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On Friday the 5th January 2024 Mike and I drove the hour and a half to the Cissbury Ring in Findon West Sussex and parked up in the free car park at Storrington Rise (BN14 0HT).
We leave the car and immediately start to climb uphill.
We climb up to the Cissbury Ring Hillside.
Cissbury Ring is the largest hill fort in Sussex, the second largest in England and one of the largest in Europe overall, covering some 60 acres (24 hectares).The earthworks that form the fortifications were built around the beginning of the Middle Iron-Age possibly around 250 BC but abandoned in the period 50 BC - 50 AD.
The site of the fort contains a Neolithic mine, one of the first flint mines in Britain. Around 270 shafts were dug into Cissbury hill over around 300 years of use. Shafts were up to 12 metres (39 ft) deep with 7 metres (23 ft) diameters at the surface. Up to eight galleries extended outwards from the bottoms of the shafts, often interconnecting with one another. The site has been damaged by illicit metal detecting.
The ditches and banks are the remains of a defensive wall that enclosed 65 acres (260,000 m2) of land; the inner band of the wall is over a mile around. The ditches are said to be as deep as three metres and were filled with loosened chalk and covered with timber palisade. The 600 foot (184 m) hill is open to the public. From the top, one is able to see to the west Selsey, Chichester Cathedral, the Spinnaker Tower and the Isle of Wight. To the east, one is able to see Brighton, the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. Cissbury Ring is the highest point in the borough of Worthing.
Several Bronze Age barrows have been found just outside Cissbury Ring. In the Romano-British period, farmers settled within the ramparts of the hill fort.
In 1867–8 Augustus Lane-Fox excavated part of Cissbury Ring.
During World War II, Cissbury Ring was used as a camp for the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in preparation for the Normandy landings. At this time much of the fort within the ramparts was ploughed to provide food. While on manoeuvres, tanks destroyed the dew pond at the north side of the fort. A gap was made in the ramparts to accommodate a 100 lb (45 kg) gun which was used to fire at ships in the English Channel and an anti-aircraft gun was sited by the gap.
I kept seeing small horseshoes prints in the hillside as we climbed and I hoped to see the ponies and here they were.
To maintain and improve the land here at Cissbury Ring hillfort,they need to control the growth of scrub. They do this with the help of human volunteers and a herd of New Forest ponies.
So why clear invasive plant life here?
The shrubs and trees that colonise the old flint mines damage the archaeological stratification with their deep roots, and their shade deters sometimes rare wildflowers and mini beasts. They also provide cover for rabbits, and their burrowing activities are a further threat to the archaeological remains.
Removing some of the trees and dense vegetation also helps to create a more accessible and beautiful landscape – and conserve this historic hillfort for generations to come.
One particular pony was very friendly and wanted to be stroked and nuzzled up against me.
Artefacts from Cissbury Ring can be found at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, the Museum of Sussex Archaeology, Lewes and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Silver pennies from the reign of Ethelred II (978-1016) can be found at the British Museum.
The name Cissbury was traditionally taken to mean Caesar's fort (after Julius Caesar) or Cissa's fort (after Cissa, son of South Saxon king Ælle), but both theories have been discounted. In the early eleventh century in the reign of Ethelred the Unready, Cissbury was known as 'Sith(m)esteburh', which is taken to mean the 'last or the latest fort'. This may mean that Cissbury was the last fort to be refortified, after another nearby fort such as that at Burpham. It seems that the name Cissbury was altered to accommodate the legend that the fort was linked to Cissa the South Saxon.
We reach the trigpoint on top of Cissbury Ring, Gorse blocks views from the trig itself, but the edges of the hill provide some spectacular and expansive vistas.
The wind is strong up high.
Views down to Worthing, Shoreham By Sea with Brighton beyond.
We leave the ring and I struggle to find the path we need that leads down below.
After a bit of walking back and forth, We find the path and head onwards.
Down below I could see a field of cows all lining up around the edges, I can only assume this strange behaviour was down to the farmer having put feed around the fields boundaries.
We leave the Cissbury Ring and out onto a farm track and pass Canada Bottom.
It is so peaceful as we walk along with only the sound of the wind, there was a small drone of noise from the A road beyond however.
At the top of the track we turn left at the signpost to walk by Lychpole Bottom.
Here we pass the Lychpole Bottoms Dewpond that was restored back in 2014.
