M.

A^

GENEALOGY COLLECTION

3 1833 00728 7557

A HISTORY OF

SUSSEX

Zbc IDtctotfa Ibistot^ of tbe Counties of lEnQlanb

EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A.

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

VOLUME I

THE

VICTORIA HISTORY

OF THE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND

SUSSEX

LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE

AND COMPANY LIMITED

This History is issued to Subscribers only By Archibald Constable isf Company Limited and printed by Butler & Tanner of Frame and London

INSCRIBED

TO THE MEMORY OF

HER LATE MAJESTY

QUEEN VICTORIA

WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE

THE TITLE TO AND

ACCEPTED THE

DEDICATION OF

THIS HISTORY

THE ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE VICTORIA HISTORY

His Grace The Lord Arch- bishop OF Canterbury

His Grace The Duke of Bedford, K.G.

President of the Zoological Society

His Grace The Duke of Devon- shire, K.G.

Cbancellor of the University of Cambridge

His Grace The Duke of

Rutland, K.G. His Grace The Duke of

Portland, K.G. His Grace The Duke of

Argyll, K.T. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of

Rosebery, K.G., K.T. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of

Coventry

President of the Royal Agricultural Society

The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Dillon

Late President of the Society of Anli-

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Lister

Late President of the Royal Society

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Alverstone, G.C.M.G.

Lord Chief Justice

The Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P.

Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D., F.S.A., etc.

Sir John Evans, K.C.B., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., etc.

Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, K.C.B.,D.C.L.,LL.D.,F.S.A.,

etc. Director of the British Museum

Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., F.S.A.

President of the Royal Geographical Society

Sir Henry C. Maxwell-Lyte, K.C.B., M.A., F.S.A., etc.

Keeper of the Public Records

CoL. Sir J. Farquharson, K.C.B.

Sir Jos. Hooker, G.C.S.L, M.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., etc.

Sir Archibald Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S., etc.

Rev. J. Charles Cox, LL.D., F.S.A., etc.

Lionel Cust, M.V.O., M.A.,

F.S.A., ETC.

Director of the National Portrait Gallery

Charles H. Firth, M.A., LL.D.

Regius Professor of Modern History,

Albert C. L. G. Gunther, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Ph.D.

Late President of the Lmnean Society

F. Haverfield, M.A., LL.D.,

F.S.A. Col. Duncan A. Johnston, C.B.,

R.E.

L^te Director General of the Ordnance

Prof. E. Ray Lankester, M.A., F.R.S., etc.

Director of the Natural History Museum, South Kensington

Reginald L. Poole, M.A.

University Lecturer in Diplomatic, Oxford

J. Horace Round, M.A., LL.D.

Walter Rye.

W.H.St. John Hope, M.A.

Assistant Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries

Among the original members of

the Council were The late Marquess of Salisbury The late Dr. Mandell Creigh-

TON, Bishop of London The late Dr. Stubbs, Bishop of

Oxford The Late Lord Acton The Late Sir William Flower The Late Professor F. York

Powell

General Editor : William Page, F.S.A.

GENERAL ADVERTISEMENT

The Victoria History of the Counties of England is a National Historic Survey which, under the direction of a large staff comprising the foremost students in science, history, and archaeology, is designed to record the history of every county of England in detail. This w^ork was, by gracious permission, dedicated to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, who gave it her own name. It is the endeavour of all who are associated with the undertaking to make it a worthy and permanent monument to her memory.

Rich as every county of England is in materials for local history, there has hitherto been no attempt made to bring all these materials together into a coherent form.

Although from the seventeenth century down to quite recent times numerous county histories have been issued, they are very unequal in merit ; the best of them are very rare and costly; most of them are imperfect, and many are now out of date. Moreover they were the work of one or two isolated scholars, who, however scholarly, could not possibly deal adequately with all the varied subjects which go to the making of a county history.

I vii b

In the Victoria History each county is not the labour of one or two men, but of many, for the work is treated scientifically, and in order to embody in it all that modern scholarship can contribute, a system of co-operation between experts and local students is applied, whereby the history acquires a completeness and definite authority hitherto lacking in similar undertakings.

The names of the distinguished men who have joined the Advisory Council are a guarantee that the work represents the results of the latest discoveries in every department of research, for the trend of modern thought insists upon the intelligent study of the past and of the social, institutional and political developments of national life. As these histories are the first in which this object has been kept in view, and modern principles applied, it is hoped that they will iform a work of reference no less indispensable to the student than welcome to the man of culture.

THE SCOPE OF THE WORK

The history of each county is complete in itself, and in each case its story is told from the earliest times, commencing with the natural features and the flora and fauna. Thereafter follow the antiquities, pre-Roman, Roman and post-Roman ; ancient earthworks ; a new translation and critical study of the Domesday Survey ; articles on political, ecclesiastical, social and economic history ; architecture, arts, industries, sport, etc. ; and topography. The greater part of each history is devoted to a detailed description and history of each parish, containing an account of the land and its owners from the Conquest to the present day. These manorial histories are compiled from original documents in the national collections and from private papers. A special feature is the wealth of illustrations afforded, for not only are buildings of interest pictured, but the coats of arms of past and present landowners are given.

HISTORICAL RESEARCH

It has always been, and still is, a reproach that England, with a collection of public records greatly exceeding in extent and interest those of any other country in Europe, is yet far behind her neighbours in the study of the genesis and growth of her national and local institutions. Few Englishmen are probably aware that the national and local archives contain for a period of 800 years in an almost unbroken chain of evidence, not only the political, ecclesiastical, and constitutional history of the kingdom, but every detail of its financial and social progress and the history of the land and its successive owners from generation to generation. The neglect of our public and local records is no doubt largely due to the fact that their interest and value is known to but a small number of people, and this again is directly attributable to the absence in this country of any endowment for historical research. The government of this country has too often left to private enterprise work which our con- tinental neighbours entrust to a government department. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that although an immense amount of work has been done by individual effort, the entire absence of organization among the workers and the lack of intelligent direction has hitherto robbed the results of much of their value.

In the Victoria History, for the first time, a serious attempt is made to utilize our national and local muniments to the best advantage by carefully organizing and supervising the researches required. Under the direction of the Records Committee a large staff of experts has been engaged at the Public Record Office in calendaring those classes of records which are fruitful in material for local history, and by a system of interchange of communication among workers under the direct supervision of the general editor and sub-editors a mass of information is sorted and assigned to its correct place, which would otherwise be impossible.

THE RECORDS COMMITTEE

Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, K.C.B. C. T. Martin, B.A., F.S.A.

Sir Henry Maxwell-Lyte, K.C.B. J. Horace Round, M.A., LL.D.

W. J. Hardy, F.S.A. S. R. Scargill-Bird, F.S.A.

F. Madan, M.A. W. H. Stevenson, M.A.

F. Maitland, M.A., F.S.A. G. F. Warner, M.A., F.S.A.

FAMILY HISTORY

Family History is, both in the Histories and in the supplemental)- genealogical volumes of chart Pedigrees, dealt with by genealogical experts and in the modern spirit. Every effort is made to secure accuracy of statement, and to avoid the insertion of those legendary pedigrees which have in the past brought discredit on the subject. It has been pointed out by the late Bishop of Oxford, a great master of historical research, that ' the expansion and extension of genealogical study is a very remarkable feature of our own times,' that ' it is an increasing pursuit both in America and in England,' and that it can render the historian most useful service.

CARTOGRAPHY

In addition to a general map in several sections, each History contains Geological, Orographical, Botanical, Archasological, and Domesday maps ; also maps illustrating the articles on Ecclesiastical and Political Histories and the sections dealing with Topography. The Series contains many hundreds of maps in all.

ARCHITECTURE

A special feature in connexion with the Architecture is a series of ground plans, many of them coloured, showing the architectural history of castles, cathedrals, abbeys, and other monastic foundations.

In order to secure the greatest possible accuracy, the descriptions of the Architecture, ecclesiastical, military, and domestic are under the supervision of Mr. C. R. Peers, M.A., F.S.A., and a committee has been formed of the following students of architectural history who are referred to as may be required concerning this department of the work : —

ARCHITECTURAL COMMITTEE

J. BiLsoN, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. W. H. St. John Hope, M.A.

R. Blomfield, M.A., F.S.A., A.R.A. W. H. Knowles, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.

Harold Brakspear, F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. J. T. Micklethwaite, F.S.A.

Prof. Baldwin Brown, M.A. Roland Paul, F.S.A.

Arthur S. Flower, F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. J. Horace Round, M.A., LL.D.

George E. Fox, M.A., F.S.A. Percy G. Stone, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.

J. A. Gotch, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. Thackeray Turner

GENEALOGICAL VOLUMES

The genealogical volumes contain the family history and detailed genealogies of such \ houses as had at the end of the nineteenth century seats and landed estates, having enjoyed [ the like in the male line since 1760, the first year of George III., together with an intro- i ductory section dealing with other principal families in each county. /

The general plan of Contents and the names among others of those who are contributing articles and giving assistance are as follows : —

Natural History.

Geology. Clement Reid, F.R.S., Horace B. Woodward, F.R.S., and others Paleontology. R. L. Lydekker, F.R.S., etc.

(Contributions by G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., H. N. Dixon, F.L.S., G. C. Druce, M.A., F.L.S., Walter Garstang, M.A., F.L.S., Herbert Goss, F.L.S., F.E.S., R. I. Pocock, Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, M.A., F.R.S.,etc., B. B. Woodward, F.G.S.,F.R.M.S., etc., and other Specialists Prehistoric Remains. Sir John Evans K.C.B., D.C.L., LL.D., W. Boyd Dawkins, D.Sc., LL.D.,

F.R.S., F.S.A., Geo. Clinch, F.G.S., John Garstang, M.A., B.Litt., and others Roman Remains. F. Haverfield, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A.

Anglo-Saxon Remains. C. Hercules Read, F.S.A. , Reginald A. Smith, B.A., F.S.A., and others Domesday Book and other kindred Records. J. Horace Round, M.A., LL.D., and other Specialists Architecture. C. R. Peers, M.A., F.S.A., W. H. St. John Hope, M.A., and Harold Brakspear,

F.S.A., A.R.LB.A. Ecclesiastical History. R. L. Poole, M.A., and others Political History. Prof. C. H. Firth, M.A., LL.D., W. H. Stevenson, M.A., J. Horace Round,

M.A., LL.D., Prof. T. F. Tout, M.A., Prof. James Tait, M.A.,and A. F Pollard

History of Schools. A. F. Leach, M.A., F.S.A.

Maritime History of Coast Counties. Prof. J. K. Laughton, M.A., M. Oppenhlim, and others

Topographical Accounts of Parishes and Manors. By Various Authorities

History of the Feudal Baronage. J. Horace Round, M.A., LL.D., and Oswald Barron, F.S.A.

Agriculture. Sir Ernest Clarke, M.A., Sec. to the Royal Agricultural Society, and others

Forestry. John Nisbet, D.Oec, and others

Industries, Arts and Manufactures 1 n tt- • » i

„ . , J „ • TT- r By Various Authorities

Social and Economic History J '

Ancient and Modern Sport. E. D. Cuming and others.

Hunting "j

Shooting V By Various Authorities

Fishing, etc.j

Cricket. Home Gordon

Football. C. W. Alcock

'^W-

^1

51

V!

rVlVLD BY WILIJAK PAGE, F.S.A.

HAY^

1905

VICTOI

EDITED

I

JA,

THE

VICTORIA HISTORY

OF THE COUNTY OF

SUSSEX

EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A.

VOLUME ONE

JAMES STREET HAYMARKET

1905

1^67014 County Committee for Sueaey

THE MOST HON. THE MARQUESS OF ABERGAVENNY, K.G.

Lord Lieutenant, Chairman

His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, K.G.,

G.C.V.O. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of March The Rt. Hon. The Earl De La Warr The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Gage The Rt. Hon. The Lord Leconfield The Rt. Hon. The Lord Monk Bretton, C.B. The Rt. Hon. The Lord Brassey, K.C.B. The Hon. T. A. Brassey The Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher,

Bart., C.B. The Hon. A. G. Brand, M.P. Sir Weetman W. Pearson, Bart; Sir Richard Farrant VV. C. Alexander, Esq., J. P. Col. a. M. Brookfield William H. Campion, Esq., C.B. W. L. Christie, Esq., D.L., J.P. William V. Crake, Esq. Robert Payne Crawfurd, Esq. W. Galsworthy Davie, Esq. Charles Aug. Egerton, Esq., D.L., J.P. Charles J. Fletcher, Esq., D.L., J.P. Col. Edward Frewen, D.L., J.P. J. Anderton Greenwood, Esq.

Lindsay Hogg, Esq., M.P. James Fitzalan Hope, Esq., M.P. Edward Huth, Esq., M.D., D.L., J.P. William D. James, Esq., D.L., J.P. Gerald E. Loder, Esq., D.L., J.P. C. J. Lucas, Esq. Major T. Astley Maberly Hugh Penfold, Esq., M.A. Walter C. Rensh.aw, Esq., LL.M., K.C J. Hall Renton, Esq. J. Compton Rickett, Esq., M.P. Herbert A. Rigg, Esq., M.A., F.S.A. J. Horace Round, Esq., M.A., LL.D., Hon. Member of the Sussex Archaeological Society LiEUT.-CoL. Dudley Sampson, D.L., J.P. F. H. Scorr, Esq., D.L., J.P. Frederick S. Shenstone, Esq., D.L., J.P. R. Denny Urlin, Esq., F.L.S. R. G. Wilberforce, Esq., D.L., J.P. The Worshipful The Mayor of Arundel The Worshipful The Mayor of Brighton The Worshipful the Mayor of Chichester The Worshipful The Mayor of Eastbourne The Worshipful The Mayor of Hastings The Worshipful The Mayor of Hove

CONTENTS OF VOLUME ONE

Dedication

The Advisory Council of the Victoria History General Advertisement . . . .

The Sussex County Committee .

Braconids

Chiysididae Hymenoptera Aculeata {Ants.

and Bees) Coleoptera {Beetles)

By the Rev. Edwin Bloomfield, M.A., F.L.S., i

Wasp

List of Illustrations .............

Preface

Table of Abbreviations ............

Natural History

Geology By Clement Reid, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.

Palaeontology By R. Lydekker, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S. .

Botany ...... By the Rev. Frederick H. Arnold, M.A., LL.D,

Brambles By the Rev. W. Moyle Rogers

Marine Zoology .... By the late Philip J. Rijfford, F.G.S.

Non-Marine MoUuscs . . . By B. B. Woodward, F.G.S., F.R.M.S. .

Insects ...... Edited by Herbert Goss, F.L.S., late Secretary to the

Entomological Society. Orthoptera {Earwigs, Grasshoppers,

Crickets, etc.) .... By Malcolm Burr, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S., with Notes

by William J. Lucas, B.A., F.E.S. . Neuroptera {Dragonfiies, Lacewings,

etc.) By William J. Lucas, B.A., F.E.S., with Notes by

the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield, M.A., F.L.S. Hymenoptera Phytophaga, Tenthre- dinids {Sawflies) . Cynipidae {Gallflies) . 'Eatoxaoph.agz {Ichneumon Flics) , By Claud Morley, F.E.S. . . . . .124

By the Rev. Edwin N. Bloomfield, M.A., F.L.S., etc. 129

129

By Edward Saunders, F.R.S., F.L.S. . . .130 By the Rev. Canon Fowler, M.A., D.Sc, F.L.S. . 136 Lepidoptera Rhopalocera {Butterflies) By Herbert Goss, F.L.S., with Notes by William H.

B. Fletcher, M.A., F.Z.S., etc. . . .164

CONTENTS OF VOLUME ONE

Natural History {continued) Insects {continued) Lepidoptera Heterocera {Moths)

Diptera {Flies)

Hemiptera Heteroptera {Bugs) Hemiptera Homoptera

Spiders

Crustaceans

Fishes

Reptiles and Batrachians

Birds

Mammals Early Man

Anglo-Saxon Remains . Introduction to the Sussex Domesday

Translation of the Sussex Domesday Ancient Earthworks Political History .... Index to the Sussex Domesday .

By William H. B. Fletcher, M.A., F.Z.S., with Notes by Herbert Goss, F.I .S., James Herbert A. Jenner, F.E.S., and A. C. Vine .

By James Herbert A. Jenner, F.E.S., with Notes by the Rev. Edwin N. Bloomfield, M.A., F.L.S

By Edward A. Butler, B.A., B.Sc, F.E.S.

By Edward A. Butler, B.A., B.Sc, F.E.S., and the Rev. Edwin N. Bloomfield, M.A., F.L.S.

By the late F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, M.A. .

By the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, M.A., F.R.S., F.Z.S,

By Charles E. Walker, F.L.S. .

By W. C. J. RusKiN Butterfield .

By John Guille Millais, F.Z.S. .

By W. C. J. RusKiN Butterfield .

By George Clinch, F.G.S. .

By Reginald A. Smith, B.A., F.S.A.

By J. Horace Round, M.A., LL.D., and MANN, B.A. ....

By L. F. Salzmann, B.A.

By George Clinch, F.G.S. .

By L. F. Salzmann, B.A.

L. F. Salz

210

226

23+ 238 24s 267 271

299 309

333

351 387 453 481

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The Weald of Sussex. By William Hyde frontispiece

Diagram Section to show the Relation of the Erratic Blocks to the Floor of Bracklesham Beds 20

Glacially Stiiated Erratic from Medmerry, near Selsey . "j

Contour Map of a Portion of the South Downs between |-. . . full-fage plate facing 20

the Valley of the Adur and the Devil's Dyke . J

Section of the Chff and Foreshores at Selsey Bill 21

Palaeolithic Flakes from Wiggonholt and Greatham "4 , , ■

[- . . . juii-page plate facing 310 Paljeolithic Implements from Coates and Fittleworth J

Palaeolithic Implements from the Broadwater District, Midhurst, "1

Appledram and Coates J * " » » 3

Plan of Flint Mines at Cissbury HiU 315

Flint Knife from Southbourne, near Eastbourne . . "j

Object made of Antler of Red Deer from Bulverhythe V . . . full-page plate facing 318

Amber Cup from Hove . . . . . . j

Objects of the Bronze Age found at Hollingbury Hill, Brighton . . . . . .319

Late Celtic Harness Ring from Alfriston .......... 322

Late Celtic Urn from Elm Grove, Brighton . "j

Fragments of Gold from the Mountfield Find j- . . . . full-page plate facing 322

Three Cinerary Urns from Seaford . . J

Pottery found at Mount Caburn ........... 323

The Wilmington Giant ............ 325

Lavant Caves . . full-page plate facing 32C'

Bronze Socketed Object from the Marina, St. Leonards-on-Sea -i

Bronze Palstave from St. Leonards-on-Sea . . . '- . . full-page plate facing 330

Bronze Spear-head from Meads, Eastbourne . . .J

Iron ' Angon,' High Down Cemetery ........... 3x1

Pottery Vase, High Down Cemetery ........... 342

Bronze Head of Faun, High Down ........... 344

Ring-Brooch, High Down Cemetery ........... 344

Anglo-Saxon Antiquities from Sussex coloured plate facing 344

Casket of Cast Lead from WiUingdon full-page plate facing 348

Ancient Earthworks

Beltout Camp, Beachy Head 456

Seaford Camp .............. 457

White Hawk Camp ............. 458

Hollingbury Castle ............. 458

Mount Caburn .............. 459

Ranscombe Castle .............. 460

Ditchling Beacon 461

The Devil's Dyke 462

Chanctonbury Ring ............. 463

Cissbury Camp 465

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

I'ACE

Ancient Earthworks (continued)

The Trundle 4^6

Harrow Hill, or Mount Harry 4^7

High Down Camp 4^7

Burpham Camp 4^8

East Hill, Hastings 4^9

Hardham Camp 47^

Chichester 47^

Pevensey Castle 47^

Knepp Castle 472

Park Mount, Pulborough 473

Arundel Castle 473

Chichester Castle -• • • 474

Bramber Castle 474

Lewes Castle 475

Edburton 47^

Hastings Castle 47^

Plan of the Battle of Hastings f^^^-P'^S^ P^^^e facing 486

Bayeux Tapestry t'^"' full-page plates facing 488

Plan of the Battle of Lewes full-page plate facing 496

Landing of the French at Brighton in 154s full-page plate facing $!»

LIST OF MAPS

Geological Map *''''^^^« ^^^

Orographical Map " ' '

Botanical Map " 4°. 4^

Pre-Historical Map " ^oS, 3^9

Anglo-Saxon Map " ^^^' "^

Domesday Map " 386, 387

Ancient Earthworks Map .,452-453

PREFACE

ONE of the first to make collections for the history of Sussex was Sir William Burrell, LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A., an eminent lawyer who visited many of the parishes, collected drawings of the objects of interest, and spent a considerable amount of time on the genealogy of the county families. He however never printed the result of his labours, and at his death in 1796 he bequeathed the whole of his valuable collections to the British Museum, where they now lie among the Additional MSS. These collections have been very considerably used by subsequent historians of the county, and particu- larly, perhaps, by Rev. James Dallaway, M.A., who compiled from this source, at the expense of the Duke of Norfolk, T'he History of the T'hree Western Rapes of Sussex. The first volume of this history, comprising the account of the rape and city of Chichester, was published in 18 15, and the first part of the second volume, containing the rape of Arundel, in 1 8 19. The rape of Bramber, forming the second part of the second volume, was undertaken at Dallaway's request by Rev. Edmund Cart- wright, but was not published till 1830. Dallaway's history is a useful book, but it cannot be considered reliable according to the modern standard of historical research.

The next historian of the county was Rev. Thomas Walker Horsfield, F.S.A., a Presbyterian minister who, In 1835, published in two volumes 'The History and Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex. The first volume, dealing with East Sussex, in which he was assisted by William Durrant Cooper, is of greater value than the second, which relies almost entirely upon Dallaway.

Mark Anthony Lower, a schoolmaster at Lewes, issued in 1 870 A Compendious History of Sussex : Topographical, Archcsological and Anecdotal, which contains an index to the first twenty volumes of the Sussex Archaological Collections, and is a valuable book of reference to all those concerned with the history of this county.

The Editor wishes to express his indebtedness to Dr. J. Horace Round for much help and many kind suggestions while passing this volume through the press. He also has to thank the Society of Antiquaries, the Geological Society, the Archsological Institute and the Sussex Arch^ological Society for the use of blocks for illustrations, and the authorities of the Brighton Museum for their courtesy in permitting various objects in their custody to be photographed.

TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS

Abbrev. Plac. (R(

Com.) Acts of P.C. Add. . , Add. Chart Admir. . Agarde . Anct. Cone Anct. D. (P.R

A 2420 Ann. Mon. Antiq. . App. . Arch. . Arch. Cant Archd. Rec Archit. Assize R Aud. Off. Aug. Off Ayloffe

Bed.

Beds

Berks

Bdle.

B.M.

Bodl. Lib.

Boro.

Brev. Reg

Brit.

Buck.

Bucks

Cal. . Camb.

Cambr.

Campb. Ch,

Cant

Cap.

Carl.

Cart. Antiq.

C.C.C. Camb.

Certiorari Bdles.

(Rolls Chap.) Chan. Enr. Decree

R. Chan. Proc. . . Chant. Cert. . .

Chap. Ho. . . . Charity Inq. Chart. R. 20 Hen. HI. pt. i. No. 10

Abbreviatio Placitorum (Re- Chartul. . . . Chartulary

cord Commission) Chas Charles

Acts of Privy Council Ches Cheshire

Additional Chest Chester

Additional Charters Ch. Gds. (Exch. Church Goods (Exchequer

Admiralty K.R.) King's Remembrancer)

Agarde's Indices Chich Chichester

Ancient Correspondence Chron Chronicle, Chronica, etc.

