Further Information

The first place to start is the South Downs National Park website where you will find much more information about the work of the National Park Authority as well as ways to get involved and forthcoming events.

Alfriston village nestles at the foot of the South Downs chalk escarpment in a gap created by the Cuckmere river. The village itself is essentially medieval in layout and there is a good range of early - half-timbered and jettied - buildings lining the main street. The church of St Andrew is prominent on the photograph and appears to have been built on top of a large pre-existing mound, possibly a prehistoric barrow.

The Sussex Archaeological Society is the largest county Society in the UK and well worthy of support.  They own a number of publicly accessible properties, have an excellent museum in Lewes, and organise numerous events within the National Park.

Likewise, the National Trust, as one of the biggest landowners in the National Park, and custodian of some fantastic sites, provides an excellent and informative website.

For a more detailed look at the historic environment in the Park please visit the HELM website and Heritage Gateway, where you’ll be able to access a wide range of resources that will help you appreciate and enjoy all that the Park has to offer.

More detailed records of sites and monuments can be found on the Historic Environment Records for:

• Hampshire
• West Sussex
• East Sussex

The area of the National Park benefits from the activities of a range of local and community groups.  These are friendly and welcoming groups and should be a first port of call for anyone thinking of getting involved in more detailed fieldwork or for those, more generally, with an interest in the past.  These include :

• The Worthing Archaeological Society
• The Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society
• Chichester and District Archaeology Society
• Mid-Sussex Field Archaeology Team

Survey Archive

Over the years the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and, latterly, English Heritage, have undertaken a number of detailed earthwork surveys at a wide range of archaeological sites within the South Downs National Park. You can download the plans via the links below, visit the sites, and then make your own, improved, version!

• Old Winchester Hill, Hampshire – prehistoric burial mounds and Iron Age hillfort
• The Trundle, West Sussex – Neolithic causewayed enclosure and Iron Age hillfort
• Cissbury, West Sussex – Neolithic flint mines, Iron Age hillfort, multi-period fields and settlements
• Church Hill, West Sussex – Neolithic flint mines
• Harrow Hill, West Sussex – Neolithic flint mines
• Long Down, West Sussex – Neolithic flint mines  
• Barkhale Camp, West Sussex – Neolithic causewayed enclosure, prehistoric burial mounds and fields
• Halnaker Hill, West Sussex – multi-period enclosure
• Wolstonbury, East Sussex – prehistoric enclosure
• Belle Tout, East Sussex – multi-period enclosure

We will be adding further plans over the next few months.