A dew pond is an artificial pond usually sited on the top of a hill, intended for watering livestock. Dew ponds are used in areas where a natural supply of surface water may not be readily available. Despite the name, their primary source of water is believed to be rainfall rather than dew or mist.
We walk on uphill along Lychpole Bottom, as we gained height again the wind returned.
As we walk we approach New Hill Barn sitting down below.
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| New Hill Barn |
We cross Bostal Road and onto Monarchs Way and the Steyning Bowl.
The Monarchs Way is based on the lengthy route taken by King Charles II during his escape after defeat by Cromwell in the final battle of the Civil Wars at Worcester in 1651, when for six weeks the 21-year-old was hotly pursued by Parliamentary troops. It takes in Boscobel (the Royal Oak Tree), Stratford upon Avon, the Cotswolds, Mendips and the South Coast from Charmouth to Shoreham. There are many historic buildings, features of interest and antiquity, with connections to numerous other long distance routes.
Steyning has existed since Anglo-Saxon times. Legend has it that St Cuthman built a church, at one time dedicated to him, later to St Andrew, and now jointly to St Andrew and St Cuthman, where he stopped after carrying his mother in a wheelbarrow. Several of the signs that can be seen on entering Steyning bear an image of his feat. King Alfred the Great's father, Æthelwulf of Wessex, was originally buried in that church, before being transferred to Winchester – a Saxon grave slab (possibly his) remains in the church porch.
We walk around the edge of the Steyning Bowl on a concrete track, with some beautiful views all around.
We turn a corner and we are now approaching Upper Maudlyn Farm, here a friendly ginger makes it way over to Mike and I to say Hello.
Originally the site of a barn in what was Sopers Bottom that has been built up after the Second World War. The farmhouse is in the trees to the right whilst the dwellings next to the barns are Steyning Bowl Cottages. Beyond is the Weald and in the far distance are the North Downs.
We walk by Upper Maudlyns Farm and I stop to say Hello to a beautiful grey speckled horse in a stable before we make our way up Sopers Lane.
Further up we reach a fork in the road an I choose the wrong fork and we head down Annington Road instead of taking Maudlin Lane.
I realise my mistake and we take a footpath that leads uphill to Maudlin Lane. Annoyed with myself for added mileage and altitude!
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| Looking back downhill to Annington Road. |
We follow a footpath off Maudlin Lane an walk into Bramber.
We walk pass St Nicholas Church,Bramber.
Built in the later C11 for a college of priests, it was parochial by 1250. It was originally cruciform, though small for this plan, and the capitals on the western crossing arch are C11. It was ruinous in the C17, but the tower and crossing were rebuilt in the C18 as a chancel and it was again altered in 1931.
Bramber church stands on the same mound as the ruined castle and William de Braose, Lord of the Rape of Bramber, founded both. As was common in Normandy, he established in 1073 a small college of secular canons at the centre of a new settlement outside his castle, with the nearby Upper Beeding church among its endowments.
Bramber Parish Church of St Nicholas was originally built as the castle chapel and is the only part of the castle site not in ruins. The church attracts large numbers of tourists, and is the oldest post-Conquest Norman church in Sussex.
We walk up the hill pass the church to reach Bramber Castle.
Bramber Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle formerly the caput of the large feudal barony of Bramber long held by the Braose family. It is situated in the village of Bramber, West Sussex, near the town of Steyning, overlooking the River Adur.
Surveys indicate the Normans were the first to build a fortification in the area, around 1070. It served as the administrative hub of the newly created Rape of Bramber, and controlled the River Adur estuary. The castle was held by William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber, whose family originated from Falaise.
Except for a short period when it was confiscated by King John (1199–1216), the castle remained in the de Braose family, until the male line died out in 1326, and it passed to the Mowbrays. Bramber was one of the poorest parts of Sussex, and while it remained a centre of administration, the Mowbrays did not live there; by the 1550s, it was recorded as 'the late castle', used for grazing.
During the First English Civil War, Bramber was held by a Parliamentary garrison, under James Temple and Simon Lentner. In December 1643, a skirmish took place nearby, when a Royalist force unsuccessfully tried to secure the bridge over the River Adur. However, it is unclear whether the castle itself was occupied, while there is no evidence to support a local myth its associated church was used as a gun position.
Little survives of the original structure, as much of the stone was later used to construct the bridge, and other buildings in the village. The castle was excavated in 1966–1967, with another minor survey in 1987; these indicate most of it was built between 1073 and 1130. The addition of an outer ditch around 1209 caused the collapse of much of the original curtain wall in the early 16th century.