Ancient Deeds (Public Re- Close .... Close Roll

cord Office) A 2420 Co County

Annales Monastici Colch Colchester

Antiquarian or Antiquaries Coll Collections

Appendix Com Commission

Archffiologia or Archaeological Com. Pleas . . . Common Ple.as

Archsologia Cantiana Conf. R. . . . Confirmation Rolls

Archdeacons' Records Co. Plac. . . . County Placita

Architectural Cornw Cornwall

Assize Rolls Corp Corporation

Audit Office Cott Cotton or Cottonian

Augmentation Office Ct. R Court RoUs

Ayloffe's Calendars Ct. of Wards . . Court of Wards

Cumb Cumberland

Bedford Cur. Reg. . . . Curia Regis

Bedfordshire

Berkshire

Bundle ^ Deed or Deeds

British Museum ^- ^""^ C. . . . Dean and Chapter

Bodley's Library De Banc. R. . . De Banco RoUs

Borough ^^'^- ^^'^ ^'■'^- • • Decrees and Orders

Brevia Regia - -^^P- keeper's Rep. Deputy Keeper's Reports

Britain,British,Britannia,etc. ^"^ Derbyshire or Derby

Buckingham 1^^^°° .... Devonshire

Buckinghamshire ^'°'' g'°=^^^

Doc Documents

CahndiT Dods. MSS. . . Dodsworth MSS.

Cambridgeshire or Cam- Dom. Bk. . . . Domesday Book

bridge ^°" Dorsetshire

Cambria, Cambrian, Cam- Duchy of Lane. . Duchy of Lancaster

brensis,etc. ^^"^ Durham

Campbell Charities

Canterbury East Easter Term

Chapter Eccl Ecclesiastical

Carlisle Eccl. Com. . . . Ecclesiastical Commission

Carta; Antiquas Rolls Edvf Edward

Corpus Chrisri College, Cam- Eliz Elizabeth

bridge Engl England or English

Certiorari Bundles (RoUs Engl. Hist. Rev. . English Historical Review

Chapel) Enr. . . ; . Enrolled or Enrolment

Chancery Enrolled Decree Epis. Reg. . . . Episcopal Registers

Rolls Esch. Enr. Accts. . Escheators Enrolled Accounts

Chancery Proceedings Excerpta e Rot. Fin. Excerpta e Rotulis Finium

Chantry Certificates (or Cer- (Rec. Com.) (Record Commission)

tificates of Colleges and Exch. Dep. . . Exchequer Depositions

Chantries) Exch. K.B. . . Exchequer King's Bench

Chapter House Exch. K.R. . . Exchequer King's Remem- Charity Inquisitions brancer

Charter Roll, 20 Henry III. Exch. L.T.R. . . Exchequer Lord Treasurer's

part i. Number 10 Remembrancer

TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS

£xch. of Pleas, Plea Exchequer of Pleas, Plea Roll R.

Exch. of Receipt . Exchequer of Receipt

Exch. Spec. Com. . Exchequer Special Commis-

FeetofF. . . . Feod. Accts. (Ct. of

Wards) Feod. Surv. (Ct. of

Wards) Feud. Aids . . .

fol

Foreign R. . . . Forest Proc.

Feet of Fines

Feodaries Accounts (Court of

Wards) Feodaries Surveys (Court of

Wards) Feudal Aids Folio

Foreign RoUs Forest Proceedings

Gaz Gazette or Gazetteer

Gen Genealogical, Genealogica,

etc.

Geo George

Glouc Gloucestershire or Gloucester

Guild Certif.(Chan.) Guild Certificates (Chancery)

Ric. ir. Richard II.

Memo. R. . . .

Mich

Midd

Mins. Accts. . . Misc. Bks. (Exch.

K.R., Exch. T.R. or Aug.

Off.)

Mon. Monm. Mun. Mus.

N. andQ. .

Norf. . . Northampt. Northants . Northumb. Norw. . Nott. . .

N.S.

Memoranda RoUs

Michaelmas Term

Middlesex

Ministers' Accounts

Miscellaneous Books (Ex- chequer King's Remem- brancer, Exchequer Trea- sury of Receipt or Aug- mentation Office)

Monastery, Monasticon

Monmouth

Muniments or Munimenta

Museum

Notes and Queries Norfolk Northampton Northamptonshire Northumberland Norwich

Nottinghamshire or Notting- ham New Style

Hants

Harl.

Hen.

Heref.

Hertf.

Herts

Hil. .

Hist.

Hist. MSS. Com. Hosp. . Hund.R. . . Hunt. . . . Hunts . . .

Inq. a.q.d. . Inq. p.m. . Inst. . . . Invent. .

Ips

Itin. . . .

Journ.

Lamb. Lib.

Lane.

L. and P. H.

VIII. Lansd. . Ld. Rev. Rec. . Leic.

Le Neve's Ind. Lib. . . . Lich. . . . Line. Load. . . .

Hampshire

Harley or Harleian

Henry

Herefordshire or Hereford

Hertford

Hertfordshire

Hilary Term

History, Historical, Historian,

Historia, etc. Historical MSS. Commission Hospital Hundred RoUs Huntingdon Huntingdonshire

Inquisitions ad quod damnum Inquisitions post mortem Institute or Institution Inventory or Inventories Ipswich Itinerary

James Journal

Lambeth Library Lancashire or Lancaster Letters and Papers, Hen.

VIII. Lansdowne

Land Revenue Records Leicestershire or Leicester Le Neve's Indices Library Lichfield

Lincolnshire or Lincoln London

Membrane Memorials

Off. . Orig. R. O.S. Oxf.

Palmer's Ind. . Pal. of Chest. . Pal. of Dur. . Pal. of Lane. .

Par

Pari. . . . Pari. R. . . ParLSurv. . . Partic. for Gts. Pat. . . . P.C.C. . . .

Pet

Peterb

Phil

Pipe R

PleaR

Pop. Ret. . . . Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.)

P.R.O

Proc

Proc. Soc. Antiq. .

pt. Pub.

Office

Originalia Rolls Ordnance Survey Oxfordshire or Oxford

Page

Palmer's Indices

Palatinate of Chester

Palatinate of Durham

Palatinate of Lancaster

Parish, parochial, etc.

Parliament or Parliamentary

Parliament RoUs

ParUamentary Surveys

Particulars for Grants

Patent RoU or Letters Patent

Prerogative Court of Canter- bury

Petition

Peterborough

Philip

Pipe Roll

Plea RoUs

Population Returns

Pope Nicholas' Taxation (Re- cord Commission)

PubUc Record Ofiice

Proceedings

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries

Part

Publications

R

Rec. . . . Recov. R. . . Rentals and Surv. Rep. . . . Rev. . . . Ric. ...

RoU

Records

Recovery Rolls

Rentals and Surveys

Report

Review

Richard

TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS

Roff. .... Rochester diocese

Rot. Cur. Reg. . Rotuli Curia: Regis

Rut Rutland

Sarum .... Salisbury diocese

Set Series

Sess. R Sessions Rolls

Shrews Slirewsbury

Shrops .... Shropshire

Soc Society

Soc. Antiq. . . . Society of Antiquaries

Somers. . . . Somerset

Somers. lio. . . Somerset House

S.P. Dom. . . . State Papers Domestic

Staff Staffordshire

Star Chamb. Proc. Star Chamber Proceedings

Stat Statute

Steph Stephen

Subs. R. . . . Subsidy RoUs

Suff Suffolk

Surr Surrey

Suss Sussex

Surv. of Ch. Liv- Surveys of Church Livings

ings (Lamb.) or (Lambeth) or (Chancery)

(Chan.)

Topog.

Trans. Transl. Treas. Trin.

Uni'

Valor Eccl

Com.) Vet. Mon. V.C.H. . Vic. . . vol. .

Warvv. . Westm. . Westmld. Will. . WUts . Winton. Wore.

Yorks .

(Rec,

Topography or Topographi- cal Transactions Translation Treasury or Treasurer Trinity Term

Univ

ersity

Valor Ecclesiasticus (Record

Commission) Vetusta Monumenta Victoria County Histoiy Victoria Volume

Warwickshire or Warwick

Westminster

Westmorland

William

Wiltshire

Winchester diocese

Worcestershire or Worcester

Yorkshire

HISTOBYOF SUSSEX

THE VICTORIA HISTORY

J

AL MAP.

BASED ON THE MAPS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

UkM-^^^^WT^—E.

or I OLOIRING

OUNTIES OF ENGLAND

GEOLOGY

IT is not easy to fix on any point in time at which we can say that the history of Sussex began. We commonly speak of history as commencing with the first obscure and mutilated chronicles. Or

perhaps we go back, to somewhat earlier periods, for which we have only rude tradition, folklore or antiquities of uncertain age to act as guides. But history as we here understand it commences at an earlier date. It begins with the gradual building up of the solid earth on which we stand ; it deals with the rise of this land above the sea, its sculpture into hill and valley, and as a result its preparation and adapta- tion for man's occupation. We do not intend to go back, like the old chronicles, to the creation, or to start with a cosmogony. It will be sufficient for our purpose to indicate how the foundations of Sussex were laid, and to suggest what the world was like in those early days, what were its inhabitants, and what each successive period added to its mineral wealth, to its beauty, to its suitability for man. In thus treating the science of geology it is evident that attention must principally be devoted to the later geological periods, those which either lead up to or are directly concerned with the occupation of the county by man. Space will not allow us to deal fully with the earlier periods, or with the successive changes of their faunas and floras ; full information, however, will be found in the books and papers mentioned in the footnotes, which give references to the leading sources of information.

Sussex in its geological structure is one of the counties most easy to understand. It is also a district each of whose surface features is inti- mately connected with the subterranean arrangement of the strata, or is due to erosive forces such as we can readily comprehend. In a general way we now find in the county four distinct types of scenery, corre- sponding with different productions, different agriculture and different settlements and history. First, on the south there is the coastal plain, a low-lying sharply-defined tract of flat land, beginning narrow at Brighton and widening westward to about 8 miles at Selsey. This coastal plain, it should be remembered, was much wider formerly, and is still rapidly wasting away under the attacks of the sea. It was probably fully a mile wider in the Roman period. Next comes a wide belt of high, undulating, bare and almost waterless chalk downs, stretching from Beachy Head throughout the county to its western border, and ending abruptly in a steep scarp overlooking the Weald. Then to the north I I I

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

comes the lower region of the Weald, divisible into two belts : the one generally fertile and formed by the alternating marl flats and ridges of ferruginous sand, which He between the foot of the chalk downs and the wide plain of the Weald Clay ; the other consisting of less fertile alter- nate wastes of sand and wide flats of clay. Both of these latter belts till well into historic times were covered with dense forest. We have thus in the first two regions an area, open, settled and well peopled even in times long before written history, and this part of the county has definite and well marked physical boundaries — on the south the sea, on the east the marshes about Dunge Ness, on the west a tidal harbour. Behind this settled region extended the wide ' hinterland ' of the Weald, which was gradually annexed by the settlers on the north and south till they met at what is now the northern boundary of the county ; this line however is very irregular and has no regard to physical features. On the north-west the county has a similarly artificial boundary ; but here also were extensive woodlands, for the Tertiary strata are here bare of gravel and still support considerable oak woods, while even the chalk of this particular area is covered by so deep a clay soil that it still supports much beech. For a long period therefore the earlier settlements of Sussex were almost isolated from the rest of the country by water or by wide tracts of dense forest. Thus the county of Sussex has probably existed as a natural division of Britain from very early prehistoric times, though the fixing of its exact limits is of comparatively late date. It is not unlikely that with better information we may be able to trace local peculiarities in the manufactures as far back as the PaljEolithic period, for even then it was essentially an open country cut off and surrounded by water and forest. Subsequent articles relating to the history and archaeology of the county will describe how this isolation was afterwards broken down ; in this sketch we deal with its origin, and with the leading changes which made Sussex as we now see it.

We naturally inquire, What is the meaning of the striking diff'er- ences already alluded to, and why should the geological structure of a county like this, which contains no mountains and no hill reaching to I, coo feet in altitude, have dominated so completely the position of its settlements and also the occupation of its inhabitants ? We need not go back to very early geological times ; the history of Sussex for our purpose begins with the oldest strata seen at the surface in the Weald, though other deposits somewhat older have been penetrated by a deep boring near Battle. The geological formations known to exist in Sussex may be grouped as in the following table ; but their thicknesses, it may be observed, vary greatly even within this limited area. Though it is not to be expected that a boring or shaft sunk at any one point would pene- trate the whole of these strata, yet there is little doubt that at Selsey we should have to descend fully 6,000 feet to reach the lowest deposit shown in this table. Near Eastbourne and Newhaven on the other hand far older strata may possibly be reached in less than 2,000 feet below the surface ; though this remains to be proved.

2

GEOLOGY

TABLE OF STRATA FOUND IN SUSSEX

Period

Character of the Strata

Approximate

thickness

in feet

Recent

Peat . . . . Alluvium Blown Sand Shingle Beaches

Very local . Usually muddy. Clean sand . . Flint pebbles

I to 5 up to 60 up to 20 up to 20

Pleistocene

and Palaeolithic

Brickearth .

Coombe Rock and Valley

Gravel Raised Beach . Glacial Deposit. Plateau Gravel . Clay with Flints

Sandy loam

Ans^ular detritus, mainly flint and

c"halk

Shingle, sand and clay ....

Large erratics

Angular gravel

Angular flints and clay, on chalk .

thin thin

Bracklesham Beds Bagshot Sands . London Clay . Woolwich and Reading Beds

Shelly sand, clay and thin rock . . 500 or 600

Greenish sands thin

Clay, thin sands and Bognor Rock 300 Red-mottled clay, coarse sands,

pebble beds, lignite and blue clay 80 to 130

Upper Cretaceous

Upper Chalk and Chalk Rock

Middle Chalk and Mel- bourn Rock

Lower Chalk .

Upper Greensand

Gault . . .

Lower Cretaceous

Folkestone Beds Sandgate Beds . Hythe Beds . .

Atherfield Clay Weald Clay .

Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand

Soft chalk, with flints

Harder chalk, with few or no flints

Grey chalk, marly below. Greenish sand, sandstone and malm

rock

Blue marl, coarse sand at the base .

^oarse sane

Grinstead Clay . . . . Lower Tunbridge Wells

Sand Wadhurst Clay Ashdown Sand Fairlight Clay

Fine sand and clay

Sand, sandstone and chert, calcare- ous above

Shelly clay

Blue and red-mottled clays, with thin sands, Sussex marble and Horsham stone

^Sand and sandstone, with layers of Tilgate stone at the top .

Cuckfield Clay

,Sand and sandstone

Clay and sandstone

Sand and sandstone

Shaly clay . .

Fine sand

Clay and thin sands

500 to 700

200

160 to 200

40 to 80 300

o to 140 30 to 100

25 to 200 thin

600

115 15

70 100

100

130 150

360

Purbeck Beds . Portland Beds . Kimeridge Clay Corallian Oolite Oxford Clay .

Shales and limestones with gypsum . Soft sandstones and shales Black shale with ammonites, etc Sands and thin oolitic limestones Dark shale and thin limestone .

400 105 1,290 222 over 1 20

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

On referring to the geological map of Sussex the reader will notice that it is coloured various tints, which form belts extending east and west throughout the county. These belts represent the strata coming to the surface, or ' cropping out,' as it is termed, in succession, the oldest appearing towards the north-east and the newest towards the south and south-west. The cross-sections appended to the map will better explain this peculiarity. The geological structure of the county consists essentially of one big wave, with its crest near Battle, Horsham and Haslemere, and its parallel trough extending east and west under the English Channel a few miles south of the coast. Minor ripples or undulations somewhat modify the perfect regularity of the big wave on which they ride ; but they are comparatively unimportant, for while the height of the domi- nant wave, measured from crest to trough, is fully 4,000 feet, the minor ripples do not exceed 600 feet.

The oldest rocks known within the county are the Jurassic deposits met with in the ' Sub-Wealden Boring,' a trial boring made in the year 1874 to explore the unknown deep-seated strata and to ascertain whether coal could be found within a workable depth. The most ancient strata exposed at the surface are those met with near Battle, where the crest of the high wave has been planed down so as to lay bare layers which else- where are only to be found far below the sea-level. To the neighbour- hood of Battle therefore geologists turned their attention when it was proposed to attempt to reach Coal Measures by boring through the Secondary formations. It was naturally thought that the lower in the series it was possible to commence, the less the thickness to be penetrated before Coal Measures or other Paleozoic rocks were reached. The experimental boring at Limekiln Wood in the parish of Mountfield however proved to be a failure, its main result being to show an enor- mous and quite unexpected thickening of some of the Jurassic clays, so that at 1,905 feet from the surface the boring was still in Oxford Clay, with no sign of a change and perhaps several thousand feet of Secondary strata still to penetrate. The small size of the cores obtained makes it difficult to say much about the lower strata, though sufficient fossils were discovered to prove the age of certain beds. Divisions however shade into each other in such a way, and the characters of the rocks are so diffisrent from the nearest outcrops, a hundred miles distant, that there is still some diffisrence of opinion as to the exact limits of each formation. In the following notes the grouping used by Mr. H. B. Woodward has been adhered to.'

The lowest strata reached consist of 100 feet or so of dark shale, with a I 5 foot bed of limestone. In these shales were found specimens of A?}imonites chaimisscti, proving them to belong to the Oxford Clay. Next follow about 240 feet of more or less calcareous and sandy strata, with Rbynchonella piiiguis, a fossil characteristic of the Corallian rocks of

' 'Jurassic Rocks of Britain,' v. 345-7, Mnii. Gcol. Surra (1895) ; sec .ilso H. Willett, Record of the Sub-lVcalden Exploration (8vo, Brighton, 1878) ; and W. Topley, 'Geology of the Weald,' Mem. Gcol. Survey (1875).

4

GEOLOGY

Dorset ; but the deposits are very unlike the Dorset type, half the thick- ness being shale. Above these come nearly 1,300 feet of shaly strata, with numerous ammonites and other characteristic fossils of the Kimeridge Clay. Of this enormous mass the upper 700 feet is entirely shale, the lower 600 consisting of alternations of shale, shaly sandstone and shaly limestone. The next 1 1 5 feet of strata are sandy shales and soft sandstones, yielding Ammonites biplex near the base and referable to the Portland series, though little resembling the hard rocks of the isle of Portland.

Next above the Portland occur Purbeck rocks to a thickness esti- mated by Topley at 400 feet. Of this the lower 70 feet is only known from the Sub-Wealden boring and from a mine which has since been sunk to work the beds of gypsum proved by that boring to occur at the base of the series. The upper half of the Purbeck series can be examined at the surface to the north and north-west of Battle, where it has also been exposed in bell-shaped pits, opened to obtain a calcareous sand- stone and certain grey and blue limestones formerly much used for lime. The associated strata are mainly shales like those of the Isle of Purbeck, and contain a similar mixture of freshwater and marine fossils, the marine species being mostly stunted and small. The character of the rocks and of their included fossils suggests an estuarine or lagoon origin for these strata, for gypsum is a product of salt lakes and lagoons, and the abundant remains of brackish-water shells and entomostraca, belonging to few species and fewer genera, point to similar conditions. Two ferns and some insect remains have also been found ; but the curious small marsupials and the numerous cycads which occur in Dorset have not yet been discovered in the Purbeck rocks of Sussex.

Cretaceous follow the Jurassic strata without a break, estuarine deposits more than 1,000 feet thick, known as Wealden, indicating a continuance of conditions very similar to those which held during the Purbeck period. In their lower part the deposits of the Wealden period consist mainly of sands, the Hastings and Tunbridge Wells sands, with subordinate masses of sandstone, shale or clay ; but above these comes a mass of clay, with little sand, several hundred feet in thickness. So much interest has been excited by the occurrence of remains of the gigantic land reptile Iguanodon in Tilgate Forest* that it is scarcely realized that the Wealden strata are very sparingly fossiliferous. Beds of freshwater shells such as form the well known ' Sussex marble,' or shales rendered fissile by multitudes of the minute valves of a bivalve entomostracan, occasionally occur ; but it is quite possible to. search closely a hundred feet of strata and not find a fossil. Those fossils that occur tend rather to link the Wealden with the Purbeck below than with the Cretaceous above ; but the Wealden fossils have been derived mainly from the lower part of the series, and we have still a most imperfect knowledge of those belonging to the Weald Clay. Besides land reptiles we find one or two small mammals closely allied to those of the Purbeck period,

1 Mantell. Fossils of the South Downs ; or. Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex (410, London, 1822).

5

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

numerous fish, and a fine series of plants, which last have been care- fully studied by Mr. Seward/ These plants consist of ferns, cycads and conifers of Jurassic types, but include none of the higher flowering plants which mark, the incoming of the Lower Cretaceous period abroad. Whilst recognizing the strikingly Jurassic appearance of the Wealden animals and plants, it should not be forgotten however that truly marine fossils, on which our geological classification is mainly based, are practi- cally unknown in the Wealden strata. Until its marine fauna is better known the exact relation of the Wealden to the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of other regions must remain somewhat doubtful.

The absence of lime and of certain compounds necessary for plant life, as well as the common occurrence of poisonous iron salts, make most of the country occupied by Wealden strata very infertile and more fitted for oak forest or permanent pasture than for tillage. Where orchards or fruit or hop-gardens thrive it will generally be found that the underlying strata are buried under several feet of superficial ' Drift,' which quite alters the character of the soil. The Hastings Sands form undulating country with steeper slopes than those of the Weald Clay, the beds of sand forming ridges roughly parallel to the folds with east and west axis, which are so marked a feature in Sussex geology. They rise in places to considerable heights, as will be seen on comparing the geological with the orographic map.

There is one important product of the Wealden strata that should be mentioned, though it will again be referred to in a later volume in the section on ironworks of the Weald. For many centuries the Weald was one of the most important iron-producing districts of Britain, the ore commonly used being the clay-ironstone nodules at the base of the Wadhurst Clay. These were dug in bell-pits of no great depth, and worked with oak charcoal, which yielded steely wrought-iron of excellent quality. Later on a considerable quantity of cast-iron was made ; but the industry was finally abandoned in the early part of the nineteenth century, owing to the growing scarcity of charcoal and the gradual introduction of coal and of the associated Coal Measure ironstone."

There is another product of the Wealden strata that deserves mention. Two borings for water at Waldron, the one at Heathfield railway station, the other at New Heathfield Hotel, struck inflammable gas in the Fairlight Clay.^ This gas seems, according to the analysis by Mr. S. A. Woodhead, to be a genuine petroleum derivative, containing 72 per cent of marsh gas, mixed with enough oxygen (18 per cent) to make it slightly explosive. The gas has been used for lighting the rail- way station and offices.

As the main dome of the Wealden anticline causes the strata in Sussex to have a general dip to the south, if we leave out the minor

I Catalogue of the Mcsozoic Plants in the Department of Geology, British Museum ; The It'cMen Flora (8vo).

a W. Topley, 'Geology of the Weald,' chap. xix. (1875).

3 C. Dawson, ' On the Discovery of Natural Gas in East Sussex,' Quart. Jouni. Gecl. Soc. liv. 564-7 1 (1898).

6

GEOLOGY

folds we find higher Cretaceous deposits coming on in succession above the Weald Clay in the southern part of the county between Eastbourne and Midhurst. The earliest of these strata belongs undoubtedly to the Lower Cretaceous period ; for this Atherfield Clay, so called from the place where it is best seen, Atherfield in the Isle of Wight, contains Lower Greensand marine fossils. The Atherfield Clay has only been traced as far east as Warminghurst, where Mr. Lamplugh recently noticed about 20 feet of clay with marine fossils, below the sandy Hythe Beds, and resting with a sharp division on the blue shaly Weald Clay. It is by no means clear yet whether there is not everywhere a break between the Atherfield Clay and the Weald Clay below ; for there is a sudden change from estuarine to purely marine conditions, and near Eastbourne most of the Lower Greensand and probably much of the Weald Clay have been cut out or overlapped by deposits of somewhat newer date. Unfortunately however the junction of the two clay deposits is difficult to examine ; for it usually occurs in flat land where natural sections are wanting and artificial sections are scarce. Wells are not sunk, near the junction, for there is seldom any water to be had, and that found is not palatable.

