Page:VCH Sussex 1.djvu/557

 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS MiDHURST. — St. Anne's Hill, close by the church at Midhurst, has some disturbed earthworks which probably represent a hill-top camp. Pagham. — There are some irregular earthworks enclosed in a nearly quadrangular space by a wet ditch to the south-east of Pagham Church. Rackham. — There is a long line of earthworks here, consisting of a rampart and remains of a fosse, possibly part of a boundary bank. RoTHERFiELD, Saxonbury Hill. — Here is an oval work, probably a camp. SoMPTiNG. — About 1 1 miles north-north-east of Sompting church are two long lines of ramparts. The southern is an. arc extending for upwards of a mile. There is a corresponding fosse on the convex or northern side. Opposed to this, about half a mile to the north, is another ram- part and fosse, less well pronounced. Here the fosse is on the southern side, and the line is broken about the middle by an angle pointing to the south. Wartling. — The Ashbourn River, which falls into the sea near Pevensey, occupies a small portion of a fairly broad valley. In the middle of this valley and near the river, there is at Boreham Bridge, in the parish of Wartling, an interesting earthwork consisting of a circular convex platform raised somewhat above the level of the surrounding ground, and enclosed within a fairly deep but narrow trench or ditch. The whole of the surface within the enclosure is of slightly but unmistakably convex form, suggestive of a dry island for cattle and sheep in the wet weather, when much of the valley is flooded. Another, and, on the whole, perhaps more reasonable ex- planation is that it was intended to serve as a kind of crannog or marsh village. The work is locally known as ' Rat's Castle.' Washington. — At Highden Clump there is a line of earthworks, possibly a boundary bank, which extends in a direction nearly north and south, and consists of a well-pronounced rampart with a fosse on the western side. The earthworks somewhat to the south of Edburton, marked ' Roman Camp ' on the ordnance survey map, are simply ancient field enclosures. The tidal banks of the Arun and the Ouse, and the earthen banks on each side of the ancient road known as Stane Street, may be men- tioned. The latter are very clearly seen at and near Bignor Hill. Tumuli, Barrows, etc. In conclusion, a word or two may be added in reference to sepul- chral mounds, or barrows, in Sussex. These are found chiefly on the top of the South Downs, and there are several examples between Mount Harry near Lewes and the camp at Ditchling, and also between the Devil's Dyke and Edburton. There appear to be two pretty well-pro- 479