WEST SUSSEX.INFO - Key Persons
Moving away from Chichester to the east, East Dean is the third of the three villages of the Upper Lavant Valley after Singleton and Charlton.
And just as Charlton is slightly quieter than Singleton, so East Dean is a little sleepier than Charlton.
In winter East Dean almost feels remote - the road eastwards to Droke, the home of Mountain Boarding in Sussex, is muddy and pot-holed and it seems a long way to the A283 - the Chichester to Petworth road.
Never fear, however, East Dean has a really good pub - albeit a smart one - in the Star and Garter (aka for a time as the Hurdlemakers).
All Saints Church, East Dean is a Norman church with a resolute looking crenellated square tower, set on the lower slopes of Green Hill.
Fishbourne Roman Palace is probably the best preserved, best presented and largest Roman Palace in Britain. Even though a large part of the original Palace and its estate is buried under the village of Fishbourne and may be lost forever, it's clear that this was a substantial seat of power and the wealth. It is likely that Togidubnus and his successors lived here.
In Roman times the Birdham Channel of Chichester Harbour would have been navigable right up to Fishbourne Creek and so the Palace was well sited to control all the important international traffic within this small corner of the Roman Empire.
Bignor Roman Villa is another fine Roman building, discovered like so many great archaeological sites by accident. It is now a fine museum, although on a smaller scale than Fishbourne. Bignor is really a farmstead.
But there are plenty of other traces of the Romans in Sussex besides these two great Roman buildings.
There are the remains of Roman villas at Angmering, Arundel, Southwick, West Blatchington, Chilgrove and UpMarden. Many other traces of Roman buildings, plus other artefacts have been excavated or noted too.
Kingley Vale is a special, spooky and spectacular hillside to the north west of Chichester.
The highlight of Kingley Vale is the yew woodland which covers much of its southern slopes. A small number of the trees are very old indeed - probably over 500 years old. Before man and sheep started to have an impact on the landscape of the South Downs, yew forests were relatively common. Now they are rare.
The age and history of the yew trees at Kingley Vale was researched extensively by ecologist Sir Arthur Tansley, who lobbied hard for years for something to be done for the protection of this special habitat. His lobbying paid off when, in 1952, Kingley Vale was named as one of the first National Nature Reserves in the country.
Sir Arthur's contribution to the preservation of the environment at Kingley Vale is marked by a chunky memorial stone near the top of Bow Hill.
There are all sorts of stories of strange comings and goings on Kingley Vale, with marching legions of Romans Soldiers and so on. Other stories tell of the defeat of a band of Vikings whose warlike spirits still maraud in the woodland.
Job Titles:
- West Dean College / West Dean Village
Although it is likely that the Regnenses already had some sort of settlement at Chichester, the Romans first beefed up the defences of the town and later set about expanding Chichester's facilities. They called their town Noviomagus Reginorum.
Unlike many architectural sites, it's very hard to be sure about the layout of Roman Chichester because the Norman, Medieval, Georgian and modern cities have successively been built on top of the Roman town. The best Roman buildings to have been identified so far were sited around the area immediately north of Chichester's Market Cross.
There were Roman baths near West Street, buildings which were probably barracks in Chapel Street and in all likelihood a basilica under the site of Chichester Cathedral. There was also an amphitheatre which was excavated and then built over. This is located partly underneath and partly near the Market car park towards Whyke.
One part of Roman Chichester than can easily be seen is The Cogidubnus Stone recording the erection of a temple to Minerva by the Guild of Smiths. This was excavated in 1723 and is now sited on the outside of the Assembly Rooms in North Street, Chichester.