The Lower Greensand above the Atherfield Clay consists mainly of sandy deposits with subordinate beds of harder rock. When met with in wells or excavations some depth below the level of the surface, the sands are commonly tinged more or less with green (hence the name ' Green- sand ') from the presence of small grains of a dark green mineral known as glauconite. This mineral, which is an iron compound, readily oxidizes on exposure, and then the sands take the familiar bulf or rusty hue which makes people wonder why geologists ever called them Greensand. There is a remarkable change in the Lower Greensand when traced from west to east and south through Sussex. At Petersfield it has a thickness, according to Topley, of 425 feet ; seventeen miles to the east, at Pul- borough, it has decreased to 380 feet, through the thinning of the two lower divisions, the Atherfield Clay and the Hythe Beds. Another seventeen miles to the east, at Hassocks Gate, the total is only 130 feet, the Atherfield Clay having disappeared and the other three divisions having thinned considerably. Five miles or so further towards the south-east the bold pine-clad sandy ridges which characterize this forma- tion sink and seem to melt away into an almost featureless undulating plain, which stretches to the sea near Eastbourne, where the Lower Greensand is represented by a few feet of coarse sand between the Gault and the Weald Clay, all the rest of the formation having disappeared. The question of the relation of the Lower Greensand to the Wealden strata in Sussex happens to be of more than purely scientific interest ; for if Lower Cretaceous deposits can disappear so rapidly towards the south-east, it is evidently possible that the geological structure may cor- respond with that on the northern side of the Wealden anticline, and the Lower Cretaceous and perhaps the Jurassic strata may be entirely wanting around Newhaven. Palaeozoic rocks may there occur much nearer to

7

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

the surface than would otherwise be expected, and we may there find a counterpart of the Palaeozoic ridge under Dover and London. Experi- ments at Dover however have not yet been so successful as to encourage deep borings in Sussex, and near London rocks older than the Coal Measures have been met with beneath the Cretaceous. The only deep boring on the south side of the Wealden anticline is that sunk at the Brighton Industrial School at Telscombe, where Lower Greensand was touched at 1,280 feet from the surface, but was only penetrated to a depth of about 5 feet. It is unfortunate that this boring was not carried a few feet lower, for within 20 feet the Lower Greensand would probably be pierced. What comes below is quite uncertain, and the determination of this point would throw much light on Sussex geology.

Owing to the absence of Lower Greensand cliff sections in Sussex few fossils have been found in this division compared with the prolific fauna of Kent and Hampshire. Selmeston yields drifted pine-wood perforated by boring molluscs. At Pulborough and Parham marine mollusca have been obtained from the Sandgate Beds, and at Pulborough the Hythe Beds also have yielded a good many species and the Folke- stone Sands contain a few. These fossils are mainly bivalve shells, few of the characteristic ammonites or other cephalopods and few gasteropods having yet been found in Sussex.

The porous strata of the Lower Greensand are succeeded by a mass of stiff dark-blue clay known as Gault. This comes to the surface in the belt of flat heavy land which separates the sandy ridges of the Lower from the similar ridge formed by the Upper Greensand on the south. In Sussex the Gault reaches the exceptional thickness of 300 feet, and is nearly everywhere fossiliferous, though owing to the absence of cliff sections and the rarity of clear inland exposures fossils are not so readily obtained as at Folkestone. At the base is found a band of scat- tered phosphatic nodules, and this band seems to separate the true Gault from the Lower Greensand below — though the upper part of this latter (the only part preserved at Eastbourne) may be nothing but a gravelly base to the Gault, equivalent to beds with Ainmonites mammillatus found elsewhere. Low down in the true Gault at Eastbourne Ammonites laiitus, a characteristic fossil of the Lower Gault, has been found ; but the principal locality for Lower Gault fossils in Sussex is Ringmer, from which place Mr. Jukes-Browne gives a long list of fossils, cephalopods being particularly abundant.* At St. Anthony's Hill near Eastbourne Mr. F. G. H. Price discovered another set of fossils, which prove the Gault there seen to belong to the lower part of the Upper Gault. The highest beds of all are sometimes well exposed on the foreshore opposite Eastbourne, and they have been carefully examined below the Wish Tower by Mr. Price and Rev. H. E. Maddock, who there collected many fossils, including such characteristic Upper Gault forms as Am- monites rostratus, A. varicosus, A. auritus and Anisoccras [Hamites) armatum.

> 'The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain,' i. I 2 I, Memo'in Gcol. Siinry (1900). 8

GEOLOGY

According to Mr. Price, the most fossiliferous part is a sandy bed about 3 feet below the Upper Greensand.

The sandy Upper Gault of Eastbourne is succeeded by loamy micaceous sands, which seem to pass laterally into the ' malmstone ' of west Sussex. This malmstone is a rock, of quite exceptional character ; it is defined by Mr. Jukes-Browne as a ' fine-grained siliceous rock, the silica of which is either principally of the colloid variety, either in the form of a semigranular ground mass or of scattered microscopic spheroids, or in both forms. Sponge spicules, or the spaces once occupied by them, are always abundant, and seem to have supplied the silica which is now in the globular semigranular condition. Quartz, mica and glau- conite are present, but generally in small quantities. There is always some calcareous matter, but in the purer varieties this does not amount to more than 2 or 3 per cent. Other varieties, however, contain as much as 20 or 25 per cent, and these are called calcareous mahistones ox fire- stones.^ Above the malmstone and loamy beds comes a mass of glauconitic sand or sandstone, calcareous in the upper part, and probably from 40 to 50 feet in thickness near Eastbourne. The total thickness of the Upper Greensand in western Sussex is estimated by P. J. Martin at about 90 to 100 feet,^ and this is probably the maximum in the county. The formation has not yet yielded many fossils, and it is still doubtful whether any part of it in Sussex represents the zone of Pecten asper ; the species found are not characteristic of particular zones. Up- wards the Greensand passes gradually into the Chalk, the sand becoming more calcareous and marly, till it gives place to the somewhat sandy marl which here forms the base of the true Chalk. Though, as already men- tioned, the Upper Greensand tends to form a ridge of sandy land, yet it is usually so dominated by the higher escarpment of the Chalk, that both the feature it makes and the character of the soil are masked and altered by material washed from the Chalk above. The Upper Greensand was probably woodland in prehistoric times.

Chalk, as will be seen by the geological map, occupies the surface of nearly a third of Sussex, forming a sharply defined region of character unlike any other in the county, and known as the South Downs. It is the only limestone, with the exception of the few thin bands already mentioned ; and having a thickness of about 1,000 feet, hill and valley can be carved out of it without cutting into older rocks. Moreover, being without impervious beds except in the lowest 200 feet it forms a dry region, with no springs or flowing water except in the lowest valleys. The greater part of the Downs forms open rolling country, bare and treeless, but covered with excellent pasture, or with light, calcareous soil readily worked by the plough. These characteristics have always influenced the position of the settlements and the early history of the region ; for when ploughs and cutting tools were ruder and more clumsy, open pasture land with light and fairly good soil, not encumbered by trees, was far more valuable than the woodland which

' Geohffcal Memoir on a part of M'estem Sussex (410, London, 1828). I 9 2

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

overspread the clays, or the bare heaths which characterized the sands. The areas occupied by Chalk were probably in prehistoric times, and even much later, the most settled and highly civilized parts of Britain ; they are certainly the areas over which are found our finest and most extensive prehistoric antiquities. We in Sussex scarcely realize how peculiar and abnormal a deposit is this soft pure white limestone known as Chalk. It occupies a small part of western Europe, but in other regions of the world there is nothing very closely resembling it, except in comparatively thin beds. This thousand feet of strata is composed almost entirely of marine organisms — either recognizable or decayed — except in the lower part, in which there is a considerable admixture of clay and other detritus washed from the land. The rest of the formation is so uniform that the differences are not such as to strike the casual observer, who would describe the whole mass simply as chalk. On examining more closely we find at different levels slight differences in the character of the deposits and in their included fossils. These variations extend throughout the county, so that it is usually possible from an isolated chalk pit to tell approximately how high we are above the base of the deposit.^

The lower part of the Chalk consists essentially of greyish marl In alternate hard and soft beds, which make conspicuous ledges on the fore- shore and at the base of the cliff between Eastbourne and Beachy Head. These deposits form the Lower Chalk, which has a thickness of from 150 to 200 feet, and occupies the gently rising ground at the foot of the Chalk escarpment. Its soil is more retentive than that of the rest of the Chalk, and much of it was formerly woodland, though now it is mainly under the plough or changing to permanent pasture. The fossils are pecuHar. Towards the base we find a narrow zone of hard sandy chalk with quartz grains and occasional phosphatic nodules. This zone is characterized by the small sponge Staiironema carteri. Then follow marls, breaking up into pieces with curved faces and containing Ammonites varians, A. rotomagensis, Scapbites cequalis, and Holaster subglobosus^ as well as numerous bivalves and fish. Most of the beautifully-preserved fish remains found at Lewes and to be seen in every museum come from this division. At the top of the Lower Chalk is a band 10 or 20 feet thick of softer, darker, and more impervious marl, known as the ' Belemnite Marl,' from its characteristic fossil Actinocamax {Belemnitclhi) plenus. This marl holds up and throws out the water which falls on the higher beds of chalk ; many of the springs are therefore given out at the junction of the Lower with the Middle Chalk. Very little water is obtained from the Lower Chalk itself, except where it is much shattered, as near Eastbourne. This division of the Chalk, besides forming land of different agricultural character, produces hydraulic lime, which cannot be made from the beds above.

There is a sudden change from the soft Belemnite Marl to the hard

* The best account of the zones will be found In Dr. A. \V. Rowc, 'The Zones of the White Chalk of the English'Coast : I. — Kent .ind Sussex,' Proc. Geo/. Auor. vol. xvi. pt. 6 (1900).

10

GEOLOGY

and somewhat flaggy ' Melbourn Rock ' above, which forms the base of the Middle Chalk. This rock may be described as a hard, somewhat splintery, white chalk, with a curiously irregular wavy bedding and part- ings of grey marl, markedly in contrast with the evenly bedded grey marls below. The Melbourn Rock passes up into somewhat softer strata, but deposits of similar character form the whole 200 feet of the Middle Chalk. This chalk is full of fossils ; though the great majority of the fragments belong to a single species of bivalve shell, Imceramus mytiloides (or /. labiatus), fragments of which form a considerable portion of the bulk of the rock and are easily recognizable from their peculiar fibrous structure. The upper part of the Middle Chalk is characterized by a small Terebratulina commonly referred to T". gracilis.

The Melbourn Rock projects as a distinct ledge in the face of the Chalk escarpment, or crowns projecting spurs, especially near East- bourne ; this platform is often selected as a favourable site for building. The rest of the Middle Chalk forms the steep face of the escarpment, capped by the flinty chalk above ; it also stretches in long tongues up some of the valleys, as well as appearing in others as inliers. One series of these inliers, seen in the valley bottoms between Lewes and Patcham, is brought up by a prolongation of the anticline which passes through Beddingham and Kingstone. Another similar undulation brings Middle Chalk to the surface in the east and west valley between East Dean and Singleton ; and it is possible that Middle Chalk may also be exposed in the centre of the anticline near Littlehampton, though there the country is so covered with gravel, and the foreshore is so sandy, that it is difficult to examine the Chalk below.

The junction of the Middle and Upper Chalk in many parts of England is marked by a band of hard, splintery chalk known as the ' Chalk Rock.' This however is non-existent in Sussex, though the character- istic fossils, principally small gasteropods, can be found at Beachy Head. Beyond the gradual appearance of flints, there is no very obvious dis- tinction between Middle and Upper Chalk, as seen in these vertical cliffs. The Upper Chalk is purer, whiter, softer, and contains fewer marl partings than the Middle Chalk. FHnts are almost confined to it, though a few scattered nodules can be found 10 or 20 feet below the base. The lowest zone (including the Chalk Rock) is characterized by the echinoderm Holaster planus and a group of other fossils that are always found associated with it, but the lower limit of the zone seem- ingly does not quite coincide with the base of the Chalk Rock ; the thickness is about 50 feet. The next zones are specially characterized by different forms of Micraster, echinoderms which have lately yielded to Dr. A. W. Rowe ^ evidence of the gradual evolution of each succeed- ing form from an older one, so that by slight variations in the shape and pattern of the shell he can tell to within a few feet from what part of the Chalk a handful of these sea urchins was obtained. One result of this study is to show, as might have been expected, that when the missing

1 Quart. Joui-n. Geol. Soc. Iv. 494 (1899).

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

links are discovered species pass by imperceptible gradations into each other, so that the ordinary rules of zoological nomenclature break down, and it is exceedingly difficult to know what to call any but the extreme forms. Space will not permit any discussion of these variable fossils ; we can only observe that they are particularly abundant in the lower part of the Upper Chalk, Micraster cor-bovis being confined to the Holaster planus zone and the Chalk below ; while Micraster cor-testu- dinarium and M. cor-anguinum give their names to the next two zones, respectively no and 240 feet in thickness. Though still-varying micrasters extend throughout the Upper Chalk, other more abundant fossils have been selected to give their names to the higher zones. Next comes softer chalk with fewer flints, at any rate inland, belonging to the zone of Marsupites, curious purse-like echinoderms, two species of which are not uncommon, associated with JJintacrinus and the small sea urchin Cardtaster pilula. On the coast the thickness of this zone is nearly 80 feet.

The next zone, that of Actinocamax quadratus, is more flinty, and this superposition of flinty chalk on soft, easily eroded chalk with few flints has led to the formation of a series of isolated, flat-topped hills, with steep scarps towards the north and gentler slopes to the south, which form a chain extending east and west through the middle of the Downs. Each of these hills was fortified in prehistoric times, the best known of the fortresses being the conspicuous camp of Cissbury, where also the flints of this zone were mined for the manufacture of implements. According to Dr. Rowe, a thickness of 170 feet of Chalk belonging to this zone can be measured in the cliffs. It is doubtful whether there is more than this anywhere in the county, for the higher part of the zone and the whole of the zones above appear to be missing.

The best places to study the Chalk zones in Sussex are, for the Middle and Upper Chalk, the cliffs between Eastbourne and Brighton ; but for the Lower Chalk the large pits near Lewes are more satisfactory, for at Eastbourne the Lower Chalk is exceptionally hardened and dis- turbed. With regard to the zones into which the Chalk is divided, it may be remarked that these are belts corresponding roughly with the occurrence of certain faunas, and that the name of a particular fossil is only given to a zone as a matter of convenience. The name-fossil may be entirely absent from a particular district, or it may there range above or below the zone to which it gives its name ; and usually, as might be expected, most of the other species overlap towards the border and are found also in the zone above or below. Hard and fast boundaries are no more to be found between life-zones, except in rare cases, than they are to be found between species ; it is only our imperfect knowledge that in each case has allowed us to draw sharp lines.

Between the Chalk of Sussex and the oldest of the overlying Tertiary deposits there exists an enormous gap. Not only is great part of the Chalk missing, but several early Eocene deposits elsewhere well developed and containing peculiar fiunas are absent ; even the Thanet

12

. GEOLOGY

Sands of Kent cannot be traced into Sussex. The earliest Eocene strata preserved in the county are the highly variable estuarine deposits known as the Woolwich and Reading Series. These show a complete change of conditions, and contain animals and plants so different from those of the Chalk that comparison is almost impossible. The formation now stretches from the western border of the county in narrow belts through Chichester and Arundel to Bognor, Worthing and Lancing, and is con- tinued eastward by a chain of outliers at Portslade, Brighton, Newhaven and Seaford. Originally however it must have overspread the whole county, for it corresponds closely with the deposits of the Thames basin and of the north of France. In the western half of the county the strata are of the ' Reading ' type, i.e. they consist mainly of red-mottled plastic or pottery clay, with occasional seams of lignite, flint pebbles and sand, and with a bed of unworn green-coated flints at the base. These deposits seem to be of lagoon or estuarine origin, though determinable fossils have not yet been found in them in Sussex. The eastern half of the county shows deposits more like the ' Woolwich ' type. At Lancing beneath or near the base of the red-mottled clay occurs a band of iron- stone with marine fossils. At Portslade we find a mass of bluish-black shaly clays with a mixture of marine and freshwater fossils, principally oysters and Cyrena. At Brighton the thin outliers towards Preston yield moulds of marine fossils in ironstone, as well as traces of plants. New- haven was formerly celebrated for its plant-beds, though these are now either washed away or hidden by the sloping of the cliffs under the fort ; the deposits there consisted mainly of laminated shelly or plant-bearing clays, with seams of sand and masses of lignite, to a thickness of 60 feet. Red-mottled plastic clays are absent. The shells recorded by Prestwich ' are mainly estuarine and freshwater species such as Dreissena, Unio, Cyrena, Cerithium, Melanin inquinata and Ostrea bellovacina. The flora is an interesting one, for it shows warm-temperate conditions, and the plants are closely allied to species still living in warmer regions. Unfortunately they are still only partially examined and described ; but according to Mr. J. S. Gardner the greater part of the leaves belong to a few species, amongst them being a palm and an aralia-like leaf. The Woolwich and Reading Series is from 90 to 130 feet thick ; but occu- pies so small an area in Sussex, and is so largely hidden by newer deposits, that it has had little influence on the position of settlements, except where the distruction of its outliers has overspread the Chalk with the sheet of clay known as ' Clay with Flints.' This last-mentioned deposit is often stated to be the insoluble residue of the Chalk dissolved by falling rain. Such however cannot be the case, for it has a curiously partial distribution, and only caps plateaus formerly overspread by Eocene strata. Its composition also shows it to be formed mainly of recognizable Eocene material, such as quartz sand, flint and quartz pebbles, green-

1 'On the Structure of the Strata between the London Clay and the Chalk in the London and Hampshire Tertiary Systems : Part IL — The Woolwich and Reading Series,' Qunrt. Joiini. Geo/. Soc. X. 83-4 (18S+).

13

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

coated flints and pieces of ironstone. Some of the unworn flints in it undoubtedly are derived from the slow solution of the Chalk below, and a small part of the clayey matrix also may come from this source. The Upper Chalk of Sussex however is so pure that the removal of the soluble carbonate of lime would leave merely a stony desert of flints, without sufficient clay to fill the interstices. Such a stony waste is now gradually forming on parts of the Downs where no Tertiary material remains.

The London Clay in Sussex is more sandy than the corresponding deposit in the London basin, though not nearly so different as the local name, 'Bognor Beds,' formerly used would imply. It is a dark-blue clay, more or less sandy, containing beds of sand in the upper part, and in places it has a mass of flint shingle at the base. Two of the sand-beds near Bognor have been consolidated into hard sandstone ; and as these sand- stones form conspicuous rocky ledges, the Bognor Rocks and the Barn Rocks, projecting seaward from a coast otherwise flat and sandy, they have been given more importance than their small thickness would warrant. The Bognor Rock however is of considerable interest, for the fossils contained in it, now difficult to obtain, are well preserved and are not compressed like those ordinarily found in the London Clay. The most common are Fectunculus brevirostris, P. decussatus, Cardita brongniarti, Panopcea intermedia, Pholadomya margaritacea, Pimia affinis, all common fossils of the London Clay elsewhere. There is also a peculiar volute. Valuta nodosa, and the flat-coiled Vermetus bognoriensis . The total thickness of the London Clay is about 320 feet. Like the Reading Beds, much of it is hidden by newer deposits ; but where exposed it forms heavy clay land principally covered by oak plantations. Bricks are made from it ; but not to any great extent in Sussex, where better and more easily worked brick-earth is to be found in the same districts.

It is still somewhat uncertain whether Sussex contains any repre- sentative of the Lower Bagshot Beds. Sandy strata occur at the top of the London Clay on each side of the Selsey peninsula ; but they are difficult to examine, being hidden by gravel, and striking the coast just where everything is obscured by the mud of Pagham Harbour and of West Wittering. The sands cannot be thick, and no fossils have been obtained from them ; it is possible however that some of the deposits with driftwood occasionally to be seen on the foreshore near West Wittering may be referred to this formation.

The Bracklesham Beds form one of the most interesting deposits of the county from a scientific point of view ; but as they are entirely hidden by drift, except on the foreshore, and are confined to the Selsey peninsula, they have little influence on the character of the scenery, nature of the soil, or position of the settlements. The thickness of these strata reaches however as much as 500 feet. From top to bottom they consist of greenish, more or less carbonaceous clays and marls, alternating with glauconitic sands. Fossils are abundant, in fact

14

GEOLOGY

certain thin beds are so full of the coin-shaped nummulites or of the spindle-shaped Aheolina as to have become sandy limestones, while another bed is composed principally of the large handsome shells of Cardita planicosta. The fauna is extremely varied and has been care- fully studied by the Rev. O. Fisher ' and Dixon." Mr. Fisher has made out a definite succession in the zones, certain fossils being characteristic of particular horizons throughout the Hampshire basin ; but it is not yet clearly understood to what extent these variations are the result of local conditions or of the lapse of time. Species confined to one thin bed in Selsey elsewhere have often much wider ranges. The constant changes in the character of the sediments, and probably in the saltness of the water, are enough to account for the appearance and disappearance of many of the more sensitive species.

Taking the strata in order, commencing with the lowest seen on the shore near Chichester Channel, we first meet with sandy loams with flint pebbles and much worm-eaten driftwood. This pebble bed is apparently the same as that forming the base of the Bracklesham Series in the Isle of Wight. Then follow bedded carbonaceous clays and sands, with much driftwood and an occasional oyster, till near West Witter- ing Beacon we find a sand full of the drifted fruits of the nipa-palm. This is a nut about the size of and somewhat like the cocoanut. A living species closely allied to the extinct form found at West Wittering is a low palm which always grows in tidal estuaries of the East Indies, dropping its nuts into the water in such profusion as to become an obstruction to the paddle-steamers which navigate these estuaries. The extinct species of Nipa, of which several have been found in Britain, seem all to have grown in similar positions, for they are found associated with oysters and TeredoAioxt^ driftwood, not with plants and animals belonging entirely to the land or to fresh water.

More to the south, and consequently higher in the series (the dip is southward), follows bed after bed of carbonaceous clay and glauconitic sand, with driftwood and a few marine shells, till opposite Bracklesham farm commence the shelly beds from which most of the fossils are obtained. These continue to Selsey Bill, where the highest Eocene deposit in Sussex is met with in the Alveolina limestone of the Mixen Rocks, where it was formerly much quarried for building purposes.

The slightest acquaintance with the natural history of warmer regions brings out in a most striking manner the resemblance of the Bracklesham animals and plants to those of the tropics, and their comparatively small connection with the existing fauna and flora of Britain. Amongst the vertebrate animals the turtles, crocodiles, sea-snakes, and large sharks and rays find their nearest living allies in the tropics. The mollusca are distinctly sub-tropical, including numerous nautili, volutes, cones, mitres, olives, cowries, and other large and handsomely sculptured shells. True

1 Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc. xviii. 65 (1862).

^ Geology of Sussex, ed. 2, 410, London (1878); see also Reid, 'Geology of Bognor,' pp. 4-8, Mem. Geol. Survey (1897).

15

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

reef-building corals are absent ; but this may be due more to the muddi- ness of the water than to the absence of sufficient warmth. The large foraminifera also, though of extinct species, suggest tropical seas, and it is interesting to find in Egypt whole hills made up of nummulite lime- stone, belonging to a period not far removed from our Bracklesham. The palms also point to a high temperature, though the cones of pine occasionally found associated suggest a climate somewhat less warm. Few pines are now found in the tropics ; but on the other hand in the Bracklesham Beds pine-cones are rare and may have drifted enormous distances, while nuts of nipa occur in profusion in certain beds, as do the tropical shells.

