Sussex Archaeological Collections: Relating to the history and antiquities of the counties of East and West Sussex
Sussex Archaeological Society, 2000. (updated 2022) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000334. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 285
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000334
- How to cite using this DOI
Archaeological investigations of the Devilâs Ditch at Windmill Park, Stane Street, Halnaker, West Sussex
By ANNA DOHERTY AND NICK GARLAND
A small excavation was carried out on a section of âthe Devil'â's Ditchâ at Halnaker. This ditch-and-bank entrenchment has generally been interpreted as part of a series of dykes enclosing a c.1st century BC territorial oppidum at the western edge of the Sussex coastal plain. However, previous campaigns of excavation have produced ambiguous dating evidence, leading to some suggestions that the monument is actually of medieval date. Although there were some indications of Roman and/or medieval re-cutting of the ditch, OSL dating of the primary fills produced date ranges falling entirely within the 1st millennium BC. The most significant finding is that the earliest fills of the ditch had started to accumulate by c.80 BC at the latest. This evidence essentially disproves the theory that the ditch was first established as boundary to a medieval deer park but it also poses questions about whether the entrenchment could have been founded before the Late Iron Age.
