1962 to 1972.
THE HISTORY OF WORTHING ARCHAEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY 1962 TO 1972
To start this decade, it was noted in the minutes of a meeting on the
16th January 1963 that Con Ainsworth had joined the Society and by
November 1963 he had been elected to the Committee. In January 1965 it was
reported at the meeting that the Research Committee of the Sussex
Archaeological Society wanted a representative of Worthing Archaeological
Society to serve on their Committee, and it was unanimously agreed that Con
should be that person.
In 1964 an investigation at Binsted commenced and ‘developed into a
full-scale research dig when the importance of the site became apparent’, also
it was the first Medieval kiln site to be excavated in West Sussex. Under the
direction of Con, work took place twice a week throughout the year. He found
two main structures, a semi-circular kiln for firing pots and a large
rectangular tile kiln, which was in a ‘unique state of preservation, the firing
chamber arches being largely intact and a portion of the oven wall still
surviving’. Huge amounts of pottery were recovered including fine Sussex Ware:
green-glazed and highly decorated jugs with face masks and annular brooch
design, and Coarse Wares. All the raw materials for pottery and tile making had
been available at the site. There is even a report of documentary evidence from
the Lay Subsidy Rolls suggesting that the operators of the kilns in 1332 may
have been Will Atte Potte and John le Tyghler, who were recorded as living in
the Hundred of Binsted.
By November 1966, magnetic reading gave an earlier date for the kilns
than the archaeological evidence suggested. By January 1968, the site was being
filled in.
In the autumn of 1968, Con was carrying out a limited excavation at
Tortington to determine the ‘nature of the magnetic anomalies’ detected in a
gradiometer survey which had been carried out in 1967. In Con’s report, which
was included in the Annual Report for 1968/1969, he suggested that the site
might possibly be a 14th century moated site. An area 30 feet by 30
feet had been stripped which was determined to be a possible kitchen area of a
larger building, the sources of the anomalies being two hearths and two ovens.
Not all excavations are reported in great details in the Minutes or the
Annual Reports. For example at a meeting in April 1969, the Minutes state that
Con reported on a 16th century well at Applesham Farm and pottery
from salt mounds. The Minutes for a meeting in April 1971 state that a Roman
cremation burial was found near the back door of the Marquis de Granby public
house in Sompting and the finds included two cremation urns and pottery all of
Samian Ware. At the same meeting he spoke of New Monks Farm in Lancing just
west of Shoreham aerodrome, where a large number of salt mounds and one of
Medieval occupation were found. The pottery included that of late Saxon and
early Medieval. And in 1971, excavations at a Roman temple in Pulborough
revealed finds of fragments of painted plaster. The coin and ceramic evidence
confirmed the date of the destruction of the site as late 4th
century. The destruction of the site was indicated by the masses of concrete
flooring dumped into pits and ditches, together with wall masonry of Pulborough
Stone and roofing tile.
Con not only directed excavations. His lectures for the Society
included one on Rescue Archaeology in March 1972, where he showed slides of
rescue work in towns and on motorways by various local archaeologists. ‘All
societies must be ready to do this important work’.
He was also a speaker at the one-day conference at Brighton College in
November 1970, but unfortunately the Minutes do not say what his subject was.
And finally, after having been a member of the Society for less that
ten years, Con was elected President for the year 1971/1972.
During the digging season of 1962, the Society did not undertake any
excavations. Worthing Museum however, carried out a rescue excavation at
Steyning with the help of some Society members, where a sequence of settlement
dating from the 12th century to the late 17th century was
uncovered. Members also helped again in 1963 by observing building sites and
various kinds of public works. These works included the laying of water mains
between the junctions of Farncombe Road and Selden Road, which exposed a series
of five ditches and a habitation area and produced finds of Roman pottery from
the 1st and 2nd centuries.
At Tarring recreation ground, one cable-laying site produced Medieval
pottery with a small scattering of Roman material mixed in.
A building site in Marlborough Road exposed a long layer of daub and
charcoal which had the appearance of being prehistoric, but unfortunately no
dateable material was found.
Members helped Worthing Museum again this year at Goring Methodist
Church where the complete foundations of a Medieval house and portions of two
others were excavated. Pottery proved to be 14the century. Other excavations
with the Museum were at Selden Woods, Steyning and the site of the old St
Paul’s Church.
This joint effort continued during 1964 at Offington Hall, Erringham
near Shoreham, where a Saxon weaving shed was found, and Wiggonholt near
Pulborough, which was the major undertaking, sponsored by the Ministry of Works
and Buildings. Widening of the A283 revealed evidence of settlement to the
north and south of the Roman bathhouse, which was excavated by Mr Winbolt in
1937 and 1939.