It has been asked. In what direction lay the continent or large island from which flowed the river that brought this mass of sediment and all this driftwood ? The question is not easy to answer, for though slight indications point to land to the west or perhaps south-west, yet Bracklesham Beds of similar character, though much thinner, and containing the same nipa {Nipa burtini) are found in Belgium also. Perhaps the most probable analogy is with a tropical archipelago, such as the Malayan, with its dotted large and small islands. The few land animals found in the Bracklesham Beds are more suggestive of scattered islands than of a continent anywhere very near to Sussex.

From the Bracklesham period onward through several other periods the records have been destroyed in Sussex, and all that can be done is to outline roughly the probable course of events up to the Glacial epoch. This we are enabled to do through records preserved in adjoining counties, though for some stages the history is still so obscure that reconstruction is impossible. The marine Barton Beds, which complete the Eocene series, are well developed in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and they doubtless once extended over Sussex also. Whether this was the case with the fluvio-marine Oligocene strata which succeed is more doubtful ; for the deposits, though 600 feet thick no further off than the Isle of Wight, consist so largely of lacustrine sediments that land cannot have been far distant. Slight indications however suggest that the land then lay to the south and west, and that the deposits became more marine towards Sussex, and are therefore more likely to have been continuous over that county.

The succeeding Miocene period has left no records either in Sussex or anywhere else in Britain ; but it is almost certainly to this period that we may refer the great earth movements which caused the folding and bending of the strata to which reference has already been made. The mode by which we arrive at this date is as follows : The Eocene and Oligocene strata of the Isle of Wight form a continuous series without break up to the Middle Oligocene ; but the whole of these rocks have been tilted and folded as one mass, so that in places the bedding is now vertical : therefore the great period of disturbance was later than Middle Oligocene. To ascertain the date when the great movements had ceased we reason thus : The earliest Pliocene Beds of Kent rest on an eroded

16

HISTORY (JF SUSSEX

X," ^•^ iv- ruci

ttleliajiipton\_ t^^^^fjs-^fVv i-tfli

L I S H

THE VICTORIA HISTORY 0 f H!

SAL MAP.

E COUNTl ES OF ENGLAND

GEOLOGY

surface of Chalk, all the intermediate strata having been tilted up and denuded before the Pliocene were deposited : therefore the disturbance had taken place before the Pliocene period. This narrows the limit of time during which the great folding occurred to some part of the Miocene, or perhaps of the preceding Upper Oligocene. More direct evidence obtainable on the continent shows that the Miocene was one of the great periods of earth movement and mountain building, and to this period we may therefore safely refer most of the folding in Sussex. The movement in Sussex seems to have consisted of a horizontal compression of the strata from north to south, by which they were bent into a series of folds having an east and west axis. Thus was formed the large anti- clinal arch of the Weald and the syncline of the Hampshire basin, as well as the numerous smaller ripples which will be found indicated on the geological map. To the same period belong the very curious over- thrust faults so well seen on the foreshore between Eastbourne and Beachy Head, though these happen to run north and south for a short distance, for they apparently occur just where one fold is dying out and a fresh one commencing. All the folds are elongated domes, arranged en echelon, not in continuous ridges ; where one fold dies out a new one commences, but not exactly in the same line and not continuous with it.

The lateral compression of the rocks just referred to necessarily caused them to expand upwards, in the only direction in which they were free, to form east and west ridges. The largest of these undulations would now form a mountain chain over 6,000 feet in height in the centre of the Weald, were it not that rivers and sea combined to plane it down almost as fast as it rose. Its uprise however was sufficiently rapid to determine the course of the Wealden rivers, which flowed down the northward and southward slopes, diverging from the Wealden axis. During subsequent periods the country around this axis, being formed of rocks more easily denuded than the Chalk, has become lowered much below the level of the Downs through which the rivers now flow in narrow and deep valleys. A river once started tends to deepen its channel, but remains nearly in the same place long after the original slopes which first directed its course have been obliterated by the erosive action of its tributaries. The high cliff-like escarpment of the South Downs, which overlooks the Weald, is due to the erosive power of rain and rivers acting on strata some of which are hard and some soft ; it is not due to the waves of the sea as formerly thought. Standing on the Downs and overlooking the low-lying plain it is difficult to believe that we are not looking across the bed of an ancient sea, which once filled the Weald. But not only are newer Tertiary marine deposits absent from the Weald, but as Mr. Whitaker has pointed out, escarpments can readily be distinguished from sea-cliffs by certain characteristics. The foot of a sea-cliff keeps to one level, but cuts through various strata ; the foot of an escarpment formed by rain and rivers rises and falls consider- ably, but keeps to the same geological horizon. The northward-facing slope of the South Downs is an escarpment always having at its base the I 17 3

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

soft Lower Chalk ; the southward-facing bluff (still to be described) is a true sea-cliff, which sometimes leaves the Chalk altogether and cuts through Tertiary strata.

The Sussex rivers and their peculiar courses will best be understood from an examination of the accompanying orographic map. It will be noticed that the principal streams, Arun, Adur, Ouse and Cuckmere, rise on comparatively low ground towards the centre of the Weald and make a short cut to the sea through gaps in the South Downs. The Ashburn and the Rother, on the other hand, now flow over low country to fall direct into the English Channel ; but it is possible that they also at one time behaved like the other Wealden rivers and breached the Chalk hills at a time when the Downs extended more to the east, Topley, who did so much to elucidate the whole question of the origin of the Wealden rivers, thought that formerly the Ashburn, which rises on the south side of the axis, broke the South Downs a few miles east of Beachy Head, and that the Rother, which rises north of the axis, turned northward and breached the North Downs somewhere near the middle of the present Straits of Dover. ^ It seems doubtful however whether within the lifetime of the existing rivers the South Downs were ever continuous with the Chalk hills of France,^ though the North Downs appear to have been so, for chalk has been traced across the bed of the strait from shore to shore.

When we try to fix a date for the beginning of this peculiar valley system it is obviously needless to look back to times anterior to the last period when the county was submerged beneath the sea ; for the sea tends to plane down the hills and to level up depressions, so that any previously existing valleys are not likely to reappear when dry land again emerges. The latest submergence to any considerable depth seems to have been of older Pliocene date, marine deposits of this period capping the North Downs at a height of over 600 feet near Lenham, though they have not yet been discovered in Sussex. It does not seem probable that any of the existing valleys date from an earlier period, though there may have been an older system having a similar relation to the Wealden uprise. It is not easy to follow the exact course of events in later Plio- cene times, when the land rose and the streams began their work ; for the rivers have long since entirely destroyed their earlier deposits, so that no fossil relic now remains in Sussex of the interesting fauna and flora which overspread Britain in preglacial times. From records preserved in other counties we learn that these were times when large animals abounded — elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, numerous deer, mostly of species unknown in later deposits, besides animals of more unfamiliar type, such as the sabre-toothed tiger and mastodon. Towards the close of the Plio- cene period Britain was still joined to the continent, the Thames and the rivers north of the Wealden axis being tributaries of a larger Rhine, which then seems to have reached the sea somewhere off the present Norfolk

' ' Geology of the Weald,' chap. xvi. and plate ii. '^ Reid, 'Geology of Eastbourne,' Mem. Geo/. Survey (1898), p. 13. 18

GEOLOGY

coast. The Sussex rivers however, except the Rother, belonged to a different system, the relations of which to the English Channel is by no means clear. The main river seems to have flowed eastward through the Hampshire Tertiary basin in a course similar to and parallel with that of the Thames. The southern side of the valley of this ancient Solent river has now been breached and destroyed by the sea everywhere except in the Isle of Purbeck and in the Isle of Wight. At one time however its basin was probably nearly as large as that of the Thames, for it drained most of Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Sussex, as well as the destroyed south side of the basin, the area of which we cannot now estimate. Between Brighton and Beachy Head the valley of this old river seems to have turned southward, probably opening into the English Channel in that direction within a few miles of the present coast.

Leaving speculation as to the probable course of the Pliocene rivers, we reach firmer ground when we examine the Pleistocene deposits of the Sussex levels ; for these yield valuable evidence as to what happened in the county during the Glacial epoch, and during that obscure period when man seems first to have occupied the county. Sussex, it so happens, has yielded for this period a clearer record than that preserved anywhere else on our south coast ; but unfortunately its superficial deposits have only yet been thoroughly examined over the southern part of the county. We must therefore devote most of our space to the region lying between the escarpment of the South Downs and the English Channel.^

It has already been mentioned that between the Downs and the sea there spreads a low-lying plain, which beginning at Brighton gradually widens to 8 miles between Chichester and Selsey. This plain is not, as might be thought, an area of soft, easily eroded rocks. It is composed of strata of varying hardness, folded and tilted at varying angles, but all planed down to one nearly uniform level. The levelling was obviously done by the sea ; for not only is the flat land bounded on the north by a partly-obliterated bluff or buried sea-cliff, sometimes of chalk, sometimes of clay, but against this cliff here and there are still to be found banked remains of the beaches cast up by the sea, and in these beaches occur well preserved sea shells. The deposits banked against the old cliff and scattered over the ancient sea bed belong however to more than one period and suggest, as does the wide extent of the levelled surface, that their formation occupied a considerable time. We will now describe these deposits as seen in the Selsey peninsula, for there the order of succession is clearest and the series most complete. Selsey gives the key to the succession in other parts of the county.

The Pagham erratics, the Coombe Rock, and the Pleistocene marine deposit of Selsey have been referred to by all writers on Sussex geology,^

1 The following account is taken mainly from observations made in the course of the Geological Survey. See Reid, ' Pleistocene Deposits of the Sussex Coast,' Quart. Joun. Geol. Soc. xlviii. 344 (1892) ; 'Geology of the Country around Bognor,' Mem. Geol. Survey (1897).

2 See M^nteW, Fossi/s 0/ tf-e South Dozens {\?.zz) ; Dixon, G«% of Sussex (1850) and ed. 2 (1878) ; Godwin-Austen, ' Newer Tertiary Deposits of the Sussex Coast,' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. xiii. 40 (1857); Prestwich, 'Westward Extension of the Old Raised Beach of Brighton,' ibid. xv. 21 5 (1859).

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

but it was only during the later researches of the Geological Survey, when the superficial deposits were mapped, that the relation of these to each other was clearly made out. A series of storms in the autumn and winter of 1892 combined to cut back, the cliff, scour away the beach and lay bare sections unlike any that had previously been noted. Nearly opposite Medmerry farm in Bracklesham Bay the foreshore thus bared exhibited the junction of the Glacial deposits with the Bracklesham Beds over a considerable area. The surface of the Bracklesham strata was neither smooth nor channelled, as in an ordinary shore ; but showed clear evidence of the action of floating ice, probably of ' ice-foot ' such as forms every winter in the arctic regions on the shore beneath the cliffs. The ancient foreshore, which lay only a few feet above the level of the present tidal flats, was full of basins or pits from 2 to 6 feet across. Most of these pits contained nothing but loose gravel, with a few valves of Balanus and rare fragments of marine mollusca ; the others each contained a far-transported, erratic block, which had not merely been dropped, but showed signs of having been forcibly squeezed or screwed into the clay, until its upper surface was flush with the general level. The pits filled with finer material probably mark the spots where large

Fig. I. — Diagram-section to show the Relation of the Erratic Blocks to the Floor of Bracklesham Beds.'

erratics were formerly deposited, though, becoming again frozen into the ice, they were lifted out and transported to fresh sites. Among the erratics found on this coast were blocks of Bembridge Limestone, large Chalk flints and Upper Greensand from the Isle of Wight ; many large masses of Bognor Rock from the ledge a few miles to the east ; and numerous more rounded blocks of harder rocks, such as peculiar granite, diorite, felsite, porphyry and hard sandstone. Most of these igneous and Palaeozoic rocks seem to have come from the Channel Islands and the Brittany coast ; one granite with large crystals of white orthoclase felspar is more probably of Cornish origin. A large block of fossiliferous Bog- nor Rock, measuring 5 feet by 4, was beautifully striated. This is 50 miles south of the nearest glacial deposits of the Thames valley, and is the only glacially striated rock yet observed south of the Thames. Large granitic boulders of character similar to those of Selsey are scat- tered over the plain as far as Worthing, where two or three are preserved in the park ; other smaller pieces occur in the raised beach of Brighton, in which deposit however they were not originally dropped.

For the continuation of the Selsey record we must examine the coast nearly a mile to the south-east and nearer to the Bill, for there the series is more complete, though the glacial deposit just described has been

1 Figs. 1-4 have been reproduced, by kind permission of the Council, from the Quarterly Journal

of the Geological Society.

20

Fig. 2. — Glacially SxRiAThD Erratic from Mkdmerrv near Selsey

(Portion of a Block wkk.hing upwards of 2 Tons).

[From a photograph, half natural size, by Mr. J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S.]

^^^B>£,	1 ; ,s^i

! 4

3 + .

J +

Fig. 3. — Contour Map of a Portion of the South Downs between the

Valley of the Adur and the Devil's Dyke.

(Scale, I inch to I mile)

Explanation of Tints. 0 = 0-100 feet 1= 100-200 feet 2 = 200- 500 feet

3 = 300-400 feet 4=400-500 feet 5 = 500-600 feet

6=600-700 feet 7 (black) = 7oo-8oo feet

To face page 20.

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

not characteristically southern, though certainly not arctic. The as- sociated plants include the oak, blackberry, dog-rose, bird-cherry, wild cherry, and the maple of Montpellier, the last being a small tree of the Mediterranean region, found also in central Europe, but extinct in Britain. The plants point to a climate sufficiently mild for forest trees such as these, and therefore too mild to allow of the formation of ice- foot. Bed 5 does not appear yet to have yielded fossils at Selsey, but deposits probably of the same age at Worthing, Shoreham and Brighton contain only common littoral shells such as inhabit the English Channel at the present day.

West Wittering, near the western limit of the county, shows a still better exposure of peaty, estuarine loams with derived erratics, equivalent to beds 3 and 4 of the Selsey section. They yield quite an extensive series of land, freshwater and estuarine mollusca, flowering plants and mosses, as well as bones of elephant and rhinoceros. The lists are too long to reproduce; but among the mollusca are Corbicula Jiuminalis, Helix ruderata, and Hydrobia marginata, now extinct in Britain, as well as Helix lamellata, Succinea oblonga and Hydrobia similis, now having a restricted range and unknown living in Sussex. The forest trees include the holly, alder-buckthorn, sloe, wild cherry, cornel, elder, guelder-rose, wayfaring-tree, hazel, oak and sallow. The Montpellier maple has not yet been found ; but among the aquatic plants are two southern forms, Najas minor and N. graminea. A number of the plants are unrecorded elsewhere in the fossil state, and West Wittering has now yielded the largest flora of any Pleistocene deposit in Britain, or indeed in Europe.'

It has been thought advisable to deal with these comparatively recent strata at somewhat greater length than with the older rocks, for the reason that a thorough understanding of the climatic and orographic changes involved is needed before we can explain the origin of the exist- ing fauna and flora of the county. Moreover, though the whole of the strata described up to this point have so far yielded no trace of the exist- ence of man, yet it must be recognized that elsewhere strata apparently of the same date do yield such evidence. Thus at any moment the glacial and interglacial deposits of Sussex may turn out to be of absorb- ing interest in relation to the vexed question of the antiquity of man. To summarize : We learn from records preserved in Selsey that on the Sussex coast a deposit of glacial origin is overlain by one yielding a tem- perate fauna and flora, this latter being without admixture of arctic species, but including a few southern forms. Above these fossiliferous strata lie stony and chalky loam and Coombe Rock, which, if the interpretation of the evidence is correct, indicate a recurrence of arctic conditions. The strata yielding evidence of a temperate climate seem therefore to belong to an ' interglacial ' mild episode.

The next deposit to be described, known as the Coombe Rock or Brighton Elephant-bed, is a mass of almost unstratified angular flint and chalk detritus spread over many square miles of country and becoming

' The fullest list will be found in Rcid ' Origin of the Rritish Flora ' (1S99), pp. 94-6.

GEOLOGY

more loamy and less chalky as we leave the rising Downs and cross the coastal plain. It is particularly well seen in the cHff at Black Rock, east of Brighton, where it overlies the raised beach, in the Portslade gravel pits, and in the enormous ballast pit by the side of the Brighton railway near Chichester. Selsey and Bognor cliffs show the loamy modification of this singular deposit, locally called ' shrave ' ; while when traced into the river gorges it tends to pass into a more stratified and cleaner river gravel, forming a terrace well above the present river level. The horse and the mammoth are everywhere the most common fossils in it ; but the teeth are always much battered and decayed, as though they had lain on the surface for some time before they reached their present resting- place. Implements used by man occur in it ; but these also may be of older date, for they are not nearly so plentiful as in the Bournemouth or Southampton gravels, which belong to a somewhat earlier period. Nothing like the Coombe Rock is now being formed in Britain, and we must go to regions having a more rigorous climate to find anything closely analogous. It is not however directly of glacial origin, for none of the stones are striated, and the few from distant sources are such as we know occur in the underlying marine Pleistocene deposit. The enormous sheet of Coombe Rock has evidently been derived from the Downs, and a study of the contours of the Downs (see orographic map) gives us the key to its mode of formation.^

The peculiar rolling outline of our Chalk Downs, the steep-sided valleys winding for miles among the hills, yet never, even in the wettest season, containing running water, are familiar types of English scenery. But, perhaps because so familiar, it does not at first strike one that these outlines point to conditions which have now entirely passed away. No streams now fill these upland valleys, and where streams do occupy the bottoms of coombes, their beds fall very gently, so that they do not assume the character of mountain torrents, as any stream in the steeper coombes must necessarily do. It is impossible, under present conditions, for any stream to exist in these dry valleys ; for the Chalk is so porous that the heaviest rain sinks in directly, and the most continued rainfall merely causes new springs to burst out at some point rather higher up the valley than usual. The upper and steeper portion of the valley still remains perfectly dry, and no running water can be found where the incline of the bottom of the valley exceeds the slope of the plane of saturation in the Chalk. The characteristic contour of these valleys is well shown in the Downs near Brighton (see fig. 3).

Though in Sussex the contemporaneous fossils of the Coombe Rock are insufficient to indicate the climatic conditions that held while it was being deposited and while the coombes were being excavated, yet in other districts this evidence can be obtained. At Fisherton near Salis- bury corresponding beds yield many species of high northern mammals, such as the reindeer, musk ox and lemming, while at Bovey Tracey in

1 Reid, ' On the Origin of Dry Chalk Valleys and of Coombe Rock,' Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc. xliii. 364 (1887).

23

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

Devon they yield arctic plants. Judging from the northern character of the fauna and flora, the mean temperature of north-western Europe at this period cannot have been less than 20° lower than it is now — probably it was 30° lower. This would give a mean temperature in the south of England very considerably below the freezing point ; conse- quently all rocks not protected by snow would be permanently frozen to a considerable depth. This would modify the entire system of drain- age of the country. All rocks would be equally and entirely impervious to water, and all springs would fail. While these conditions lasted, any rain falling in the summer would be unable to penetrate more than a few inches. Instead of sinking into the Chalk, or other pervious rock, and being slowly given out in springs, the whole rainfall would imme- diately run off any steep slopes like those of the Downs, and form violent and transitory mountain torrents. These would tear up a layer of rubble previously loosened by the frost and unprotected by vegetation, and would deposit this rubble on the low lands, where the slope becomes less and the streams had room to spread over fan-shaped deltas of the material thus brought down.

One result of this exceptional type of valley erosion is seen in the peculiar way in which the heads of the coombes almost touch but do not breach the escarpment. Coombe after coombe can be followed upwards till its slope suddenly steepens and it ends abruptly in a sort of ' cirque.' If the terminal wall of this cirque is cHmbed the sudden drop of the escarpment is seen just beyond ; so that one can walk for miles along the edge of the Downs on a gently undulating ridge, which is often so narrow that from the same point a stone can be thrown down the escarpment on the one hand and into the coombe on the other. This shows that the escarpment has not been cut back since the coombes were formed, and it also shows that the coombes were formed when the escarpment had already receded to its present position. The abrupt ending of each coombe is obviously connected with its having cut back to a point beyond which, owing to the proximity of the escarpment, there could be no erosion, owing to the absence of any gathering ground for the rain.

The Downs are dead. Their flowing outlines and winding valleys point to bygone conditions, which can never recur till our climate again becomes arctic. The only noticeable change now going on is the gradual accumulation in the valleys of flints dislodged by sheep from the steep slopes above. Another less obvious change is caused by the gradual dissolving away of the Chalk by rain that falls on its surface. This is a slow process ; but its tendency is to transform fertile Down into stony waste, through the accumulation beneath the turf of a thicker and thicker mass of the indestructible flints.

Before quitting the open Downs, with their short sweet pasture and easily worked soil, so valuable when most of the country was forest, reference should be made to a curious relic of the ancient settlers. At the foot of the Chalk hills is often found a thick bushy hedge, which can

24

GEOLOGY

be followed for long distances, and also occurs under similar circum- stances in other counties. This hedge will at once strike the attention as something exceptional, for unless replanted in modern times it con- tains little hawthorn and is very wide. It consists of a belt of small trees, among which maple, cornel, sloe, hazel, buckthorn, wayfaring- tree, elder, holly and spindle-tree predominate, and are mixed with beech, ash, stunted oak, yew, crab-apple and service-tree. In short, it appears to be a relic of the vegetation of the original margin of the native forest, rendered denser and trimmed to a certain extent, but in other respects not greatly altered. At the present day this hedge separates the open Chalk pastures from the arable land, and as that has always been a con- venient boundary, it has commonly been left undisturbed. In old days the presence of a barrier at this point was of even more importance. It now prevents the sheep from straying into the cultivated fields ; it then prevented the flocks and herds from straying into forests infested by wolves, or occupied by thieves and outlaws, or still worse haunted by the thing unseen.

We are still very ignorant as to what happened during the dark transition period which connects Paleolithic with Neolithic. While the Coombe Rock was being formed the climate was arctic, and the relative level of land and sea seems to have been much as at present, though perhaps the sea was a few feet lower than now. Next the land rose about 60 feet, so that the channels of all the main streams were cut far beneath the level of their present beds. No deposits belonging to this period of slow elevation are found, and we do not know what climatic change accompanied it. While at their maximum elevation the valleys were clothed with woods of oak and pine and thickets of hazel, which flourished well below the existing sea-level. Then, during the Neolithic period, the land seems to have sunk again step by step, so that the deeply excavated valleys above alluded to were flooded by the sea, which then penetrated as long fiords through the Downs into the Weald beyond. The submerged forests, seen between tide marks opposite each small valley, belong to this period of gradual subsidence, which ceased so recently that its close in all probability only dates about 3,000 years since. Subsequent changes have consisted mainly in the gradual silting up of the fiords, till they have mostly become alluvial flats ; but the last subsidence is of so recent a date that the fiords and harbours thus formed have not yet been completely obliterated. The Ouse, Adur and Arun, flowing through a clay country and bringing down much mud, have already filled their estuaries ; whilst Pagham and Emsworth Har- bours receive little land-water, and consequently are silting up more slowly.

Since the period when the latest of the submerged forests sank beneath the tide there has been no further alteration in the relative level of land and sea. But for the last three thousand years the sea has con- tinuously cut into the land, destroying large areas of the coastal plain and gradually forming longer and higher chalk cliffs. In Roman times I 25 4

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

the coastal plain probably masked the cliff for several miles east of Brighton, and the chalk cliffs were much lower and less conspicuous. The sea has also swept the shingle beach eastward before the prevalent wind, to accumulate in successive ridges or ' fulls ' across Pevensey, Winchelsea and Rye Harbours. The mere fact that so enormous a proportion of this shingle beach is known to have accumulated well within the period of written history is sufficient evidence that the sub- mergence which started the process cannot have taken place at a time historically very remote, otherwise the harbours of these cinque ports would have been obliterated long before. At this point we must leave the chronicle to be carried on by the archasologist and historian.

