th and 11th centuries. Not only were the coastal estuaries far more accessible, but river channels were wider and more liable to ooding (Robinson, An Historical Atlas of Sussex). River access to Bury via the River Arun was far from impossible in Anglo-Saxon Sussex. Indeed, this argument follows on A photograph of the old ferry at Bury taken c.1902, which illustrates the proximity of the village to the from what Ann Best maintained river. Photo: © www.gravelroots.net in her article on Romano-British the possessor of thirteen estates Weald; this area was signi cantly Waterways (SPP 139, Aug 2016); in Sussex, the core of which were forested and rather inaccessible that these watercourses were around Lewes and Eastbourne. during the period (Brandon, The commonly utilised. Indeed, apart from Bury and the South Saxons). However, its status as a Hundred meeting place must surely be of some in uence to its royal proprietorship. A Hundred was a measure of land and an area served by the Hundred Court. This assembled on a monthly basis from the tenth century onwards, according to the Hundred Ordinance. James Campbell has argued that there was a deliberate tenth-century policy of ‘extending the weight of royal government to the countryside’ through this Hundred system (Campbell, The Fig.1. Map showing location of the village of Bury (red square) in the Arun Valley. Image: © M De La Pole Anglo-Saxons), which is a likely reason for the royal ownership. Though only rst recorded in small estate of Littlehampton to However, though the status of Domesday (1086) as Berie, the the south of the Arun Valley, all of Bury might well be a result of its village actually has origins as an Godgifu’s Sussex lands were in political importance as a Hundred important royal estate prior to this area to the east. This would site, its function as a port may the Norman Conquest (1066). imply that the Bury estate was also have in uenced both this and Domesday Book is again the source signi cantly self-suf cient and its royal tenure under Godgifu. for this, recording Bury’s proprietor thus, very pro table; probably The hardest evidence for such as Godgifu, daughter of Æthelred why it was in royal hands. This a function again lies with Bury’s the Unready (d.1016) and sister to commercial signi cance is hard to Domesday entry. Though in royal Edward the Confessor (d.1066). explain though, considering Bury’s hands before the conquest, Bury’s Before the Conquest, Godgifu was relatively remote position in the 4 Sussex Past & Present April 2017 www.sussexpast.co.uk Research ANGLO-SAXON BURY Domesday entry places it under the International Journal of Nautical that this land was worth protecting. ownership of the Norman Abbey Archaeology). This particular boat Burpham was one of the thirty- of Fécamp in 1086. Considering (Amberley III) has been radiocarbon- three burh forti cations listed in the that Godgifu arguably had a better dated to the mid seventh century; Burghal Hidage, a tenth-century claim to the English Crown than thus, by the tenth and eleventh list/account of the West Saxon William of Normandy (later William centuries the scale of operations state forti cations. Only placed in I), and being the sister in-law to may have expanded to include locations of strategic and pragmatic Harold Godwinson, it is likely that larger, international trading ships. value, these forts helped to protect the transferral of Bury to Fécamp The retreating shoreline since the the borders and internal lands of was swift to avoid resistance. last glacial period (c.15,000 years Wessex (and later England) from Regardless of the timing though, ago) meant that the function of Bury foreign threats, particularly Vikings. the bestowment of Bury to Fécamp as a harbour has long since gone, Speci cally, many burhs were used particularly expresses the nature and was probably diminishing even to prevent invaders from travelling of the estate’s external links. in the tenth and eleventh centuries. upriver; Burpham is a prime Fécamp had been granted estates However, the emergence of Arundel example of one of these, especially both at Rye and Steyning before as an important port (particularly considering its lack in economic the Conquest because they were in the Norman period) would function (Sutermeister, Sussex important ports during this period. have also signi cantly diminished Archaeological Collections). It was For English based lands to be useful Bury’s importance. A similar case clearly not chosen to become an and pro table to the Norman abbey, has been made by Mark Gardiner urban centre like the other Sussex links to the continent would have for the demise of Eastbourne in burhs, such as Lewes or Chichester, been essential and the bestowment East Sussex, losing prominence but simply to protect the river traf c of Bury suggests that it was at least to neighbouring Pevensey under and local area. For this reason, and a basic port or landing site for ships Robert of Mortain (Gardiner, An its location upriver from Arundel in the pre-Norman period. Historical Atlas of Sussex). but downriver from the Arun Valley estates, Burpham seems perfectly suited to protect the fairly signi cant economic centre at Bury. Bury’s Old English place-name element of byrig meaning ‘(place by) fort or stronghold’ (Mills, A Dictionary of British Place Names), also implies that there might have been a strong relationship between itself and Burpham. This is also interesting considering that neighbouring Waters eld was a market in the medieval period. Perhaps then, this area in the Arun Valley was far more commercial than rst presumed given their location in the Sussex Weald. This article is based on research for a Masters degree. Anyone who would like to know more on the subject is welcome to contact me personally. An aerial view of Bury village taken in 1949, with the river Arun in the bottom right hand corner. Matthew De La Pole M.DeLaPole.12@unimail. Indeed, evidence for such a The civil defence of the winchester.ac.uk function is clear from even before the Anglo-Saxon kingdom is also late Saxon period, with a number of another useful indicator for the ancient log-boats found in the area; importance of Bury. In particular, the nearest being across the river in the establishment of the burh Amberley (McGrail & Switsur, The forti cation at Burpham suggests www.sussexpast.co.uk Sussex Past & Present April 2017 5.

Load more