Ancient monuments and sites of specific scientific interest

Hollingbury Camp, Date not known: North-east corner of Hollingbury Camp. This is an Iron Age hill fort dating from the sixth century to about the middle of the second century BCE. It is a scheduled ancient monument, covering about 9 acres in a rough square about 600 feet across, with gateways to east and west through ramparts that can still be seen. The camp was excavated in 1908 by Herbert S. Toms, a Curator at Brighton Museum, by Cecil Curwen and Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society in 1931, and by John Holmes in 1967. The sites of wooden huts have been discovered.
Image reproduced with kind permission from Brighton and Hove in Pictures by Brighton and Hove City Council
Hill Fort at Hollingbury Camp, 1954. An aerial view of Hollingbury Camp, showing features of the Iron Age hill fort and of the surrounding landscape. Dating from the sixth century to about the middle of the second century BCE, it is a scheduled ancient monument, covering about 9 acres in a rough square about 600 feet across, with gateways to east and west through ramparts that can still be seen. The camp was excavated in 1908 by Herbert S. Toms, a Curator at Brighton Museum, by Cecil Curwen and Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society in 1931, and by John Holmes in 1967. The sites of some wooden huts have been discovered within the fort.
Image reproduced with kind permission from Brighton and Hove in Pictures by Brighton and Hove City Council
Patcham Dovecote, 1922: The Dovecote stands in the garden of Patcham Court Farmhouse. It is circular with walls three feet thick and a dormer window. There are three nesting boxes, reached by the original "potence", or swinging ladder. Dating from the seventeenth century or earlier, it is a scheduled ancient monument.
Image reproduced with kind permission from Brighton and Hove in Pictures by Brighton and Hove City Council

Please note that this text is an extract from a reference work written in 1990.  As a result, some of the content may not reflect recent research, changes and events.

There are nine scheduled ancient monuments within the borough, protected against damage by statute. They are:

i) Beacon Hill long barrow, Rottingdean
ii) Castle Hill earthworks, Balsdean
iii) Eastwick earthworks and lynchets, Patcham
iv) Ewe Bottom entrenchment, Patcham
v) Hollingbury Castle Camp
vi) Patcham Court Farm dovecote, Church Hill,
(which is also a listed building)
vii) Pudding Bag Wood round barrow, Stanmer
viii) Tegdown Hill tumuli, Patcham
ix) Whitehawk Hill Camp

Only the Beacon Hill, Hollingbury and Whitehawk Hill sites have public access. It will be noted that eight of the nine are archaeological sites, the other being Patcham Court Farm dovecote.

Brighton also has three sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs):

i) Castle Hill, Balsdean (also a National Nature Reserve)
ii) Cliffs from Saltdean to Newhaven
(most important exposures of the offaster pilula zone in Britain);
iii) Black Rock Cliffs

Any numerical cross-references in the text above refer to resources in the Sources and Bibliography section of the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder.

The following resource(s) is quoted as a general source for the information above:
{44,70a,277,306}

No Comments

Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this page!

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.