PALiEONTOLOGY

FEW English counties are of greater interest to the student of the past history of vertebrate animals than Sussex, since a very large number of species of extinct reptiles and fishes w^ere named and described on the evidence of remains obtained from geo- logical horizons within its borders. The most interesting of these are undoubtedly the reptiles of the Wealden and the fishes of the Chalk, whose remains were collected so assiduously in the early part of the last century by Mantell, and subsequently by Dixon. A large number of these fish remains were submitted to the French naturalist Agassiz, by whom they were described in his great work on Poissons Fossiles ; while others were named by Mantell himself. Unfortunately the affinities of many of these fossil fishes were but very imperfectly understood at that time, and it has consequently been found necessary in a large number of instances to change their generic titles. This must be borne in mind when readers of the present article refer back to the original works of Mantell and Dixon.

In addition to those from the Chalk and Wealden, remains of extinct vertebrates are also met with in the Middle Eocene deposits of Bracklesham Bay, and although the known species are comparatively few in number, their scientific interest is very considerable. The mammalian remains from the gravels, loams and raised beaches of Pleistocene or later age are, on the other hand, of less general interest, since they belong to species which occur abundantly in many other counties, as well as on the continent.

Commencing with the remains of these Pleistocene and later mammals (of which there is a fine series in the Brighton Museum), two localities in the county where they occur are Bracklesham Bay and Selsey. They were at times not unfrequently dredged up at Selsey by the fishermen ; but they also occur in the muddy deposit on the shore at both places. The species recorded from Bracklesham include the mammoth {Elephas prmigenius), the straight-tusked elephant (£. antiquus), the horse [Equus cabal/us), the red deer [Cervus elaphus), and the wolf {Cams lupus). Remains of the goat and the Celtic shorthorn also occur, but these must be of later age than the mammoth. Teeth and bones of a rhinoceros, said to be Rhinoceros leptorhinus, were also discovered in 1877 by Mr. H. Willett in a deposit at East Wittering above the glacial beds of Selsea.^ Mantell also records remains of the horse, red deer,

* Dixon, Geology of Sussex, ed. 2, pp. 19, 114. 27

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

and wild ox {Bos taurus primigenius) from other localities in the county, such as Hove, Burton Park and Peppering near Arundel. At the latter place it is beUeved that a whole skeleton of a mammoth occurred in gravelly loam some 80 feet above the level of the Arun. Red deer remains have also occurred near the barracks at Brighton, as well as in the Western Road ; and those of the mammoth at Patcham, Portslade, Bognor and near Hastings. Occasionally too mammoth teeth are dredged off Brighton. The neighbourhood of Lewes has likewise yielded remains of the red deer and the Celtic shorthorn ; while others from the same locality have been provisionally assigned to the southern right whale {Balana biscayensis) and the narwhal [Monodo?i monoceros).

From a deposit at West Wittering Mr. C. Reid ' has recorded remains of Elephas and Rhinoceros in the lower strata, and those of Bos in a higher bed ; and to these species Mr. J. P. Johnson^ has added the water-vole [Mkrotus amphibius) and the common frog {Rana temporarid) .

But the most celebrated of these Sussex mammaliferous deposits is undoubtedly the Brighton ' elephant-bed,' first described by Mantell, and so named on account of the abundance of molars of the mammoth. This deposit also yields remains of the horse, the wild boar {Sus scrofa ferns), the woolly rhinoceros {Rhinoceros antiquitatis), and, it is said, the Pleistocene hippopotamus {Hippopota?nus amphibius tnajor). From the same deposit have been obtained a vertebra and part of the lower jaw, now in the British Museum, of Rudolphi's finner-whale {Balcenoptera borealis).

Passing on to the Middle Eocene deposits of Bracklesham Bay — the ' Bracklesham beds ' of geologists — we find that these have yielded teeth of a small mammal, Lophiodon minimus, distantly allied to the modern tapirs. The species in question was originally described from the Eocene deposits of France. Some of the teeth from Bracklesham are figured on page 311 of Owen's British Fossil Mammals and Birds ; they were collected by Bowerbank, and are now in the British Museum.

Remains of five different species of extinct reptiles have also been described from the Bracklesham beds. Of especial interest are those of a long-snouted crocodile, described by Owen under the name of Garialis (or Gavialis) dixoni ; but their inclusion in the same genus as the living gharial of the Ganges must be regarded as a provisional measure. They are the only known remains of the species, and are preserved in the British Museum, Most of the other reptilian remains from these deposits belong to the chelonian order. One of these is a species of soft tortoise, which has been named by the present writer' Trionyx bowerbanki. The remaining forms are marine turtles, of which the most abundant is Lytoloma trigoniceps, originally described by Owen (as Chclonc) on the evidence of a skull from Bracklesham. The genus Lytoloma is confined to the Eocene period, the present species (like most of the reptiles from the same deposits) being peculiar to the Bracklesham beds. A single bone (humerus) indicates the occurrence of a species of logger-

> Qunrt. Journ. Geol. Sor. xlviii. 356 (1892). ^ /j,.^^, Gco/. Asm. xvii. 263 (1901).

•' Cat. Foss. Reft. Brit. Mus. iii. 19.

28

PALAEONTOLOGY

head turtle which has been named by the writer Thallasochelys eoccenka ; while a fragment of the shell is sufficient to prove the existence at the same epoch of a species belonging to an extinct genus {Psephophorus) 'of leathery turtle.^

Vertebrae of two species of large serpents belonging to an extinct family also occur in the Bracklesham beds. One of these, Palaophis toliapicus, is typified by specimens from the London Clay of Sheppey ; but the second, P. typhceus, was described on the evidence of Bracklesham fossils. These snakes, judging from the form of the vertebra, appear to have been marine.

The list of Bracklesham fishes is considerably larger than that of the reptiles, and includes at least nine species first described from that formation, some of which are peculiar to the same. First on the list come two species of saw-fish, Pristis cojitorttis and P. bisulcatus, the former of which is confined to the Bracklesham beds, while the latter also occurs at Barton, Hants. The flattened roller-like dental plates of eagle-rays are especially common in these deposits, and have been assigned to five species, namely Myliobatis dixoni, M. striatus, M. gonio- pkiirus, M. toliapicus, and M. latidens, the last alone being typified by Bracklesham specimens. There are likewise two species of ray belong- ing to the allied genus Aetobatis, of which A. ftiarginalis is exclusively from Bracklesham, while A. irregularis also occurs in other Eocene deposits, and is typically from the London Clay.

Among sharks there are three representatives, Odontaspis elegans, O. macrota^ and O. cuspidata, of an extinct genus nearly related to the living porbeagle ; the three species are widely spread, and the first occurs at Newhaven as well as at Bracklesham Bay. There is also an extinct species of porbeagle, namely Lamna vince?iti, not peculiar to the Bracklesham beds, as well as the so-called Otodus obliquus, occurring elsewhere in the county in the Middle Eocene beds of Bognor. Large teeth from Bracklesham have been assigned to Carcharodon auriculatus, a widely-spread extinct relative of the largest of living sharks (C. rondeletii). Another Bracklesham shark is Galeocerdo latidens, a species likewise with a wide geographical distribution.

Of fish allied to the living chimasra, or ' king of the herrings,' there are two representatives, Edaphodon bucklandi and £. leptognathus, both common to other Tertiary horizons. Fish-spines described as Coelorhynchus rectus are also found in the Bracklesham deposits, from which came the type specimens. Among the pycnodont ganoid fishes, in which the palate and lower jaw are armed with a pavement of spherical or oval crushing teeth, the species Pycnodus kcenigi was first described from Bracklesham, but has been subsequently identified from the corresponding formation of Belgium.

As ' cat-fishes ' (Siluridc^) are comparatively rare as fossils, it is

1 Cat. Foss. Rept. Brit. Miis. iii. 224.

2 For the generic of this and two of the undermentioned species, see A. S. Woodward, Proc. Geol. Assoc, xvi. 10 ; in Cat. Foss. Fish. Brit. Mus. they are assigned to Lamna.

29

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

interesting to note the occurrence at Bracklesham of a species, Arius egertoni, belonging to an existing tropical genus, this species also occur- ring in the Belgian Eocene. Among the mackerel family [Scombrida) remains of an undetermined species of the extinct genus Scotnbrhamphodon occur at Bracklesham, and these deposits have likewise yielded specifically indeterminable vertebrae referable to the genus Xiphiorhynchus, an extinct type of sword-fish. Another Bracklesham sword-fish, Histiophorus eoccentcus, belonging to a genus still living, has been recently named by Dr. Smith Woodward on the evidence of a ' sword ' in the British Museum. Lastly, we have Platylcemus colei, an extinct generic type of bass [habridce] described by Dixon on the evidence of specimens of the dental plates from Bracklesham, and at present unknown elsewhere. Dr. Woodward describes it as ' an extinct genus known only by the pharyngeals, each nearly or completely covered by a crushing plate, which consists of coarse vascular dentine invested with a very thin layer of gano-dentine.'

The Lower Eocene Bognor beds — the equivalent of the London Clay — seem to be exceptionally poor in vertebrate remains. They have however yielded an imperfect turtle-shell, which was made the type of a species by Owen, under the name of Chelone declivis, although it has since been provisionally identified ^ with one from the London Clay of Sheppey, now known as Argillochelys convexa. Vertebrae apparently referable to the long-nosed Lower Eocene crocodile known as Crocodilus spenceri also occur at Bognor.

The reptiles of the Sussex Chalk are not numerous, although some are of considerable interest. The great marine lizards known as Mosasauria are represented by Liodon anceps, a species which also occurs in the Chalk of Norfolk and Essex. A second species of the group has been described on the evidence of remains (now in the Brighton Museum) by Owen under the name of Mosasaurus gracilis. These remains were at one time considered by Dr. Smith Woodward to in- dicate a fish of the genus Pachyrhizodus rather than a reptile, but subse- quent investigation has convinced the same palaeontologist * that the original determination was correct, although it does not follow that the species belongs to the genus Mosasaurus. The crown of another mosasauroid tooth from the Chalk of the county has been provisionally assigned by the present writer ^ to the American Cretaceous genus Platecarpus. The most interesting of the Sussex Chalk lizards is how- ever Dolichosaurus longicollis, a long-necked, snake-like, marine type also occurring in the Chalk of Kent ; in Sussex its remains have been found in Southeram pit, near Lewes. Remains from the Chalk of Washington near Worthing have been regarded as those of a small lizard, under the name of Coniasaurus crassidcns. Another presumed lizard, Rbaphio- saurus subulidens, is now definitely known to have been named on teeth of a fish.

' Cat. Foil. Rcf't. Rill. Mm. Hi. 48. » Cot. Fois. Fish. Brit. Mm. iv. 45.

■■' Cut. Foil. Rr/>t. Brit. Mns. i. 271.

30

PALEONTOLOGY

Large conical fluted teeth from the Chalk of Falmer, Glynde, Lewes and Steyning belong to the huge reptile named Polyptychodon interriiptus, which is a near ally of the better known Jurassic genus P/iosaurus, itself a large-headed and short-necked member of the group of marine saurians termed Plesiosauria. A tooth from Houghton in the Brighton Museum has been assigned to a second species of the former genus, Polyptychodon contitmus. The Brighton Museum also contains remains of long-necked plesiosaurians from the Chalk of Clayton, Lewes, Houghton, Scellescomb and Southeram, which may be provisionally assigned to the Cretaceous genus Cimoliosaiirus. To this type belong the plesiosaurians from the Sussex Chalk described by Owen under the names of Pksiosaurus bernardi and P. constrictus.

Two imperfectly known turtles complete the list of reptiles described from the Sussex Chalk, One is indicated by portions of the shell and vertebrae from Lewes and Clayton in the British and Brighton Museums, which are tentatively assigned to the typical genus Cheloiie. The other is represented by an imperfect bone (the humerus) in the British Museum from Lewes, referred to a species of leathery turtle, Protostega anglica, typified by a bone from the Cambridge Greensand.

The fishes from the Sussex Chalk number more than seventy, out of which over forty species were named on the evidence of speci- mens found in the county. Commencing with the rays, the first to be mentioned is a species of angel-fish, Squatina cranei, named by Dr. Smith Woodward in 1888 on the evidence of a unique specimen from Clayton in the Brighton Museum. The pavement-like teeth of the rays of the extinct genus Ptychodus are comparatively common in the Chalk of the county, and have been assigned to six species, of which all but the first and last were named from Sussex examples. Of these species P. mammillaris is recorded from Glynde and Lewes, P. rugosus from Arundel and elsewhere, P. oiveni from Lewes, P. decurrens from Brighton and Lewes, P. polygyrus from Lewes and Seaford, and P. latisshnus from Lewes. Nearly perfect sets of the dentition of the last-mentioned species and P. decurrens are preserved in the Brighton Museum. Of the existing comb-toothed sharks the common Cretaceous Notidanus microdon has been obtained at Brighton, Lewes and Newtimber. Among sharks with crushing teeth allied to the living Port Jackson Cestracion philippic and included in the same family, Synechodus illingioorthi was described by Dixon ' from teeth obtained in Southeram pit near Lewes ; while a tooth from Glynde is provisionally assigned to S. dubrisiensis, of which Dover is the type locality. Neither are species referred to the same genus as the Port Jackson shark absent from the Chalk of the county, remains of Cestracion canalkulatus having been obtained from Southeram, and of C. rugosus from Lewes. Special interest attaches to the occur- rence in the Chalk of the county of remains of a species of beaked shark, Scapanorhynchus rhaphiodon^ since this genus was long supposed to be extinct, but has been recently discovered living in Japanese waters. Of

1 As Acrodus. 31

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

the sharp-toothed sharks of the extinct genus Oxyrhina, one species, O. mantelli, was described by Agassiz from Lewes specimens ; two other species, O. angustidens and O. crassuletis, also occur in the Chalk of the county, remains of the latter (including a fine associated series of teeth and vertebrae in the Brighton Museum) having been obtained from Lewes, Houghton and Arundel. The porbeagle-sharks are represented by La??jna appendiculata from Lewes and Arundel, and L. sulcata from Lewes. Another shark, Corax falcatiis, belonging to an extinct genus nearly allied to Carcharodon, but with smaller teeth, was named by Agassiz on the evidence of specimens collected by Mantell in Sussex.

Passing on to the chimaeroid fishes, whose dentition takes the form of large triturating plates on the jaws, we find certain Sussex specimens identified with a species provisionally assigned to the Jurassic genus Ischyodus under the name of /. incisus. Of the allied Cretaceous genus Edaphodon four or five species are known to occur in the Chalk of the county, namely E. sedgwicki, E. mantelli (from Arundel, Brighton, Clayton, Glynde, Houghton and Lewes), E. agassizi (from Hamsey and Lewes), and E. crassiis. A tooth from Glynde may possibly belong to E. reedi. The second and third of these were named from Sussex specimens, A fifth species, based on specimens in the Brighton Museum, was described in 1878 by Mr. E. T. Newton, but was subsequently made the type of a distinct genus, under the name of Elasmodectes willetti. The Brighton specimen, we believe, still remains the unique example of this fish. A fish-spine from the Sussex Chalk described under the name of Ccelorhynchus cretaceus may, as in the case of the Bracklesham specimen with the same generic title, prove to belong to one of the sharks or chimsroids described upon the evidence of the teeth.

A fish from the Lewes Chalk described by Agassiz as Macropoma mantelli is of considerable interest as one of the comparatively few repre- sentatives in the later strata of the group of fringe-finned ganoids, which were so abundant in the Paleozoic, and of which the African bishir is the sole surviving member. The Sussex species is the only repre- sentative of its genus ; its remains occur at North Stoke near Arundel, Lewes and elsewhere. Of the pycnodont ganoids, already briefly men- tioned under the heading of the Bracklesham beds, the species Gyrodus cretaceus was described by Agassiz from Lewes specimens. Some im- perfect remains of the group have been described as Microdus occidentalis, but their affinity is doubtful. The species Ccelodus parallelus {Pycnodus of Dixon) is however a good one, of which the only known example is in the Brighton Museum. Another genus of pycnodonts is represented in the Sussex Chalk by Anomaodus angustus from Houghton, Lewes and Newtimber, and A. ivillctti from Glynde. The former was described by Agassiz (as Gyrodus) from a Lewes specimen, and the latter by Dr. Smith Woodward from the unique example in the Brighton Museum. Certain other pycnodont remains from the Chalk of the county are of uncertain affinity ; one type has been identified with the so-called Pycnodus scrobiculatus, first described from the continent ; the second

32

PALAEONTOLOGY

was named by Dixon Phacodus punctatus, the type specimen, now in the British Museum, being from Lewes. A group of five teeth from Lewes in the British Museum has been made the type of a genus and species, with the name Acrotemnus faba.

Another group of extinct ganoids — the Eiignathidce — are repre- sented in the Chalk of Alfriston and Lewes by Lophiostomus dixoni, the only other species of the genus occurring in the Cambridge Greensand. In a third family, the Pachycormida, we find the spear-like teeth of the widely spread but still imperfectly known Protosphyrana ferox (often incorrectly called Saurocephalus lanciformis) in the Chalk of Amberley, Glynde, Lewes and Newtimber ; a second species of the same genus, P. minor, was named from a Lewes specimen. In yet another extinct ganoid family, the Aspidorhynchidce, the species Belomstomus ductus was described by Agassiz on the evidence of a specimen from Lewes ; another specimen from Southeram, now in the Brighton Museum, was named B. attenuatus, but its right to distinction is doubtful.

With the species known as Elopopsis crassus, named by Dixon (as Osmeroides) from a specimen in the Brighton Museum from Mailing, Kent, but also known from Southeram, we come to a more modern type of fish, allied to the herrings. Another member of the same family [Elopida] is Osmeroides lewesiensis, which, as indicated by its name, was described on the evidence of a Lewes fossil ; a second species, 0. levis, has been recently described by Dr. Smith Woodward,^ the type being from Kent, but another specimen from the Lower Chalk of Lewes. The same writer" has also described a Lewes ' ichthyolite ' as Thrisso- pater (?) megalops, an undoubted member of the same genus, 'T. magnus, also occurring in the Chalk of the county. The fishes of this genus belong to the Elopidce, and are probably ancestral types of the modern herrings. To the same family probably belongs the genus Pachyrhizodus, of which the species P. basalis, P. gardneri, and P. siibulidens occur in the Chalk of the county, although neither is based on Sussex specimens ; the third species was originally described as Rhaphiosaunis on the evidence of its teeth, which were believed to be those of a lizard. A fourth fish, from Glynde and Southeram, has been described as Protelops anglicus, the other species of the genus, which also belongs to the Elopidce, being from the Bohemian Chalk.

To the family Osteoglossidce, the existing members of which are restricted to the rivers of the southern hemisphere, or to the allied Albulidce, may be provisionally assigned the fish described by Dixon as Plethodus expatisus on the evidence of a dental plate from Kent now in the Brighton Museum, this species being probably also represented in Sussex ; a second species, P. oblongus, is typified by another dental plate from Clayton in the same collection ; while a third, P. pentagon, first described from Kent, also occurs in the Sussex Chalk. Large teeth from Lewes have been provisionally assigned to the genus Portheus, which occurs typically in the Cretaceous strata of North America, and

» Cat. Foss. Fish. Brit. Mus. iii. i6 (1901). ^ ibid. p. 3;.

I 33 5

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

belongs to the family Chirocentridce, now represented only by the Indian dorab ; a second species of the same genus, P. mantelli, has been named on the evidence of a Lewes specimen in the British Museum. A lower jaw in the British Museum from the Lower Chalk of Hailing has been provisionally assigned to P. gaultinus, typically from the Gault of Kent. To the same family belongs Ichthyodectes tninor, a fish described on the evidence of a lower jaw from the Sussex Chalk in the British Museum ; other species of the same genus occur in the Chalk of the neighbouring counties. Scales from Lewes have been made the type of Cladocyclus kwesiensis, a species of another Cretaceous genus of the same family. Possibly to this family should be assigned T'omognathus mordax of Dixon, a genus and species described on specimens from the Chalk of the south- east of England, which may have come from Sussex ; other specimens have been found at Amberley, Clayton and Southeram.

Ctenothrissa radians^ one of three species of a Cretaceous genus typifying an extinct family closely allied to the herrings, was named by Agassiz (as Betyx) from Lewes specimens, the species also occurring in the Lower Chalk of Clayton and Southeram. Aulolepis typus^ the sole member of its genus, is another member of the same family named from Lewes fossils, and distinguished from the type genus by its smooth- edged scales.

Coming to the extinct family Dercetidce, which is allied both to the herrings and salmonoids, we have Leptotrachelus elongatus typified from the Lewes Chalk, the specimens from which were originally described by Agassiz as Dercetis. To an allied family belongs E?ichodus kwesiensis, first described by Mantell as a fossil pike (Esox) ; a second species of the same genus, typically from Kent, has been recently described by Dr. Smith Woodward ^ as E. pulchellus, specimens from Lewes and Southeram being in the British Museum collection. Hake eupterygius, typified by a specimen in the Brighton Museum from Southeram described by Dixon as Pomognathus, is another member of the same family. The same is the case with Cimolichthys lewesie?isis, of which the large spear-like teeth were long incorrectly known by the name of Saurodon.

With Acrognathus hoops, typically from Lewes, we come to the scopeloid fishes (Scopelida:) ; the only other known species of the genus is from the Chalk of the Lebanon. Another scopeloid is Apateodus striatus, perhaps identical with the Saurocephalus striatus of Agassiz, and typified by a skull from Lewes ; the two other species of the genus are from the Cretaceous of Kent.

Of especial interest is the occurrence of a fossil eel (Urenchelys anglica), known by a head from Lewes in the Brighton Museum, in the Sussex Chalk, since fish of this group are very scarce in the Secondary strata. The other two representatives of the same genus are from the Chalk of the Lebanon.

Among the spiny-finned bony fishes the family Berychidce is

' Op. cit. p. 194.

34

PALAEONTOLOGY 1267014

represented in the Chalk of the county by two species of the extinct genus Hoplopteryx. The first of these, H. iewesiensis (the Zeus kwcsiensis of Mantell, and the Beryx ornatus of Agassiz and Dixon), was named on the evidence of a specimen from Lewes now in the British Museum ; the second, H. superbiis (the Beryx superbus of Dixon), was described from a Southeram fossil, and has also been collected at Brighton. Another member of the same family, Hotnonotus dorsalis, described from a Kentish specimen in the Brighton Museum, and the only known representative of its genus, also occurs in the Sussex Chalk. A family [Stromateida) more nearly allied to the mackerels is represented in the Chalk of the county by Berycopsis elegam, a genus and species founded on a Lewes specimen in the Brighton Museum, and also recorded from Clayton. Another specimen in the same collection, from Steyning, described by Dixon as Stenostoma pulchellum, may indicate a second species of the same genus.

Finally, in the family of horse-mackerels or Carangidce we have a species from Washington near Worthing, originally described as Microdon nuchalis, but now known as JEpichthys nuchalis ; the other member of the genus occurring in the Cretaceous of Istria and the Lebanon.

The Wealden formation being of freshwater origin, it is only natural to expect that it should yield remains of mammals, since those animals were in existence long before the epoch in question. Hitherto however only two specimens which can be regarded as undoubtedly mammalian have been obtained from Wealden strata, both of these coming from Hastings. The first is a molar tooth of a very small mammal identified by its describer. Dr. Smith Woodward,^ with a Purbeck genus, and named Plagiaulax dawsoni \ its geological horizon is the Wadhurst Clay. The second specimen, an incisor tooth, is from the Tilgate Grit, and was described by the present writer,^ although not named.