Dr Ratcliffe-Densham reported the finding of a previously unknown type of prehistoric
horse at Selsey during low tide, and also of a skeleton found in a Roman ditch
in Sompting, both in 1965.
Excavations during 1965, apart from the kiln site at Binsted under the
direction of Con Ainsworth, were at Maison Dieu in Arundel. This was another
rescue excavation before the construction of an access road for the Post
Office. Maison Dieu was built in 1396 and the dig uncovered three of the wings
of its quadrangle. In the north wing a glazed tile floor was uncovered at four
feet below the surface, and in the west wing, five window embrasures and a cellar
were uncovered. Finds included 13th, 14th and 15th
century pottery, three tokens and fragments of red glass.
Another investigation this year was at the junction of Chesswood Road
and Ladydell Road, where it was hoped that further traces of the Roman cemetery
which was uncovered in 1881 would be found. However all that was found was an
interesting field-drainage pattern.
There was much less activity in 1966, but during 1967 Worthing Museum
and the Society excavated at St Cuthman’s Field in Steyning, 200 yards south of
St Andrew’s Church. This field had remained an open space for a very long time
and according to tradition, St Cuthman laid a curse so that no one ever built
on it. Chanctonbury Rural District Council had proposed to level the field, so it
was decided to investigate whether the curse was true!
It would seem that his curse was not ongoing because evidence of
occupation between the 10th and 12th and the late 13th
and 16th centuries were uncovered! Finds included food debris
(cockles, mussels and animal bones etc), local and imported pottery, a pair of
bronze tweezers. A coin of Edgar (959-975AD), horseshoe nails and a fine late
West Sussex Ware jug overlain by imported Flemish stoneware, and also evidence
of a possible trackway, post holes, evidence of a house and a chalk trodden
floor which also contained pieces of Roman roof tile and fragments of
Romano-British pottery which suggest a Roman building not far away.
Five burials and two cremations were excavated during 1968 at the lower
end of Steep Bottom on Worthing Golf Links. Unfortunately a mechanical digger
severely damaged the following: 2 Samian cups of form 27 probably East Gaulish,
1 Samian cup of form 33 probably East Gaulish, 1 Samian cup of form 43 probably
East Gaulish, a Samian dish form 18/31 stamped PATER Lezoux Hadrian, a
‘poppyhead’ beaker, a locally made platter, 2 dark grey locally made small
bowls, fragments of a pink flagon from the end of the 1st century.
In 1961 a 75 feet deep well had suddenly appeared in a field near
Findon, in the middle of a possible Roman site. A report was submitted by Dr
Ratcliffe-Densham in the 1964/65 Annual Report
stating that the excavation depth was 155 feet with no sign of the
bottom! Finds included Samian forms Curle 15 and Dragendorff 36, 2 potters
stamps not yet identified, a vessel of a shape ‘hitherto apparently unrecorded,
several coins of the 3rd and 4th centuries, yellow wall
plaster and part of a glass bottle. The BBC made a short broadcast from the
bottom of the well that year.
The site is not mentioned again until the 1969/70 Annual Report when it
was noted that the current depth was 225 feet! Pottery sherds were dated to the
2nd, 4th or 5th centuries and oats, spelt (a
kind of wheat) and barley were found amongst charred corn.
The following year a section near the top of the well disclosed some of
the spoil heap from the original excavation. Below this was an old, buried land
surface containing pottery sherds from the Iron Age and the Roman period, but
none appeared to be earlier than the 1st century (AD). It was
concluded therefore, that the well was dug during or shortly after the 1st
century and filled in during the fourth. The Annual Report also stated that air
photographs revealed a large, rectangular enclosure and probable buildings on
the slope to the west of the well.
Although this excavation was published in our Annual Reports, it would
appear that work was actually undertaken by Worthing Museum and the Chelsea
Speleological Society.
There were no major excavations during 1969, although building works
were observed. However, the skeletons of a Roman farmer and his wife were found
on Harrow Hill. ‘Fine excavations by Mr John Fryer disclosed that the old man
had been buried with his boots on’!
1970 and 1971 were quiet years with just the odd find reported.
Discussions took place at a meeting in January 1965 as to whether the
Society should purchase a Proton Gradiometer. It would be a joint purchase with
four archaeological bodies in West Sussex ‘heavily engaged in field work’.
These bodies were this Society, the Worthing Correspondents Corp, the
Chichester Excavations Society and the Chichester Museum. The instruments use
is noted in the 1964/65 Annual Report: “Survey by Proton Gradiometer
(‘Bleeper’) – An intensive field survey of a number of sites using this
instrument left no doubt as to its invaluable role in modern scientific
archaeology”.
