EAR Appendix
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APPENDIX 6-2 CULTURAL HERITAGE BASELINE 3 CULTURAL HERITAGE BASELINE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The following section presents a summary of the archaeological and historical background of the general area. This is presented by period as shown in Table 6.1 below, and has been complied to place the study area into a wider archaeological context. SUMMARY OF BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL TIME PERIODS AND DATA RANGES PERIOD DATE RANGE PREHISTORIC PERIOD: Palaeolithic 500,000 – 10,000 BC Mesolithic 10,000 – 3,500 BC Neolithic 3,500 – 2,200 BC Bronze Age 2,200 – 700 BC Iron Age 700BC – AD 43 ROMANO-BRITISH AD 43 – AD 410 EARLY MEDIEVAL AD 410 – AD 1066 LATE MEDIEVAL AD 1066 – AD 1540 POST-MEDIEVAL AD 1540 – C1750 INDUSTRIAL PERIOD C.AD1750-1914 MODERN POST-1915 PREHISTORIC PERIOD (500,000 – AD 43) The East Sussex landscape comprises archaeological evidence of Prehistoric settlements ranging from the Palaeolithic to Iron Age epochs. Palaeolithic settlements initially comprised of ‘hunter and gather’ communities and subsequent farming communities including sheep-and-corn farming, across the South and Eastern Downs. In the Neolithic epoch, the Eastern Downs landscape was characterised by downland forest clearlands which continued progressively into the Bronze Age and Iron Age epochs.1 The Bronze Age saw a dramatic shift away from the ceremonial, monumental landscape towards more advanced agricultural cultivation methods such as field systems, defined by earthwork banks and ditches. Evidence of enclosed settlements with round houses and farmsteads include those uncovered in the Chalk Downs, and at Itford Hill, East Sussex.2 There is evidence of Prehistoric wetlands, known as the Willingdon Levels (DES10069) in the inner study area, comprising buried waterlogged prehistoric land surface and associated organic structures and remains. Further evidence of Prehistoric settlements includes the hill fort at Mount Caburn near Lewes, comprising a number of burial mounds or ‘barrows’ dating from Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age epochs.3 Further Iron Age activity is demonstrated by dykes and linear ditches at Ranscombe, near Lewes, located in the wider study area, and the Hillfort Ranscombe Camp (1014528) outside of the study area. The is evidence of Iron Age activity at the scheme comprising non-designated Drusillas settlement (DES9308) which was subsequently utilised by the Romans in the Romano- British period. ROMANO-BRITISH PERIOD (AD 43 – AD 410) Roman occupied Britain had varied impact on the Sussex landscape and in some areas had minimal interference on everyday Iron Age activity which permitted field systems, roundhouses and farmsteads to remain in use.4 It was the topography of West Sussex (near Chichester) that attracted Roman settlers, where projected chalklands of the Ouse Valley provided key lookout points over expansive villas on the flat low-lands.5 The transitional belt between Eastern and Western Downs (now trees) comprises a Roman temple in the Iron-Age hillfort at Chanctonbury Ring. There is evidence of Romano-British activity within the scheme footprint, in particular non-designated Roman roads such as Arlington to Ouse Valley (MES4753), Pevensey to Cuckmere (DES9300), Greensand Way (DES10070, DES9301). Romano-British settlements in the scheme footprint have also been uncovered at Old Laylands (DES9307) and Drusillas (DES9308) reiterates the predominance of Romano-British activity at the location of the scheme. A Roman villa complex (DES8786) has also been uncovered at Prescot Court, Beddingham, located within the scheme footprint. EARLY MEDIEVAL (AD 410 – AD 1066) In the fifth century, the first known Anglo-Saxon settlement in Lewes utilised chalk outcrops, forming a river port and market, named ‘hlaew’ (hill). Sheltered by the forest to the north of the weald and a distance from the main routes from London or Canterbury, Lewes established itself as an independent spirit and identity. 1 Brandon, P., (1998), The South Downs, 137. 2 South Downs National Park (2005), Integrated Landscape Character Assessment 14. 3 Brandon, P., 39. 4 South Downs National Park, 16 5 University of Brighton (2014) History of Lewes online resource https://folio.brighton.ac.uk/user/caw32/history-of- lewes (accessed 22nd January 2018) By the 10th century, a growing network of administrative centres dominated the Sussex landscape, including the re-use of Roman sites (such as Chichester and Winchester), with others constructed on new sites (Lewes and Steyning for example). Many of these settlements comprised of mints with royal or aristocratic ties, forming part of a system of defended strongpoints known as burhs. Such earthwork defences are present at Lewes, East Sussex, located to the west of the study area.6 There is strong evidence of Anglo-Saxon settlements in the wider study area and within the scheme footprint. A number of cemeteries have been revealed such as the Scheduled site of Anglo-Saxon cemetery north of Comps Farm (DES9722) and Scheduled site of Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemetery at Manor Cottages (DES8148) located in the wider study area. In the inner study area, there is further evidence with the presence of the non-designated Saxon cemetery (DES9615) at the Comps, Glynde, including Saxon cemeteries, Saxon monastery and medieval hamlet (DES8786) at Prescot Court, Beddingham. LATE MEDIEVAL (AD 1066 – AD 1540) Medieval settlements in the South Downs comprised nucleated settlements set within common arable, and situated on the fertile Greensand shelf and the dip slope of the chalk.7 The manors were divided into tithings or townships, and each subsidiary holding had its own field systems. The arable lands of the eastern Downs tended to be unhedged common fields creating a ‘prairie’-like landscape, operating a highly developed form of arable farming based around crop rotations within several large fields and continuous cultivation. Traditional farming methods became more diverse and complex and depended primarily on locality, the nature of soils and socio-economic circumstances. In conjunction with sheep farming, corn growing in the Eastern Downs dominated the towns of Lewes and Berwick on edge of Cuckmere Valley, in addition to the nearby villages of Glynde, Beddingham, Alciston and Lullington. There is evidence of a number of medieval settlements such as Selmston (DES8604), Folkington (DES8891) and Bay Tree Farm (DES9204) in the inner study area, and Wilmington (DES9203) and the northern extent of Alciston (DES9089) are located within the scheme footprint. In the 14th century, both the downland and Weald experienced a series of crop failures and increased rates of stock disease resulting in a weakened and impoverished population vulnerable to threats such as the plague.8 The Scheduled site of Wilmington Priory (DES8239) c.1200-1300, located in the wider study area, had a history of re-founding, originally under the Abbey of Grestain in Normandy c.1086, and subsequently founded as a Benedictine priory in 1243.9 The Abbey of Grestain is recorded as owning lands at Wilmington at the time of the Domesday Survey and a small cell had been founded on the site. The cell was enlarged in 1243 to accommodate several monks under a prior and was known as the Priory of St Mary but functioned more as a grange, supervising the Abbey’s English estates. It was suppressed alongside other alien priories in 1415 and granted to the Dean and Chapter of Chichester, then subsequently passed into private hands, becoming a manor house. The Scheduled site of Burlough Castle (DES9735), once an iconic motte-and-bailey castle, is situated on a chalk hill, east of Cuckmere River, acting as an entrance to the river valley near Alfriston. Located in wider study area, the remaining earthworks of the castle include a D-shaped fortification where foundation walls originally stood. 6 South Downs National Park, 17 7 Brandon. 8 South Downs National Park. 9 Historic England (2018), National Heritage List for England (NHLE) Lewes and surrounding settlements benefited from north-south trade due to the trading town situated at the junction of the Ouse and the South Downs Way.10 Its importance as an administrative centre grew and this was maintained into the Tudor period in its contested claim to be the chief town of Sussex. The town now housed the county gaol, and the county court was held alternately at Lewes and Chichester. Quarterly-sessions for the western half of the county were held at Chichester and those for the east usually, though not always, in Lewes.11 POST-MEDIEVAL (AD 1540 – C.1750) The post-medieval period saw the emergence of a modern market economy with increases in population and a more flexible land market. The communal aspects of medieval agriculture began to be replaced by farms run by individuals, however the eastern downs were still largely based around sheep farming, although flocks were being reduced due to overgrazing. From 1650 onwards, the sheepwalks began to be ploughed up for arable cultivation, represented by small surviving patches of early enclosures.12 The enthusiasm for Protestantism in the 17th century, fanned by the Marian persecutions, was strong in Lewes during which 17 persons were burned for heresy in the town, though none of them were local inhabitants.13 In the Post-medieval period, Lewes and surrounding areas continued to contribute to their local economy through farming and agricultural practices, with the rise of scattered settlements in close proximity to Lewes. One of the largest estates outside of Lewes, Wootton Manor (DES9738) has origins dating back as early as the 11th century, with lands in Wootton held by William the Conqueror's half-brother, Robert, Count of Mortain. In close proximity to the Roman Road known as ‘Old Road’ in the thirteenth century, the manor was constructed c.1653 on the foundations of original medieval house. INDUSTRIAL PERIOD (C.1750 – AD 1901) In the late 1700s, Lewes suffered from an outbreak of smallpox affecting up to 3,000 people before its industrialisation in the nineteenth century.