The lower end of a leg-bone (femur) from Ansty Lane near Cuckfield has been described by Professor H. G. Seeley ^ as probably belonging to a Wealden bird, but the opinion has been expressed that it is crocodilian rather than avian.

Among the reptiles of the Wealden, remains of several species of pterodactyles, or flying saurians, have been described, several of these specimens having been originally regarded as referable to birds. Pro- visionally, at any rate, all these pterodactyles may be included in the Cretaceous genus Ornithochirus. The species O. clavirostris was founded on part of an upper jaw from the Hastings Sands of St. Leonards ; O. clifti, which is known from Battle, Cuckfield, Hastings and Tilgate Forest, is typified by imperfect wing-bones (humerus) ; O. curtus, of which the exact locality is unknown, is represented by part of a leg- bone (tibia) in the collection of the British Museum ; and O. cuvieri, typically from Kent, appears to be represented by a specimen from Newtimber in the Brighton Museum. The so-called Pterodactylus

1 Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1891, 585. 2 Quart. Jouni. Geo/. Sot. xlix. 281. ^ Ibid. Iv. +16.

35

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

sagittirostris, which certainly does not belong to the genus whose name it bears, is typified by a specimen from the Hastings Sands of St, Leonards, now preserved in the British Museum among the Beckles collection.

From an historical point of view the most interesting of the extinct reptiles from the Wealden of Sussex is however the huge dinosaur to which Mantell gave the name of Iguanodon, on account of a supposed resemblance between its teeth and those of the tropical American lizards known as iguanas. The history of the discovery, as told by Mantell,' is as follows : ' Soon after my first discovery of remains of large verte- brated animals in the strata of Tilgate Forest some teeth of a very remarkable character in a block of stone on the roadside particularly engaged my attention from their dissimilarity to any that had previously come under my notice. Additional examples were soon discovered, and at length I obtained a series of teeth in various conditions, from the pointed incised tooth of the young reptile to the obtuse, worn, flat crown of the adult.' To the reptile indicated by these teeth the name Iguamdon was applied by Mantell in 1825, but it was not till 1832 that H. von Meyer described the species as /. mantelli. Remains of this reptile were subsequently obtained from Battle, Cuckfield, Hawkbourne, Hastings, Horsham and Knellstone ; but it was not till comparatively recently, when entire skeletons were discovered in Belgium, that the true structure of the skeleton of the iguanodon was realized. These Belgian specimens showed individuals of two sizes, the smaller being identified with /. viantelli, and the larger described as a second species with the name of /. bernissartensis. Both types occur in the Sussex Wealden. Iguanodon was an herbivorous reptile, walking on its three- toed hind limbs, with the aid of some support from its long and powerful tail. The largest individuals stood but little short of 20 feet in height. Their three-toed footprints have been preserved in the Wealden sand- stones of Hastings and Bexhill.

Two other species of iguanodon, /. dawsoni and I.Jittoni, have been described from the Wadhurst Clay of Hastings, and a third (/. holling- toniensis) from the same stratum at Hollington. The much smaller but alUed dinosaur known as Hypsilopbodon foxi, typically from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight, is also recorded from Cuckfield.

A totally different type of dinosaur is indicated by a huge bone of the fore-limb (humerus) from Tilgate Forest, described by Mantell under the name of Pelorosaiirus conybeari, and now in the British Museum. American specimens show that the huge reptiles of this type were herbivorous and quadrupedal, with a length of 60 feet or more. The bodies of their vertebrae were excavated into large chambers. Such a vertebra has been obtained from the Wealden of Hastings, and may belong either to Pelorosaurus or to an allied form (typified by a tooth from the Isle of Wight) known as Hoplosaunts armatus. Smaller vertebra of a similar type from Cuckfield and Hastings belong to a

1 Wonden of Geology, i. 436. 36

PALAEONTOLOGY

species now known as Morosaurus brevis. Still smaller vertebra of the same, together with teeth erroneously assigned by Mantell to the under- mentioned Hylceosaurus, from Cuckfield and Tilgate Forest, have been made the types of another species of dinosaur by the present writer under the name of Pleuroccelus valdensis, the generic name being first given to a North American dinosaur.

Quite another type of dinosaur is indicated by Hylceosaurus armatus, a genus and species known only from the Wealden of Battle, Bolney and Tilgate. It was armed with a number of large bony spines, probably carried in one or more rows along the back. A lower jaw from the Wealden of Cuckfield described by Mantell under the name of Regnosaurus northamptoni probably indicates a reptile nearly allied to, if not identical with, the last ; the specific name was applied in honour of a former Marquis of Northampton, and does not refer to the locality of the specimen. The carnivorous dinosaurs are represented by a species of the Jurassic genus Megalosaurus, which has been named by the present writer M. oweni ; its remains have been recorded from Battle, Cuckfield and Hastings. Some remains of the same genus from the Wealden of the county have been assigned to a continental species, M. dunkeri. Of the crocodiles of the Wealden of the county, one of the most abundant is Goniopholis crassidens, a genus and species first described by Mantell from the Purbeck of Swanage ; its remains occur at Cuckfield and Horsham, and a nearly perfect skull is preserved in the Brighton Museum. The bony plates protecting the body of this crocodile are articulated together by means of a peg-and-socket arrange- ment. Vertebra from Cuckfield have been regarded as indicating a second species of the genus, named G. carinata. Crocodilian teeth from Cuckfield and Tilgate Forest of a different shape to those of Goniopholis — having a pair of sharp vertical ridges on opposite sides of the crown — have been made the type of a distinct genus under the name of Sucho- saurus cultridens. Finally, a more modern type of crocodile from the Wealden of Cuckfield and Hastings has been described as Heterosuchus valdensis ; but it does not seem certain that it is really distinct from a crocodile from the Belgian Wealden named Hylaochampsa.

Several kinds of freshwater tortoises are known from the Wealden strata of the county, most of these belonging to a group now restricted to the southern hemisphere. An exception in this respect is however a very remarkable Chelonian from Cuckfield and Tilgate Forest described by Mantell as Trionyx bakewelli, but now known as 'Tretosternum bakewelU. Although the shell is sculptured, the nearest living ally of the genus (unfortunately very imperfectly known) is the American snapper {Chelhydrd). A second, unnamed, species of the genus occurs in the Wadhurst Clay of Hastings. The Chelone belli of Mantell, from Tilgate Forest, is now referred to the genus Hylceochelys, typically from the Purbeck of Swanage, where it is represented by H. latiscutata. To the latter species is assigned an imperfect shell in the British Museum from the Wealden of Burwash in the county under consideration. The

37

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

tortoises of this genus are distinguished by the abnormal width of the row of horny shields covering the middle of the back. To a species of an allied genus, Plesiochelys brodiei, typically from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight, is assigned a young shell in the British Museum from the same formation at Hastings ; while fragments of a shell from Cuck- field in the same collection apparently indicate another species of the genus. It should be added that the species to which the names Platemys mantelli and P. dixoni have been applied belong to Hylceochelys belli. Very interesting are certain fragments of a chelonian shell from Cuck- field which have been made the type of a genus and species by the present writer under the name of Archceochelys valdensis ; but they are unfortunately too imperfect for the affinities of the genus to be properly determinated.

Of long-necked plesiosaurians two small-sized species are known from the Wealden of the county. One of them, Cimoliosaurus llmno- philus, from Cuckfield, was first described from the Wealden strata of the continent. The second, C. valdensis, which occurs at Cuckfield and in the Wadhurst Clay of Hastings, is peculiar to the county. The comparatively small dimensions of both these saurians are probably due to their being dwellers in brackish instead of salt water.

The fossil fishes of the Sussex Wealden are not numerous, although of considerable interest. Among the pavement-toothed sharks allied to the existing Port Jackson species the widely spread genus Hybodus is represented by H. basanus, a species first described from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight, but which also occurs at Hastings, Hollington, Pevensey Bay and in Tilgate Forest. Teeth from Hastings and Tilgate Forest indicate the occurrence of two other species of the same genus in the Wealden of the county. In the allied genus Acrodus the species A. hirudo was named by Agassiz on the evidence of a tooth, now in the British Museum, from Tilgate Forest ; and the same collection also contains a smaller tooth of this species from the Wealden of Telham near Battle. Fin-spines from Tilgate Forest have been made the types of Asteracanthus granulosus, a species of another widely spread genus of the same group of sharks.

Among the ganoid fishes, or those whose scales are bony, quad- rangular and highly polished, the button-like teeth of Lepidotus mantelli occur in the Wealden strata of Billingshurst, Brightling, Heathfield, Hastings, Horsham, Tilgate Forest and other localities in the county, often accompanied by scales. In the neighbourhood of Hastings and in Tilgate Forest these teeth are extraordinarily abundant ; they are known to the quarrymen as ' fishes' eyes,' The Wealden species, which also occurs in Germany, was named by Agassiz on the evidence of Mantell's specimens ; many other species of the genus are known from Jurassic and Cretaceous strata. Of the pycnodont ganoids the species Ccelodus mantelli, a member of another widely spread genus, was named by Agassiz from specimens of the dentition collected by Mantell in Tilgate Forest, A second and larger species, C. parallelus, was named

PALAEONTOLOGY

by Dixon (as Pycnodiis) on the evidence of a specimen of the dentition in the Brighton Museum from Cuckfield ; this specimen, we believe, still remains unique.

To a different group of ganoid fishes belongs Neorhombolepis valdensis, a species typified by a fossil fish coiled up in a waterworn sandstone boulder from the Wealden of Hastings now preserved in the British Museum. The genus to which this unique specimen belongs is typified by a species from the Kentish Chalk, and also includes a third repre- sentative from the Chalk of Kent and Surrey.

39

HISTORY OF SUSSEX

BOTANICAI

THE VICTORIA HISTORY OJ

[DISTRICTS

O* 20' 40'	20 51- 40'
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« EC	OUNTI ES OF ENGLAND

BOTANY

SUSSEX owing to its varied geological formations, its downs differing in elevation, its extensive weald, its forests, its cliffs, and its long seaboard, indented to the westward by estuaries, is one of the most interesting of our southern counties with respect to its flora.

It has been fortunate too in having attracted the attention of some of the more eminent of English naturalists in early times. As preliminary, therefore, a short history of the botany of the county is here sketched.^

In Gerarde's Herball or General Historie of Plants, 1633, we have the earliest account with which I am acquainted of plants with their localities in the county. Of the beech, the chief ornament of the Sussex hangers, he says : ' It groweth very plentifully in many forests and desart places of Sussex. The Sea Holly I found growing at Rye and Winchel- sea, and the Rock Sampier.' He also gives a figure, without locality, of the spiked rampion now met with in Sussex only, well describing it as ' bearing at the top of the stalke a great thicke bushy eare, full of little long floures closely thrust together like a Fox-taile.' This plant, which occurs at Mayfield and its vicinity, is not known in any other district in Great Britain. Another woodcut of Gerarde may be mentioned here. It is an excellent one of the pease earth-nut, with its peculiar tubers, which ' by the Dutch are called tailled mise, of the similitude or likenesse of domestical! mise, which the blacke round and long nuts with a piece of string hanging out behind do represent ' — and to a dead, shrivelled mouse they have certainly a quaint resemblance. Recorded only in Essex, Devon and Sussex, it was found at Eastbourne in 1888 by Mr. R. D. Postans.

In 1640 Parkinson mentions the bulbiferous coralwort not pre- viously met with in England. It is still a very rare species in Sussex.

In 1690 John Ray, the 'father of English Botany' published his Syjwpsis MethoJica Stirpium Britannicarum. He visited this county several times, and in a letter to Mr. Courthorpe, of Danny, April 28, 1692,

^ I wish to express my thanks to the following friends and correspondents who have informed me of the discovery of additional species and stations : Miss R. L. Arnold, Miss Gould, Mrs. S. Butcher, Mrs. A. E. Lomax, Mr. B. Oakeshott, Messrs. J. Anderson, A. Bennett, F.L.S., P. Coombes, W. H. B. Fletcher, J. & H. Groves, F.L.S., J. H. A. Jenner, H. C. Miller, Dr. F. V. Paxton, F. Townsend, F.L.S., W. C. Unwin, the Revs. E. N. Bloomfield, E. R. Ellman, A. A. Evans, A. Fuller and W. Moyle Rogers, F.L.S., who have aided me both as to the phanerogams and cryptogams.

I 41 6

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

thus gives his observations : ' After you parted from us at Cuckfield I discovered growing about there Anagallis aqiiatica surrectior, J. B. Car- damine impatiens, Pilosilla siliquosa Thalii. Astragalus sylvaticus Thalii, Bulbocastanum, Gramen nemorosum hirsutum and another pretty sort of grasse.' These it would now be difficult to determine. To Gibbon's edition of Camden's Britannia, 1695, Ray contributed the plant list. It includes Peucedanum officinale, hog's fennel, growing in the marsh ditches about Shoreham, but of this there is no recent record. Fceniciilum vulgare occurred in Pevensey Marsh, CEnanthe crocata, Lathyrus sylvestris near Poynings, Chamcedrys spuria at Cuckfield. In Dillenius's third edition of Ray's Synopsis, 1724, a considerable number of Sussex plants is given. Of Sussex botanists of more recent date the most eminent was William Borrer, born at Henfield in 1781, whose knowledge of the flora of his native county was probably unequalled. His ardour in this pursuit began in early life. His brother tells us ' that he did not remember the time when he was not enthusiastic in his love for flowers and in his ad- miration of the vegetable world in general, so that there was no muddy ditch, no old wall, no stock of a tree, no rock or dell, no pool of water, or bay of the sea that did not add to his delight and open to him a wide field for investigation and enjoyment.' He first noticed Isnardia palustris, and Leersia oryzoides was first discovered by him in Henfield Levels. As an authority on the Rubi, Rosae and Salices, the most difficult genera in our flora, he ranks among the highest. He resided at Henfield and continued his favourite recreation for more than half a century, dying in 1862. Mr. H. Collins of Aldsworth, himself an ardent botanist, accompanied him in some of his Sussex rambles, and his herbarium which contains many species collected by his friend Borrer is now in my possession.

In the old Botanist's Guide, by Turner and Dilwyn, 1805, we have an enumeration of the rarer Sussex plants, with localities, chiefly by Borrer. Watson's New Botanical Guide, 1835-7, has many additions to this. To Horsfield's History of Sussex Mr. T. H. Cooper in a supplement appended good lists of the less common species, especially as regards their climatic and geological distribution. In 1875 Mr. W. B. Hemsley published in the Journal of Botany, as an appendix, ' An Outline of the Flora of Sussex,' as showing the occurrence of our plants in the various districts, and in 1883 appeared Watson's Topo- graphical Botany, which enumerates the plants of east and west Sussex. These are the chief works relating to the botany of Sussex in general, which so far as the standard species of British plants is concerned is probably now as well known as that of any county in England, while what are termed the critical species have received much attention.

As to its districts, hereafter to be described, our information may be thus summarized. The West Rother has been well explored by the Chichester and West Sussex Natural History Society, and having lived therein for many years I have myself paid special attention to its flora, and that of the Arun, the adjacent district. That of the Adur was the

42

BOTANY

scene of Borrer's labours and those of Mr. W. Mitten of Hurstpierpoint, who contributed the Hst of flowering plants to Mr. Merrifield's Sketch of' the Natural History of Brighton. The Ouse district has been well in- vestigated by Mr. J. H. A. Jenner, Mr. W. C. Unwin and the members of the Lewes and East Sussex Natural History Society. In his Flora of Eastbourne Mr. F. C. S. Roper published an excellent account of that of the Cuckmere. The Rev. E. N. Bloomfield of Guestling, in his Natural History of Hastings and St. Leonards, with supplements in 1883 and 1888, has supplied a good catalogue of the plants of the East Rother, and for the Medway district we have Mr. E. Jenner's Flora of T'unbridge Wells and its Neighbourhood., with lists by the Rev. W. H. Coleman, Dr. Deakin, Dr. de Crespigny and other botanists.

Before considering our flora however, as it now presents itself to us, it will be well briefly to examine its origin — a very interesting subject — and this can only be done in connection with a wider one, that of the origin of the plants of Great Britain and the geographical distribu- tion of our British plants which can merely be glanced at here.

That this island once formed part of an adjacent continent is now generally admitted. Its separation must have been gradual, and along the south coast we still find this constantly enlarged by the action of the sea. A thorough examination of the fossil plants of Sussex is still a desideratum. Those of the earlier geological periods have mostly perished from the intense cold which accompanied glaciation. Mr. Clement Reid, who has studied the plants of the latest Pliocene deposit, and the flora of various deposits from that ancient period to the time of the Roman occupation, has, by collecting the seeds and seed vessels of numerous species, shown that a considerable number of the plants we still meet with existed in prehistoric times. With respect to submerged forests he tells us that the newest he examined dates fully 3,000 years since. In Sussex one of these existed at Selsey, whence huge portions of trees are occa- sionally obtained, and at Hastings there was a submarine forest which contained the yew, oak and pine.

The geology of the county being treated of elsewhere, it is only pertinent to remember that its strata belong mainly to the Secondary formations. The Tertiary beds appear chiefly on the coast in its south- west extremity, and strips of these, chalk, greensand, and the sandstone of the Wealden formations, are its principal features. The range of chalk downs in Sussex is more than fifty miles long, with an average breadth of four miles and a half and an average altitude of about 500 feet, rising to between 800 and 900 feet eastwards. The ridge of the Weald attains its greatest height at Crowborough Beacon, where it is more than 800 feet above the level of the sea. The coast line has an extent of about ninety miles. With respect to the districts hereafter to be considered, five of them are physically very similar, each having a portion of coast and down and weald, whilst that towards the eastern extremity is altogether on the Wealden formation, extending also to the coast, and the seventh occupying the northern slope of the Wealden ridge has no seaboard.

43

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

My friend, the late Mr. H. C. Watson, in his Cybele Britannica, mapped out our island into plant provinces and enumerated the species which occur in each. What have been called types have been thus established. Certain species have been found to extend over all Britain. These are denominated as of the British type. Other species occur chiefly or exclusively in England. Some are limited to Scotland or the north of England and Wales. These are of the Scottish type w^ith which we are not concerned. Plants which are found chiefly in the south-east of England and the counties adjacent to the German Ocean are classified as of the Germanic type. These include the chalk plants of which we have so many examples in Sussex including the insectiform Orchids. Another group of species is met with in the south-west of England and Wales, and occasionally extending far along the western and southern district. This forms what is called the Atlantic type, and is of peculiar interest to us in considering the distribution of the flora of this county. A few of them call for our special notice. One of these is the Cornish money wort {Sibthorpia Europcea), an exquisite little pink trailing flower, which, extending from the Scilly Islands into Cornwall and Devon, passes over west Sussex and occurs in east Sussex near Waldron, and no further in England eastward. This is a fact seemingly inexplicable. Scarcely less so is the case of the yellow bartsia {Bartsia viscosa), which beginning in Cornwall extends through Devon, Dorset and Hants, misses west Sussex, and reappears near Bexhill Common, where it has been established for more than fifty years. It is not found further eastward.

The question as to whether certain plants are or are not truly native is often asked, but is one on which botanists differ very widely. Mr. Watson divides our introduced plants into Denizens, Colonists, Aliens and Casuals. Denizens may be described as maintaining their habitats, as if native, but liable to the suspicion of having been originally intro- duced by human agency. Colonists as weeds of cultivated land, seldom found except in places where the ground has been adapted for their pro- duction and continuance by the operations of man. Aliens as certainly or very probably of foreign origin. Casuals as stragglers from cultivation. We have examples of all, which will be differentiated in our account of the Sussex botanical districts, and we need only observe that certain foreign species may be noted which are gradually taking up their abode with us, and have evidently come to stay, as for instance those farm pests, the clover dodder [Cuscuta trifolii), not long known here and very destruc- tive ; Bauxbaum's speedwell [Veronica Bauxbaumii), spreading rapidly in cornfields, and the lesser wart cress [Senebiera d'uiymd), becoming common all along the Sussex coast, which manifests itself when trodden under foot by its pungent smell. To mention one other only, the sand mustard {Diplotaxis muralis), which is now becoming frequent, especially by the line of the London and South Coast Railway. This I first noticed but a few years ago, and observing it also near Torquay was able to add it to the flora of Devon.

BOTANY

We will now direct our attention to the habitats of the more interesting species which are to be met with in Sussex.

If we consider our county latitudinally, we have three divisions which differ greatly as to the character of their flora — the Coast, the Downs, and the Weald. Let us take a brief survey of each.

I. Plants of the Coast. — As preliminary it should be noted that starting from the western extremity of the county we have the London Clay extending from Hampshire along the coast south of Chichester to Worthing, and that this includes the Manhood, one of the most fertile districts in England. Beyond Worthing we come to the remarkable shingle beach at Shoreham, on which some interesting species occur. Thence we have the chalk, which in some places abuts close upon the shore, as far as Eastbourne. Beyond this, to Pevensey, the beach is composed almost entirely of rolled flints derived from the erosion of the chalk cliffs to the westward, and is known to be in some parts from 25 to 30 feet in thickness. The flora here is of considerable interest, as is that of Pevensey Marsh. Proceeding further eastwards we have the sand.

The estuaries which include the Sussex half of Emsworth Harbour, Bosham Creek and Chichester Harbour will repay examination. Some of the species, although not showy, from the peculiarities of their structure deserve notice, such as the greater ruppia (R. spiralis), uncoil- ing its stalk above the water, the horned pondweed [Zaunichellia pedi- cellata), the fennel-leaved pondweed {Fotamogeton pectiiiatus), and the curious little spathes of the grass wrack [Zostera nana), while the sides of these inlets of the Channel are everywhere clothed with the glasswort [Salicornia herbacea), at first of a bright green, then changing to yellow, fawn and reddish brown, and finally to deep mauve. At Thorney Island we have the horned poppy {Glaucium luteum) and the wild English clary {Salvia verbenaca), the foetid iris or roast-beef plant (/. fcetidissima), and among the littoral graminece the scarce nit grass {Gastridium lendi- geruni), the very rare annual beard grass [Polypogon monspeliensis), the sea barley {Hordeum maritimum), and the sea hard grass {Lepturus Jili- formis). We next meet with the pretty pink sea heath {Frankenia Icevis), which occurs along our shore in marshy flats. At Hermitage too we have the golden samphire {Itiula crithmoides) in its vicinity. A little further on may be found the Danish scurvy grass {Cochlearia Danica) and the English scurvy grass (C. Anglica). The sea kale [Cratnbe maritima) still occurs occasionally, and among the crucifers to be sought for is the purple sea rocket (Cakik maritima), to be found at Brighton, Newhaven, Beachy Head and Eastbourne. One of our rarest flowers is the proliferous pink {Dianthus prolifer), as yet met with in Sussex only near Selsey, but which I have seen abundantly at Hayling Island, where it is extremely stunted. Amongst pebbles we have some- times patches of the curious sea purslane {Honkeneya peploides). Our coast, too, well repays search for the various trefoils, as the soft-knotted trefoil (^rifolium striatum), the rough rigid trefoil {T. scabriim), the

45

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

dense-flowered trefoil {T. suffocatum), the teasel-headed trefoil (Tl mari- timum), the subterranean trefoil {T. subterraneum) and the strawberry- headed trefoil (7". fragiferuni) are all to be found. A passing allusion can only be made to the starry-headed trefoil {T^. stellatum), since rapa- cious collectors are to be dreaded. Allied to these is the elegant birdsfoot fenugreek {Trigonella ornithopodiodes), minute and rather rare. On sandy banks are to be seen the biting stonecrops {Sedum acre) and the English stonecrop {S. Anglkum). The samphire {Crithmum maritimum), once abundant with us, as on Beachy Head, is still to be met with in almost all our districts, but sparingly. It once gave employment to our clifFsmen, and is in perfection towards the end of May. Having tasted pickled samphire by way of experiment I am bound to commend it. This is however to be looked on as a lost Sussex industry, and it may be doubted whether it will ever give occupation to our seafaring men again.