If the four societies supplied #50.00 each, the Carnegie United Trust
might donate #100.00. It was agreed at this meeting that an application be made
through the Council for British Archaeology be made. The application for a
grant was made, but was unfortunately refused.
At this time, the Chichester Excavations Society were putting in an
application for research work and they suggested re-applying for a grant, and
emphasizing the number of student archaeologists and interested amateurs likely
to be receiving training.
Subsequently the Trust advised the Society that they were considering
the request, but by October, nothing had been heard from them. It was believed
though, that the Lincoln Museum was willing to loan out their gradiometer.
The Annual Report for 1966 states that the Society had used a
gradiometer with mixed success, therefore one can assume that this was a loan.
And also, at a meeting in January 1968 it was suggested that an instrument much
more sensitive than a Proton Gradiometer was being developed, be purchased. How
quickly progress moves on. It was agreed to consider the matter, but there is
no further mention of either the gradiometer or the new instrument during the
remainder of the decade.
A letter was received in January 1966 from the Hon Secretary of the
Sussex Archaeological Trust with regard to the sale of 4 Parsonage Row in
Tarring. Originally, a letter from Mr HW Wilkins Estate Agents stating that the
owner of the property would be prepared to sell it to the Local Authority, was
sent to the Town Clerk of Worthing who subsequently sent it to the Sussex
Archaeological Trust. But the Council for the Trust had decided they were
unable to undertake the purchase; they did however decide to inform this
Society, the Worthing Corporation and the Royal Society of Arts (Confused? I
am!), advising that if one of the societies felt able to acquire and preserve the
building, the Trust would consider making a contribution towards the cost. The
Society however did not have funds available for such a purchase, but felt that
something should be done locally.
A letter was therefore sent to the Management Committee of Tarring
Cottages, but they could not afford to purchase the cottage either, due to the
responsibility they already had with numbers 6 to 8 and 10. The matter was
closed at a meeting in November 1966 when the Society decided not to proceed
any further.
A new archaeological magazine went into circulation for the first time
in March 1967: Current Archaeology. And in September 1970, the first ever
Sussex Archaeological Society Newsletter was published.
In 1969 the Council for British Archaeology produced a draft of the
Antiquities Bill. This Bill would ensure the reporting and protection of
archaeological finds. The Draft Bill had been discussed by various national
archaeological societies and the Museum Association. It was unanimous that the
Society support the Bill.
A ninth draft was in preparation in November 1969, due to the
objections centered on the alleged danger of discouraging amateur Archaeology.
The Legislation Sub-committee was due to hold a meeting and further discussions
were to be sought with the national societies.
With decimalization approaching the Society had to discuss the amount
for subscriptions to be set at. After much discussion it was decided that as of
1st April 1971, the subscription would change from 7/6 to 40 New
Pence.
A letter from a member was received in the autumn of 1965 complaining
that the subjects of the lectures were ‘too wide a variety’, and suggesting
that more time be devoted top local archaeology. The lectures for 1964/65 were:
the Archaeology of Africa, the Palace of Nonsuch, Small Shops through the Ages,
a Tour of Malta and Italy, the Amateur in British Field Archaeology, and
Knossos. The programme of lectures the following year was: Excavations at
Chilgrove Roman Villa, Fishbourne Roman Villa, the Romans in Spain, the Seal
use of Ancient Crete, and the Lickfold Excavations.
A further letter was then received from another member who thought
there was an ‘over-emphasis’ on Roman subjects! The Society wrote this member a
letter stating they had been asked to include more local archaeology, but that
it so happened that current excavations were all Roman! The audience at the AGM
in March 1966 approved of the arrangement being continued.
Whilst on the subjects of letters, it was noted at a meeting in
February 1967 that Mrs Pull had written to the Society ‘thanking the Committee
for their kind remembrance of Mr Pull each year.
In the August 2001 issue of British Archaeology, there is a very
interesting article on Nonsuch Palace which had been excavated by Martin Biddle
in 1959. The same Mr Biddle of Exeter University gave a ‘fascinating account’
of his excavations in November 1964.
There was again a good selection of subjects for the lectures during
this decade, which included topics close to home and far away, and concerning
different periods in time, so I believe that the two members who wrote to the
Society must have been satisfied! One unusually titled lecture was ‘Jack and
Jill’. This was given in January 1972 by Dr Ratcliffe-Densham, not on the
subject of a nursery rhyme, but on the two skeletons, male and female,
discovered by him during excavations at Harrow Hill.
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