The most prominent remaining feature is the gatehouse tower, which still stands to almost its full height; a window, and floor joist holes are clearly visible. Beyond it are the foundations of what is believed to have been the living quarters and a guardhouse. The original gatehouse appears to have converted into a single tower at some point in the 12th century; another 3 metres were added to its height, while the entrances were blocked up. This coincides with an increased threat during the reign of John.
Bramber Castle was founded by William de Braose as a defensive and administrative centre for Bramber, one of the six administrative regions – each of which was controlled by a castle – into which Sussex was divided following the Norman Conquest. It was held almost continually by de Braose and his descendants from its foundation by 1073 until 1450.
One of these descendants, another William de Braose, was among those barons suspected of disloyalty to King John in the early 13th century. The king demanded William’s two sons as hostages. Lady de Braose refused, saying she would not trust her sons to a man who had already murdered his own nephew. The castle was confiscated by the king and the family captured. Lady de Braose and her two sons died of starvation while imprisoned at Windsor Castle.
King John held Bramber Castle only briefly but is known to have carried out repairs to the buildings. Later the castle passed back to the de Braose family, who held it until the 14th century, and then to the Mowbray family.
Subsidence on a large scale led to the ruin of the castle during the 16th century. Its masonry was later used for building roads in the area, and it may have been occupied briefly by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War.
We walked down into Bramber.
The village developed along a causeway on the old trade route that extended from Cornwall to Kent.
Following the Norman Conquest, William de Braose built the castle and church. Later, a toll bridge and chapel were built close to the site of the imposing Elizabethan house, St Mary’s. The castle ruins can still be seen today and are owned by English Heritage.
Although some modern developments have taken place, notably the two hotels and the famous Indian restaurant, the village has grown little over the centuries and today has a population of about 850. The centre of the village is an attractive place for walkers and other visitors to spend some time particularly when the Britain in Bloom season is with us as Bramber has won many awards over the years.
Now little more than one very pretty main street, Bramber used to be a thriving port known as Portus Adurni.
Bramber was served by a wharf, remains of which have been found in the grounds of St Mary’s House, which was believed to have been used to export goods such as timber, before the river Adur silted and the port declined. Records show that most of the hamlet of Bramber was destroyed by fire in 1286 – only St Mary’s, a monastic inn frequented by pimps and prostitutes, was spared from the flames.
We visit The Castle Inn for a pint of Harvey's Old Ale.
Once called The White Lion now called the Castle Hotel. It was first mentioned, as the White Lion, in Henry VIII’s time in the 16th century (1526, as ‘dispensing alcohol’) but it could go back further than that. In the ‘olden’ days, Inns took their names from the local Lords’ family crests and Bramber’s Lord after William the Conq was William de Braose (see my blog on Bramber Castle way back in April) and the crest of his son, Philip de Braose, (c 1096-1135) was a lion – but a gold one. The coat of arms of William de Mowbray (1173-1222) was a white lion and Bramber became part of the de Mowbray estate by marriage in 1298, when John de Mowbray married Aline de Braose. The two lions merged when de Mowbray became Duke of Norfolk in 1397, so the pub could date back to sometime then.
Walking back out of Bramber we passed this house with an amazing quirky garden. I love it!
We leave Bramber and walk up alongside the busy Clays Hill until we reach Bostal Road, which we follow up and this quickly becomes a long and very steep climb up.
At the point where Bostal Road meets Newham Lane we take a footpath that continues to climb steeply upwards.
We climb up and up with views down to Steyning and beyond.
At the top, we have a short break on a bench before taking the path on our left and following the Monarchs Way again.
Here were some lovely looking cattle, would love to know the breed.
We follow this along and now are walking on the path above New Hill Barn that we saw earlier. Here is a stone memorial to a deceased farmer.
We walk on and the way looks like it may stay level, but then we start to descend and can see another climb ahead.
We come to where the path forks at Stump Bottoms by No Mans Land. We walk on ahead on the left path. Hey we can say we've actually been in No Mans Land!! Ha ha.
The path now is very muddy and slippery, we make slow progress upwards.
We turn left onto another path that leads us to a car park at the foot of Cissbury Ring.
Now we start to climb back up Cissbury Ring and I meet the same friendly Pony I saw earlier who came over again for another stroke and was brushing himself up against me.
We follow along the path at a lower level than we were earlier in the day.
We now start the descent back down to the car.
Back at the car after a great but tiring walk, first hills in ages!