From the coast we have derived divers of our vegetables. Here we find the wild carrot {Daucus carotd), the wild celery [Apium graveo- kns), the alexanders {Smyrnhim olusatrum), formerly cultivated and still to be seen around old gardens, the sea cabbage {Brassica o/eracea), and the wild spinach or sea beet {Beta maritima). This I am of opinion surpasses the cultivated spinach as having a slightly saline flavour, and is less collected in the spring than it should be. The yellow horned poppy {Glaucium luteum) is not uncommon eastward. It usually grows along the beach just beyond the reach of the tide, but I have met with it on chalk as far inland as Bramber, On the cliffs below Shoreham we have the narrow-leaved flax {Linum angustifolium) and the star thistle {Cen- taurea calcitrapa), and as we approach Brighton two plants that are rare westward occur, namely, the seaside bindweed {Convolvulus Soldanella), and the sea holly {Eryngium maritimum)^ whose blanched shoots are some- times substituted for asparagus, also a prostrate form of the woody nightshade {Solarium Dulcamara, known as S. marmum), which trails along the shore.

Onwards towards Eastbourne we come to the shingle beach extend- ing to Pevensey, formed by rolled flints derived from the erosion of the chalk cliffs. Here some interesting species occur, including the least lettuce {Lactuca saligtia), the stinking hawksbeard {Crepis fatida), and the soapwort {Saponaria officinalis), while the lovely viper's bugloss {Echium vulgare) is very conspicuous. With the flora of Winchelsea and Rye we terminate our coast plants, coming upon the little bur medic {Medicago minima), and the sea buckthorn {Hippophae rhamnoides) on the Camber Sands, a very rare species, discovered there a few years

2. Plants of the Downs. — After a journey into Sussex, Gilbert White enthusiastically described our South Downs as majestic mountains. They may better be termed a chain of bold chalk hills, which stretch away in a south-easterly direction from the Hampshire border to Beachy Head. On the north they are steep and abrupt in the direction of the Weald, while they descend on the south with a gentle declivity. The

46

BOTANY

summits of our downs are covered with a shallow layer of turf, which has been said to be the finest natural carpet in the world, and there is every reason to suppose that they were always open, dry, and as we now see them so they existed in primeval days. With the exception of the Hangers on the northern slope, which are also probably of very ancient date, the woods which now cover some of their summits, such as those near Goodwood and Arundel, have been all made within the memory of man or within the reach of record. From Shoreham to Eastbourne the average depth of the soil is not more than four or five inches, and on this some of our plants become so dwarfed and altered in appearance and habit as scarcely to be recognized as being of the same species with their representatives on lowland soil. The permeable nature of the chalk has a remarkable effect on the superincumbent vegetation and renders it well suited to our orchids, presently to be specially referred to.

Taking our down plants seriatim we notice first the pheasant's eye {Adonis autummlis), with its bright scarlet petals not common in the county, but to be met with occasionally at Portslade and Rottingdean in cultivated fields, as is too that curious little species the mousetail [Myos- urus minimus). The hairy violet [V. hirta) is not infrequent westward. Many leguminous plants love the downs. By Duncton Hill, near the chalk pits, grows the rare sweet milk vetch {Astragalus glycyphyllos), with leaves which taste like liquorice. At Bury, Parham and Amberley we find the pretty narrow-leaved everlasting pea {Lathyrus syhestris)^ and in the same neighbourhood the yellow vetchling {L. aphaca). The horse-shoe vetch {Hippocrepis comosa) is rare westward but common on the eastern part of the range. Of the Rosacea we here note only the dropwort {Spircea Filipendula), which abounding in some of the districts is absent from others. Among the Composites we have the flea wort {Cineraria campestris) on the downs between Shoreham and Brighton, but it is local and uncommon, while the beautiful musk thistle {Carduus nutans) and the curious carline thistle {Car/ina vulgaris) are abundant. The bell-flowers are among the most lovely of our down plants. Every one knows the pale blue harebell {Campanula rotundifolia). The nettle-leaved bell-flower (C. trachelium) is to be found in chalky lanes, and certainly one of the handsomest ornaments of our hills is the clustered bell-flower (C. glomeratd) with its blossoms of a deep rich purple. Occasionally it may be seen transferred to cottage gardens, and it certainly well deserves culture.

AUied to these is the round-headed rampion {Phyteuma orbiculare), locally known as the pride of Sussex, and by many considered the loveliest ornament of the British flora. It is confined to the south of England, occurring only in Sussex, Hants, Dorset, Wilts and Kent very sparingly. Old Gerarde quaintly describes it two hundred years ago as having ' flowers of a purple colour, which part themselves into fine slender strings with threads in the middle, which decaying are succeeded by little cups, ending in fine little pointels and containing a small yellow seed.' Ray in 1670 speaks of it as growing on the downs of Sussex in

47

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

many places. It abounds on Beachy Head, and is to be frequently met with in the direction of Hampshire.

A pretty dark blue flower is the autumnal gentian (G. amarella), which decks the higher grounds in patches, and to the same family belongs that striking plant the yellow wort [Chlora perfoliata) of vivid hue and glaucous foliage. The tall mulleins are conspicuous in shady lanes. The great mullein {Verbascum Thapsus), known in Sussex as the blanket plant, which occasionally reaches six feet in height, is common. The dark mullein {V. nigrum) is local, occurring chiefly towards the west, as at Sutton, Harting and Racton. The white mullein {V. lychnitis) found at Halnaker and Dale Park is rare. The bastard toadflax {Thesium humifusum) is met with only on the chalk. It was discovered to be a parasite, attached by its roots to various plants, by the Sussex botanist Mitten. This curious little species has very small greenish white flowers and stems which creep along the ground, as its name implies. In Arundel Park I have noticed it in plenty.

Certain of the grasses which are found on the downs are beautiful and others useful. A handsome grass is the glabrous oat grass [Avena pratensis), shining with its bronzed plumes. Another is the rarer barren false brome [Brachypodium pinnatum) to be seen on Roche's Hill, Good- wood, and a pretty species is the crested hair grass (Kceleria cristata), but none is more useful than the sheep's fescue {Festuca ovina), to which is attributed the superiority of our South Down mutton, although some assert that this is owing to the zoned snail [Helix virgata), which we frequently find climbing up the stems of this grass, and of which no doubt the sheep eat quantities. To turn now to our orchids, in which Sussex is richer than any county in England, with the exception of Kent. A large proportion love the chalk, many delight in our beechen hangers, and others have their homes in the boggy lands at the foot of the downs. As to the insectiform species, we have the bee [Ophrys apifera), capricious in appearance, usually met with on the downs, but occasionally in low situations, as by Chichester Canal ; the pretty fly (0. muscifera), almost always at a considerable elevation ; the early spider (O. aranifera), in east Sussex, near Piecombe, and its variety the drone (O. fucifera), specimens of which I had sent me from Lewes. Some of our orchids flower at different seasons in different localities, so that one would suppose that they were of distinct species. As instances, the frog orchis [Orchis viridis), which flowers at Fishbourne in the low ground quite a month earlier than it does at Harting and Goodwood, and similarly with the fragrant orchis [Gynadenia Compsed), which is comparatively small on the downs compared with its very luxuriant growth in the valley of the Ems. The pyramidal orchis [Orchis pyramidalis), with its dense spike of lovely rose, is common along the whole range. We have both the greater butterfly [Habenaria chhranthd) and the lesser butterfly [H. bifo/ia). The curious green man orchis [Aceras anthropophoni) occurs at Horeham, and Hurstpierpoint. The dwarf dark-winged orchis (O. ustulatd) is only found eastward, but

48

BOTANY

abounds near Beachy Head. In our hangers we have the brown bird's nest {Neottia nidus-avis) and the tway blade [Listera ovata), and there too we meet with the helleborines. The large white helleborine {Cephalanthera grandifiora), known in Sussex as the egg orchis, a hand- some species, is common ; the lesser white (C. ensif'olid) occurs near Goodwood, but is rare ; the broad-leaved helleborine {Epipactis latifolid), of purplish hue, is not uncommon westward. At Harting we have the narrow-leaved helleborine (E. media), and the rare and beautiful violet helleborine {E. violacea) at Stansted. We must not omit the pretty green musk orchis [Herminium momrchis), which occasionally peeps up amongst tall moss, as at Barlavington and Duncton. The latest flower- ing species is the fragrant ladies' tresses [Spiranthes autumnalis).

3. Plants of the Weald. — The Weald Clay, says Professor Hull, forms a depressed tract of country between the elevated ground of the centre and the ridges of the Lower Greensand and Chalk, which enclose the Wealden area all round its circumference except along the eastern coast-line from Beachy Head to Shakespeare's Cliff near Dover. The Wealden area sinks down almost to the level of the high-water at Pevensey. The breadth of the Weald is from five to ten miles, and its length from thirty to forty miles. The Forest Ridge, which contains St. Leonards Forest and Ashdown Forest, is that portion of the county which, uniting with the Weald, forms the north-easterly division, stretch- ing from Fairlight Down by Crowborough to St. Leonards Forest, and terminating gradually in the western part of the county in the angle formed by the sandhills of Petworth on the one side and by Black Down and Leith Hill on the other. It is composed of the more elevated portions of the sands and sandstones. The soil consists of a sandy loam, or iron sandstone, or of a poor black vegetable sand upon a soft clay marl. It is for the most part exceedingly barren. In Sussex the existing forests of St. Leonards, Ashdown, Tilgate and Waterdown are portions of the primeval forest of Anderida, which through the Roman and Saxon eras remained entire, and is spoken of by Bede in A.D. 731 as thick and inaccessible. At the time of the Conquest its dense woods were beyond the pale of the Norman survey, as a glance at the excellent map prefixed to the Sussex Domesday, published by the Sussex Archsological Society, plainly proves. A view of the Weald from the Devil's Dyke shows us how much of woodland still remains. This, together with its heaths, commons and bogs present many interesting localities to the botanist. As affecting its vegetation, it may be noted that in the Wealden district the temperature is more variable, and the rainfall heavier, than that along the coast, which is due mainly to the large extent of forest land and the fact that the South Downs rise in the track of the rain clouds. And here, by the way, it may be noted that while more bright sunshine is registered in the south of England than in any other part of the kingdom, according to the latest records, Sussex seems the sunniest county in the country, a circumstance which doubtless has a favourable influence on its flora. I 49 7

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

As regards the plants to be met with, it may be noted that, begin- ning from the Hampshire border, we have Stansted Forest and Charlton Forest, both to a great extent planted. In these we have striking patches of the rosebay [Epilobium angustifolium), and beds of the meadow thistle [Carduus pratensis). Stansted contains some of the rarest of our helleborines, and near Colworth, in 1885, I found the very rare lesser winter green {Pyro/a minor) growing in isolated patches. In St. Leonards Forest are the lovely ivy-leaved bell-flower {Campanula hederacea) and the bog pimpernel [Anagallis tenella). The columbine {Aquilegia vulgaris), both white and purple, occurs here, and the scarce intermediate winter green {Pyrola media) in considerable plenty. Large beds of the lily of the valley {Co?2vallaria majalis) are one of its features, and in sandy bogs are the small chaffweed [Centimculus minimus) and the least gentianella {Cicendia fliformis), with the least spike rush [Eleocharis acicularis). In the forest meadows occurs the pale narcissus [N. biforus), and in various places near Horeham grows the wild service-tree [Pyrus torminalis), rare westward. Ashdown Forest, which contains about 10,000 acres, was at one time an immense uncultivated tract, but it is now partly brought into tillage and partly broken up into separate forest districts. From its name it might be naturally supposed to be favourable to the growth of ash timber, but amongst the trees growing in some parts of the forest an ash is scarcely to be found,' while pine, beech and oak, some of the latter of extreme antiquity, abound. Here there were formerly many ironworks, and in the old Hammer ponds occur several very rare plants. In one of these at Buxted, in 1827, Borrer discovered the marsh isnardia [Isnardia palustris), previously unknown in Great Britain, and of this I have specimens taken from that place in my herbarium. He afterwards found it on Petersfield Heath in Hants, where it is now apparently lost by drainage. It has however been rediscovered in Hants, and although now considered lost in Sussex, it is to be hoped that therein also it may be met with afresh. Sussex and Hants are the only counties in which it has as yet been found. In the Forest the raspberry {Rubus Idceus) occurs in quantity, undoubtedly wild. Worth, Tilgate, and Dallington Forests were all to a great extent denuded of their timber by the Sussex ironworks. On the shore of the great pond at Tilgate Borrer found the hexandrous waterwort {Elatine hexandra), one of the scarcest species in our flora ; the plantain shoreweed {Litorella lacustris) occurs at Piltdown ; and in Tilgate Forest we have the beech fern {Poly- podium Phegopteris), and three of the club mosses {Lycopodium clavatum, L. inundatum and h. Selago). Waterdown Forest approaches the border of Surrey, and here may be sought the bristle-leaved bent grass {Agrostis setacea), the wood small reed {Calamagrostis setacea), and the white beak rush (Rhyncospora alba).

In my Flora of Sussex I instituted a comparison with it and that of the adjacent counties of Hants, Kent and Surrey, which need not here

' Rev. E. Turner, S.A.C. xiv. 39. 50

BOTANY

be given. The plants of Great Britain include about 1,960 species, and from the following summary it will be seen that we have 1,159 i''' ^^i^ county.

SUMMARY OF ORDERS, NUMBER OF GENERA AND OF SPECIES IN EACH ORDER

	Total	Total		Total	Total
	Genera	Species		Genera	Species
	in each	in each		in each	in each
	Order	Order		Order	Order
CLASS I			35. Araliaceae .... 36. Cornaceas ....	I	I
EXOGENE^			Div. III. Corollifora
Div. I. Thalanuflora
			37. Loranthaces . . .	I	I
I. Ranunculaceas . . .	10	33	38. Caprifoliace;e . . .	4	8
2. Beiberidaceas				I	39. ValerianaccE	3	6
3. Nymphaeaceae				2	40. Rubiacese ....	4	14
4. Papaveraceae .				7	41. Dipsaceas ....	2	5
5. Fumariaceae .				7	42. Compositas ....	39	ID!
6. Crucifera;			24	48	43. Campanulaceze . 44. Ericaceae	5	II
7. Resedaceae .				2	5	8
8. Cistaceae . .				I	45. Jasminaces ....	2	2
9. Violaceae . .				9	46. Apocynaces ....	I
10. Droseraceae .				2	47. Gentianaceae . .	6	10
1 1 . Polygalaceas .				3	48. Convolvulaceat; .	2	7
12. Frankeniacea?				I	49. Solanaceae ....	3	4
13. Caryophyllea-			13	42	50. Scrophulariaces	13	39
I3a.lllecebraceas .				I	51. Orobanchaceas .	2	5
14. Portulaceas .				I	52. Verbenacea- ....	I
15. Elatinaceae .				1	53. Labiatas	18	43
16. Hypericacese				9	54. Boraginaceas ....	8	15
17. Malvaceae .			3	6	55. Pinguiculaceas . . .	I	4
18. Tiliaceae . .				3	56. Primulaceae ....	8	12
19. Linacea .				3	57. Plumbaginacea .	2	5
20. Geraniaceae . 21. Ilicaceae .				13	58. Plantaginaceae .	2	6
Div. II. Calya	flora			Div. IV. Monochlamydea
22. Celastraceae .			I	59. Amaranthaceae .		I
23. Rhamnaceas . 24. Aceraceae				2 2	60. Chenopodiaceae . 61. Polygonaces . . .		23 24
25. Leguminosae 26. Rosaceas . . 27. Lythraceae . 28. Onagraceae . 29. Haloragiaceae 30. Cucurbitaceae 31. Grossulariaceae			'2	61 92 3 II 9 3	62. Elaagnacese .... 63. Thymeleacea; . . 64. Santalacez .... 65. Euphorbiaceas . . 66. Ceratophyllaceas 67. Urticaces .... 68. Amentiferae ....	ID	2 I II 2 6 30
32. Crassulaceas . 33. Saxifragacea.			2 2	8 3	Div. V. Gymnoipermie
34. Umbelliferas .			29	42	69. Conifera	3	3

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

	Total Genera in each Order	Total Order		Total Genera in each Order	Total Species in each Order
CLASS II Endogen^ Div. I. Petaloidea 70. Typhaceae .... 71. Araceas 72. Lemnaceas .... 73. Naiadaceas .... 74. Alismaceee .... 75. Hydrocharidaceas . 76. Orchidaceas .... 77. Iridaceae 78. Amaryllidaceas . 79. Dioscoreacea . . . 80. Trilliacea ....	2 2 4 5 2 12 3 I I 12 2	5 3 4 19 7 2 29 2 4 1 I 17 19	Div. II. Glumifera 83- Cyperaceae .... 84. Gramineae .... CLASS III Cryptogame^ Div. I. Fauularei 85. Filices 86. Lycopodiaceae . . . 87. Marsiliaceas .... 88. Equisetaceae .... Div. II. Cellulares 89. Characeae ....	6 37 14 I 4	65 98 3 5
82. Juncaceae ....	431	"59

NOTES ON THE BOTANICAL DISTRICTS, WITH LISTS OF THE RARER PLANTS IN EACH DISTRICT

I. The West Rother

This district, comprising the westernmost part of the county, is bounded on the east by a stream from the Surrey border, which flows by Shillinglee, Kirdford and Wisborough Green into the Arun, from which point the boundary runs along the west bank of the Arun to the sea. It is drained north of the Downs by the West Rother, a tributary of the Arun which it joins near Pulborough, and south into the Channel by two independent streams, the Lavant and the Ems. These are intermittent. The Lavant is usually dry during the summer. The Ems, which generally begins to flow in February, continues to carry down a considerable body of water until late in autumn.

In the northern part of this district we have the clay of the Weald, and in the neigh- bourhood of Midhurst and Petworth much of the greensand, with large tracts of boggy heath, common, and considerable woodland. Here we meet with many of our ferns, including Lomaria spicant, Aiplenium TrichomaneSy the lovely lady fern, Athyr'mm Filix fcemina, with its var. Rha-ticufn, Ccsterach officinarum, sometimes in abundance, Lastrea Thelypterh rare, and L. Oreopter'ts local, L. Spinulosa and Osmunda regain^ which in a bend of the Rother I once found six feet in height. In this part of Sussex this latter plant is now becoming very rare, and one cannot give localities for it. Unfortunately our scarcer ferns are now of marketable value and the rapacity of collectors and dealers appears to be increasing. Midhurst, GrafFhani, and Duncton Common with their silver sand and boggy spots afford some interesting species, as Gent'uuui Pneumonantbe, Filogo minima, Eriophorum vaginatuvi and Malaxii paludosa, and by the Rother we find the lovely flowering rush, Butomus umbellatus. We next come to the chalk with its plants already adverted to, and finally to the coast, which in this district presents features different from any other in the county. The estuaries of the extreme western portion are bounded by large tracts of moorland, some of which are now reclaimed. The Manhood and Thorney Island are on the London Clay, and beyond the latter is the vanishing islet of Pilsey, soon to be submerged in the Channel.

The rarer plants are :' —

1 With respect to the districts I have used the term ' r.irer ' r.ithcr th.in ' peculi.ir ' to them, beciuse species formerly so considered have recently been found elsewhere in the county, and doubtless as research goes on this will continue to be the case. Plants printed in italics are naturalized or not quite wild. An asterisk before the specific name signifies that the plant m.iy probably be extinct. Habitats

52

BOTANY

RaNUNCULACEvE

Ranunculus fluitans Lam. Helleborus viridis L.

Crucifer^ Cochlearia anglica L. C. Danica L. Camelina sativa Crantz. Lepidium Draba L. L. latifolium Br. Nasturtium amphibium Br. 1 satis tine tori a L.

Carvophyllace^ Dianthus prolifer L. Silene conica L. Arenaria tenuifolia L. Stellaria aquatica Sco/>.

HyPERICACEvE

Hypericum montanum L.

Leguminos^ Melilotus parviflora Lam. M. alba Lam. Astragalus glycyphyllus L. Lathyrus sylvestris L.

RoSACE^E

Geum rivale L.

G. intermedium E6r.

Umbellifer^ Bupleurum tenuissimum L. CEn.mthe pimpinelloides L. Daucus carota v. maritinius L. Gall.

RuBIACE^

Rubia peregrina L.

DlPSACE^

Dipsacus pilosus L.

Composite Petasites vulgaris Desf. Inula Helenium L. I. crithmoides L. Lactuca virosa L. Hieracium maculatum Sm.

Campanulace^ Campanula patula L. C. rapunculoides L. C. rapunculus L.

ERICACEi*

Pyrola minor L.

SCROPHULARIACE-E

Verbasum Lychnitis L.

Orobanchace-e Lathraea squamosa L.

Trilliace^ Paris quadrifolia L.

LlLIACE^

Ornithogalum pyrennicum L.

JUNCACE^

Juncus *acutus L. Luzula albida

Naiadace^ Zannichellia brachystemon 'J . Gay

Alismace^ Actinocarpus Damasonium H. Br.

ORCHIDACEiE

Orchis incarnata x maculata Epipactis media Fries E. violacea D. Dug. E. viridans Cranz. Cephalanthera ensifolia Rich.

Gramine^ Spartina stricta Roth. S. Townsendi H ^ J. Groves. S. Alterni flora Loisel. Polypogon monspeliensis Desf.

FiLICES

Cystopteris fragilis Bemh. Polypodium Robertianum Hqffm.

Equisetace^

Equisetum sylvaticum L.

II. The Arun

In tracing the boundaries of this district a start may be made at the Surrey border, and a line followed through Roughey Street across St. Leonards Forest, by Stone Lodge and Colegate to Pease Pottage Gate, thence south to Hand Cross, westward over Plummer's Plain to Monk's Gate, across country to the junction of the railways near Plumtree Cross, on to Bashurst and Ludwick, taking the main road to Billingshurst, then leaving it again and crossing the railway to the east of the station, on to Coneyhurst, Broadford Green, Chiltington, Thakeham, skirting Heath Common, through Washington, Highden, Findon, West Tarring and Heene to the sea, a little west of Worthing. This district includes the greater part of St. Leonards Forest, and stretches across the county in its widest part. It is drained by the Arun and a few tributary rivulets.

and localities for all the species are given at length in my Flora of Sussex, and the same nomenclature of genera and species is here adopted. Since its publication a considerable number of additions have been made.

53

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

There is perhaps a greater diversity of soil in this district than in any other. In the north we have sands and sandstones alternating with beds of clay, and on these St. Leonards Forest of about 10,000 acres, in which many interesting plants previously referred to occur. The marsh and bog lands at the foot of the Downs, as at Chiltington Common, contain numerous species which delight the botanist, such as Utricularia minor, formerly questionable in Sussex, Potentilla Comarum, Menyanthes trifoliata, Hydrocharis Morsus-rancs, and Pilularia glohulifera, rare in the county. Further south are the Amberley Wild Brooks, in the valley of the Arun, an immense marshy tract for Sussex, which when flooded in winter resembles a lake in dimensions. Here grew formerly the black crowberry, Empetrum nigrum, perhaps not extinct, and the cranberry, Faccinium oxycoccos, now rare, but which formerly so abounded that its fruit sold at a shilling a quart, and here are to be found Stellaria glauca, Hypericum elodes, Myrica Gale, Viola palustris, Eriophorum vaginatum, and Carex teretiuscula. Vegetable mould here first appears, and then from four to five feet of peat on a dark blue silt or clay.

The banks of the Arun well repay investigation, and near Arundel, on both sides of the river affected by the tide, we have Scirpus carinatus and S. triqueter, both very rare, the latter being found only by the Arun and the Thames. Clymping Sands near its mouth afford good botanising.

Among the rarer plants of this district are : —

Ranunculace^ Helleborus foetidus L.

Crucifer^ Draba muralis L. Erysimum cheiranthoides L. Lepidium ruderale L.

LeGUMINIFERjE

Trifolium ochroleucum L. T. sufFocatum L.

Rosacea Rubus fissus Lirtdl. R. carpinifolius fV. y N. R. plicatus W. y A'.

Haloragiace^ Callitriche truncata Guss.

Sedu

Crassulacea album V. micranthum Bast.

CaPRIFOLIACEjE

Lonicera Xylosteum L.

Rubiace« Rubia peregrina L.

Campanulace^ Campanula Rapunculus L.

Ericace^ Pyrola media Swartz,.

Gentianace^ Cicendia filiformis Delarb.

Scrophulariace^ Verbascum pulverulentum Vill.

Labiate Melittis Melissophyllum L. Boraginace^ Anchusa sempervirens L. Myosotis sylvatica Hofm.

PlNGUICULACE^

Utricularia minor L. U. intermedia Hayne

EuPHORBIACE^

Euphorbia coralloiiies L.

Amentifer^ Salix ambigua v. spathulata Ehrh.

Cyperace^ Scirpus carinatus Sot. S. triqueter L. Carex elongata L. C. teretiuscula Good.

Gramine« Calamagrostis lanceolata Roth. Leersia oryzoides Sifartz

FiLICES

Lastraea Thelypteris Presl. Charace^ Nitella gracilis Agardh. N. mucronata A. Braun. N. translucens Agardh. N. flexilis Agardh.

III. The Adur

The confines of this district are the Arun boundary from the sea to Plummet's Plain, and thence the Ouse boundary to Rottingdean and the sea a little east of Brighton. It is drained by the Adur, whose e.astern and western waters coalesce about a mile and a half west of Hcnfield, and by its numerous tributaries ; also by the Wellesbourne, a small in- dependent stream which rises near Patcham, and passing by Preston reaches the sea at Brigiiton.

To the north of the Downs we have that part of the Weald in which Borrcr made his researches, and in which most of his herbarium specimens were collected. The plants of the

54

BOTANY

chalk, especially in the neighbourhood of Brighton, have been already referred to. To the west of Brighton the Adur flows into the sea at Shoreham. Some low cliffs in the vicinity, composed of sand, gravel, and comminuted shells, afford many interesting species, while the ballast along Shoreham Harbour is the abode of several varieties. Among the rarer plants we have : —

Crucifer^ Sisymbrium Sophia L. Matthiola incana R. Br.

Caryophyllace^ Silene *noctiflora L. S. *italica Pers.

TlLIACE^

Tilia gi-andiflora Ekrh.

Geraniace-* Geranium lucidum L. Erodium maritimum 5ot.

LeGUMINIFERjE

TrifoHum stdlatum L.

T. glomeratum L.

Vicia lutea L.

V. *bithynica L.

Lathyrus aphaca L.

Anthyllis Vulneraria v. Dillenii Schultz.

Rosacea Rubus affinis W. i3 N. R. incurvatus Bab. R. thyrsoidens Wimm. R. Grabowskii Weihe R. villicaulis W. y N. R. Hystrix Bab. R. echinatus Lind. R. fusco-ater Weihe R. diversifolius Lindl. R. Guntheri Weihe R. althaeifolius Host. Rosa Sabini Woods R. Doniana „

Onagrace-s Epilobium lanceolatum &chn. Isnardia *palustris L.

Haloragiace^ Callitriche obtusangula Le Gal.

UmBELLIFERjE

Caucalis daucoides L.

RUBIACE^

Galium sylvestre Poll.

Composite Crepis fcetida L.

ScROPHULARIACEiE

Melampyrum arvense L. Limosella aquatica L.

PoLYGONACE/E

Rumex palustris Sot.

Amentifer^ Salix pentranda L. S. purpurea v. Helix L. S. rubra Huds. S. triandra v. amygdalina L. S. Smithiana Wild. S. cinerea v. oleifolia Sm. S. ambigua Ehrh.

Chenopodiace« Atriplex rosea L.

PoLYGONACEiE

Rumex palustris Sot.

CyperacejE Carex elongata L.

Charace^ Chara vulgaris v. longibracteata Kuetz. Tolypella glomerata Leonh. T. prolifera Leonh.

IV. The Ouse

The limits of this district may be thus defined : We take first the Cuckmere boundary to Cross-in-Hand, and thence follow the East Rother boundary to Castle Hill, near Rotherfield. We then turn westward across the ridge of the Weald to Sand Hill, Stone Cross, Crowboro' Gate, Duddleswell Gate, Sweet Mine Pits, Nutley Hill, Charlwood, Charlwood Gate, Wych Cross, Cold Harbour, Tyne's Cross, West Hoathly, Turner's Hill, Half Smock, across Bal- combe Down and Highbeech Warren to Hand Cross, thence on to Plummer's Plain, turning south-east, past Eastland's Farm, Slut House Farm, Warninglid, Slough Green and Whiteman's Green to Cuckfield, Butler's Green, over the tunnel at Hayward's Heath, taking the road to Wivelsfield by way of Westwood to Ditchling and Westmeston, striking the Downs east of Ditchling Beacon to Falmer, Newmarket Hill and Rottingdean. This district is drained by the Ouse, which has a larger catchment basin than any other in the county, and by its tributaries, the Uckfield, the Black-brook and the Ritch. Mr. J. H. A. Jenner of Lewes, who has given more attention to this district than any other observer, m his 'Notei on the Flora of the South Downs, states that the chalk hills of that neighbourhood are remarkably free from wood, with some few exceptions on the northern slope, and thus differ much from the downs of West Sussex and Kent. There are also cultivated tracts which

55

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

have been lately much on the increase. On the open Downs the bulk of the turf consists of Festuca ov'ma and Bromus erectus, with here and there an admixture of Kceleria cristata, and on the northern slopes the very conspicuous Brachypodium pinnatum. On the broken de- clivities and ridges of cultivated ground grow Rosa micrantha, Rosa rubiginosa, rarely Rosa spinosissima and Rosa septum^ the last named being very local. Juniperus communis is extremely rare here, and only grows to the height of a few inches. The wooded parts are chiefly com- posed of beech and ash ; oak only occasionally occurs. Taxus baccata is invariably planted.

Ranunculace^ EranthU hyemale Salisb. Ranunculus Lingua L. Delphinium Ajacis Reich.

CrUCIFERjE

Nasturtium amphibium Br. Thlaspi perfoliatum L.

Caryophvllace^ Silene noctiflora L.

HyPERICACEjE

Hypericum montanum L.

Leguminifer^ Trifolium maritimum Huds. Vicia lathyroides L. Anthyllis vulneraria v. Dillenii.

Rosacea Rosa sepium Thuil. R. tomentosa v. subglobosa S«. R. canina v. lutetiana Leman

V. sphaerica Grem.

V. urbica Leman

V. arvatica Bak.

v. tomentella Leman

Umbellifer^ Seseli Libanotis Koch.

Gentianace^ Gentiania campestris L. Limnanthemum peltatum Link.

Labiate Melittis Melissophyllum L.

PoLYGONACE^

Rumex maximus Schreb.

EuPHORBIACE«

Euphorbia pilosa L.

Umentifer^ Salix pentandra L.

Orchidace^e Orchis ustulata L. Habenaria albida Br. Ophrys aranifera Huds. Herminium monorchis Br.

Amaryllidace^ Leucojum aestivum L.

Naiadace^ Potamogeton Friesii Rupr.

Charace^ Chara fragllis v. Hedwigii Desv.

Nitella transit

Agardh.

V. The Cuckmere

In tracing the limits of this district we take the East Rother boundary to Cross-in-Hand, and then turn west of Passingworth Woods to Hawkhurst Common, East Hoathly, Stone Cross (to the west of Vert Woods), across the Dicker to Berwick, Alfriston and Climping, thence to the signal house on the coast west of Cuckmere Haven. The drainage of the western and largest part of this district is effected by the Cuckmere, which has two principal streams uniting at Hellingly. An independent stream, the Ashburn, drains the eastern portion and reaches the sea near the Red House at Pevensey. The outfall of the Cuckmere at Cuckmere Haven is bounded on the east and west by chalk cliffs, and is frequently blocked up by the shingle, which the set of the tide under the action of a south-west wind accumulates, and affords a favourable locality for marine plants. The highest points in this district are the South Downs, on the south-west, which rise to 536 feet at the noble promontory of Beachy Head.

The Wealden beds here are to a great extent brought under cultivation, and the wood- lands are comparatively few. There is one large plantation however of about 1,000 acres, which chiefly consists of oak ; this includes Abbot's Wood, Wilmington Wood, Folkington Wood, and Gnat Wood, which latter has been thoroughly explored, and affords many interest- ing species. The Pevensey Levels, consisting of alluvium, form an extensive flat extending for nearly seven miles along the shore, and running for about six miles inland ; bordering this is a shingle beach about a mile in width at Langley, and forming thence a narrow belt from Pevensey to Bexhill. Here, although an unpromising place, a list of 152 plants was made some time ago, and this has since been extended.

56

BOTANY

Ranunculace^ Ranunculus intermedius Hieitt.

CRUCIFEILffi;

Raphanus maritimus Sm.

ViOLACE/E

Viola lactea Sm.

Malvace^ Malva borealis U'ulton

Leguminifer* Trifolium sufFocatum L. Medicago minima Lam. Lotus angustissimus L.

Rosacea

Pyrus torminalis Ehrh.

Rubus Schlectendalii IV. tif A'.

R. horridus Schultz

R. althasifolius Host.

Rosa Canina v. CoUina Jacq.

V. Koscindana Bess.

V. verticillicantha Mcrat

V. senticosa Ach.

V. frondosa Stev. V. andagavensis Bast. V. caesia Sot. V. subcristata Bak.

Haloragiace^ Callitriche hamulata Kirtx

UMBELLlPERfl:

Seseli Libanotis Koch Bupleurum aristatum Bartl. Daucus gummifer Lam. Pimpinella magna L.

Composite Senecio campestris DC. Crepis foetida L. Solidago canadensis L. Lactuca saligna L.

Campanulace^ Phyteuma spicatum L.

Gentianace^ Erythrasa capitata var. sphaerocephala Towns.

ScrophulariacEj* Scrophularia Ehrhartii Stev. Sibthorpia Europaea L. Bartsia viscosa L.

Ceratophyllace^ Ceratophyllum submersum L.

Naiadace^ Potamogeton plantagineus Du Croz. P. acutifolius Link. Zannichellia palustris var. pedicellata Fries

CyPERACEjE

Scirpus uniglumis Lini.

Gramine^ Agrostis setacea Curt.

Charace^ Chara aspera Wild. Nitella opaca Agardh.

VI. The East Rother

The confines of this distnct are as follows : We start from the coast and take the Kent boundary to Tunbridge Wells. Thence we proceed by the road skirting Eridge Park and Blackthorn Hill to Rotherfield and go on to Butcher's Cross and Five Ash Down to Cross-in- Hand. We next take the main road to Burwash as far as east side of Heathfield Park, through Cade Street, Punnett's Town, Turner's Green, Dallington, Netherfield Green, thence to Battle by the high road dividing High Wood, between Beauport and Crowhurst Parks, and through Hollington to the east of St. Leonards. The district is drained by the East Rother and two small independent streams, the Tillingham and the Brede, flowing from the westward, which meet the estuary of the East Rother near Rye.

The southern portion of this division is situated almost wholly on the Wealden forma- tion, the cliffs of which rising sometimes to a height of nearly 300 feet from the coast-line, stretch from Cliff End Fairlight to St. Leonards, and from Bulverhythe to Bexhill. The remainder of the coast-line is occupied by marsh land, which contains in many places com- paratively recent marine deposits. The country is undulated with hills of the ' Hastings Sands' division of the Wealden, which culminate in the Fairlight Downs, and much of it is thickly wooded.

Among the rarer plants are : —

Crucifer^ Dentaria bulbifera L.

LeGUMINIFER/E

Trifolium sufFocatum L. T. glomeratum L. Lotus angustissimus L.

Rosacea Rubus thyrsoidens H'imm. Rosa canina v. dumalis Bechst. V. obtusifolia Lem.

CoMPOSIT^E

Senecio viscosus L. Hypochaeris glabra L. Crepis biennis L. Centaurea *Jacea L.

Eleagnace^ Hippophae Rhamnoides L. Chenopodiace^ Atriplex Babingtonii Woods

hi

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

EUPHORBIACE^ CvPERACEffi

Euphorbia platyphyllos L. Scirpus acicularis L.

PoLYGONACE^

Polygonum Rail Bab. Gram.ne^

Poa compressa L.

Amentifer^ P^3j^^^ ^^l^ig^^ ^^ Q^ll

Salix laurina Forst. p. sylvatica Fill.

Naiadaceje

Potamogeton rufescens Schrad. Filices

P. rutilus Wolf. Aspkmum marinum L.

VII. The Medway

This comparatively small district is bounded by Surrey and Kent on the north, and on the east by the Rother. Its southern boundary is formed by the Cuckmere and the Ouse. We leave the Ouse district at Handcross and bear westward across the Forest to Colgate and Stone Lodge. We then bear north-east to Roughey Street and east of Rusper to the Surrey boundary. This district is drained by the Medway, which originating in Sussex from a number of little streams becomes the boundary between Kent and Sussex, and runs into the German Ocean ; and by the Mole, an independent river, which has its principal sources on the north side of the Forest Ridge, and which passing into Surrey joins the Thames at Hampton Court. This district differs from the rest in having no seaboard. It includes Waterdown Forest and a great part of the neighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells, and has an argillaceous soil more or less mixed with calcareous grit and sandstone rocks in parallel ridges. Damp hollows, rocky ravines and occasionally patches of bog are frequent. Several lists of its plants are extant. Observers however have not always been careful to separate Sussex species from those occurring beyond the Kentish border.

Its rarer plants are these : —

Fumariace^ Umbellifer^

Fumaria confusa Jord. Bupleurum rotundifolium L. Crucifer^ Aristolochiace^

Cardamine amara L. Aristolochia Ckmatitts L. Teesdalia nudicaulis Br. ^

GeNTIANEjE

Caryophyllace^ Cicendia filiformis Delarb.

Sagina subulata Wimm. ^

^ Composite

Elatinace^ Cnicus Forsteri Sm.

Elatine hexandra DC. „

POLYCONACE^

' eguminifer* Polygonum mite Sch-ani

Genista pilosa L. Trifolium ochroleucum L.

Naiadace^

_ Potamogeton obtusifolius M. t^ K.

Rosacea °

Alchemilla vulgaris Scop. Or

JRAMINE«

Rubus pygmaeus Weihe Festuca sylvatica Fill.

R. affinis ir. y N.

R. carpinifolius W. y N. F'L'ces

Rosa Borreri Woods Asplenium lanceolatum Sm.

R. canina v. surculosa Borr. Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense Sm.

THE MOSSES {Musci)

The swamps in the Sussex forests, the bogs at the foot of the downs, the chalk, itself and the flints upon it, the sand rocks, old walls, and the trunks of trees, especially their north sides, and even the boulders on the shore, will afford plenty of interesting resorts to the bryologist. The mosses delight chiefly in damp and shady situations, though they

58

BOTANY

are by no means exclusively confined to such places, and the soil or sub- stance on which they grow is sometimes remarkable. One curious little plant, says Hooker, is found only on the perpendicular faces of the pure white chalk pits that abound in Kent and Sussex, while Fumaria hygro- metrica, common in our country, is almost sure to spring up where any- thing has been burned on the ground. Of mosses characteristic of the chalk we have of course many, while the arboreal species are numerous, especially in the Weald, which is the most humid part of the county.

The mosses of Sussex have had unusual attention paid them. Borrer, Davies, Jenner, Roper, Bloomfield, Mitten and Unwin have severally given us the results of their investigations concerning them. In 1870 Mr. C. P. Smith, in his Moss Flora of Sussex, published by the Brighton and Sussex Natural History Society, issued a compendium of them, with the names of their discoverers and the localities in which they occur. In this excellent little work too is recorded the stations noted by previous observers. From it I chiefly quote those subsequently given.

In 1878 Mr. W. C. Unwin of Lewes published his beautiful Illustrations and Dissections of the Genera of British Mosses, and in a Supple- ment, which he kindly sent me, gave the following account of two local species found only in Sussex: "■ Seligeria calcicola. Mitten. Not un- common on chalk nodules on the sides of disused and turfy banks, on the northern slopes of the downs round Lewes. Frequently observed on isolated pieces of chalk in and around Hanmer Park, also on Wolston- bury Hill. As a British plant it is only found in Sussex. Not noticed in Wilson's Bryologia. Acaulon triquetrum. Spruce, occurs on the cliffs between Brighton and Rottingdean and between Rottingdean and New- haven, frequently associated with Pottia cavifolia. It is a minute periodical plant, occurring only in some years. First discovered by Borrer in 1844. Since found occasionally by other Sussex bryologists and by Mr. Mitten, in various parts of the Sussex coast.'

The following species have been considered peculiar to the county also : Ephemerum tenerum, Astomum Mittenii, Anacalypta ccespitosa, Funaria microstoma, Bryum canariense, Brachthecium campestre, all detected by Mr. Mitten of Hurstpierpoint, with Acaulon triquetrum found by Borrer, Barbula canescens by Jenner, and Barbula vahliana and Furhynchium Vaucheri discovered by Davies.

According to Mr. C. P. Smith we have in Sussex 305 mosses, and additions have since been made. The following list is a selection of the more notable, and is arranged according to Hobkirk's Synopsis of British Mosses.

SPHAGNACEiE BRYACE^

Sphagnum fimbriatum, Wils. Henfield Acrocarpi

— Mongeotii, Nees. Aihdown Forat Archidium phascoides, Brid. IFet heaths

— auriculatum, Schpr. Hayward'i Heath Ephemerum tenerum, Hampe. Weald

— subsecundum, Nees. Bexhill — sessile, B. & S. Henfield

— cuspidatum, Wils. Blackdown Acaulon triquetrum, Spruce. Rottingdean

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX

ACROCARPI {continued) —

Leucobryum glaucum, Hedw. ChaiUy Phascum curvicolle, Dicks. Downs Astomum Mittenii, Schpr. Hurst

— multicapsulare, Sm. Weald Gymnostomum tenue, Schrad. Ardingly Weissia verticillata, Brid. Ardingly Dichodontium squarrosum, Hedw. Danny Dicranella crispa, Hedw. Tunbridge Wells Dicranum funescens, Turn. „ „

— scottianum, Turn. Ardingly

— spurium, Brid. Wych Cross Campylopus brevipilus, B. & S. Pressridge

Warren Fissidens exilis, Brid. 'Near Hurst Schistostega osmundacea, W. & M. Bolney Brachyodus trichoides, N. & H. Blackdown Anacalypta caspitosa, Rohl. Woktonbury Didymodon flexifolius, Hedw. Blackdown Pottia cavifolia, Ehr. Rottingdean Trichostomum rigidulum, Hedw. Hurst Barbula vahliana, Schultz. Angmering

— canescens, Bruch. Hastings

— latifolia, B. & S. Weald

— rigida, Schultz. New timber

— sumosa, Wils. Arundel

— squarrosa, De Not. Littlehampton

— insulana, De Not. Weald

— cuneifolia, Dicks. Maresfield

— marginata, B. & S. Hayward's Heath

— Brebissonii, Schpr. Weald Tetraphis pellucida, Hedw. Sand rocks Tetrodontium Brownianum, B. & S.

Ardingly Eucalypta streptocarpus, Hedw. Uckfield Zygodon Stirtoni, Schpr. Willingdon Ulota Ludwigii, Sprang. Danny

— Hutchinsias, Sm. Trees on the Downs

— crispula, Bruch. Tunbridge Wells

— phyllantha, B. & S. Trees, Downs and

coast Orthotrichum tenellum, B. & S. Ash trees on the Downs

— speciosum, Nees. Henfield

— rivulare, Turn. Weald

— pulchellum, Sm. Hastings

— sprucei, Mont. Weald Racomitrium fasciculare, Hedw. Balcombe

— lanuginosum, Hedw. Henfield Cinclidotus fontinaloides, P. Beauv. By

the Arun Splachnum ampullaceum, L. Tilgate Physcomitrium fasciculare, Hedw. Pyecombe Funaria calcarea, Brid. Clayton Downs

— microstoma, B. & S. Maresfield

ACROCARPI {continued) —

Orthodontium gracile, Schwpr. Sand rocks Bryum bimum, Schreb. Henfield

— torquescens, B. & S. Tunbridge Wells

— canariense, Shwgr. Wolstonbury

— turbinatum, Hedw. Albourne

— alpinum, L. Forests Mnium serratum, L. Blackdown

— rostratum, Schwgr. Arundel

— riparium. Mitt. Weald

— cuspidatum, Hedw. Danny Bartramia stricta, Brid. Maresfield Diphyscium foliosum, W. & M. Bridge

Pleurocarpi

Neckera complanata v. obtusa, Hedw.

Mailing Cylindrothecium concinnum, B. & S.

Sedlescomb Climacium dendroides, W. & M. Amberley Antitrichia curtipendula, Brid. Bignor Hill Thuidium hystricosum, Mitten. Houghton

Downs

— delicatulum, Hedw. Wolstonbury Plagiothecium latebricola, Wils. Weald

— elegans, Hooker. Ardingly Rhyncostegium depressum, Bruch. Arundel

— murale, L. JJckfield Eurhynchium circinnatum, Brid. Clayton

— striatulum, B. & S. Arundel

— hians, Hedw. Near Hurst

— crassinervium, Tayl. Wolstonbury

— speciosum, Brid. Albourne

— piliferum, Schreb. Maresfield

— Vaucheri, Schp. Downs Hyocomium fiagellare, L. Tilgate Brachythecium populeum, Sw. Ardingly

— campestre, Bruch. Weald

■ — • mildeanum, Schpr. Downs Scleropodium illecebrum, L. Weald — ■ casspitosum, Wils. Weald Amblystegium radicule, P. de B. Shoreham Limnobium palustre, Schpr. Near Hurst Hypnum Sommerfeldtii, Myr. Wolstonbury

— polygamum, B. & S. Weald

— revolvens, Sw. Amberley

— exannulatum, B. & S. Ashdown

— Kneifii, Schpr. Hayward^ Heath

— commutatum, L. Bignor

— scorpioides, L. Ambciley

— stramineum, L. Ashdown

— cordifolium, L. Amberley

— Schreberi, L. Sand rocks Hylocomium brevirostrum, Ehr. Wych

Cross

— loreum, L. Blackdown

BOTANY

THE LIVERWORTS {Hepatic^)

When we consider the elegance of form, variety of hue, and curious structure of many of the Hepatics, classified by the botanists of the last century with the mosses to which they are nearly allied, one wonders at first why they have not been more studied. The chief reason perhaps is the difficulty of finding them in fruit, a circumstance which I have frequently experienced. They occur chiefly on damp soil, in bogs or on old trunks of trees. Hence those who knew best our Sussex forests have given them most attention. This group comprises Marchantia, Junger- mannia, Riccia and Anthoceros, all of which are represented in Sussex. In this county they have been most fully examined by the Rev. E. N, Bloomfield, of Guestling, whose list with a few additions I here subjoin. The list is arranged according to Dr. Cooke's Handbook of the British Hepaticce, 1894.

JUNGERMANNIACEiE Jungermannia ventricosa, Dick. Fairlight

Frullania dilata, L. Eastbourne — capitata, Hook. Guestling

— tamarisci, Mich. Pett — bicuspidata, L. „ Lejeunia minutissima, Sm. St. Leonards — '"cisa, Schrd. Bexhi/I

— serpyllifolia, Mich. Guestling Nardia adusta, N. Carr.