Page:VCH Sussex 1.djvu/546

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

A HISTORY OF SUSSEX west. This is probably a work, of a much earlier period than the erection of the mount and the building of the castle ; but whatever its date may be it clearly belongs to the type of defensive earthworks called Class A, and makes it a promontory fort comparable with the Devil's Dyke and the two others about to be described. The main earthworks of Arundel will be described under Class E. BuRPHAM. — This earthwork consists of a long narrow hill-top cut off to the north by a rampart and fosse which convert it into a promon- tory camp. A glance at the ac- v,.^^^^^uuIuiIiiiJ"SZ^^ companying plan will enable one -^:u<Smm«miuu^^i;^S, ^^ .^^^^ ^f ij3 f^^^ better than any description. This camp lies quite near one of the curved loops of the river Arun. The whole of the sides on the east, south, and west are naturally steep, but it is possible that their slopes may have been emphasized by artificial means. The artificial rampart which completes the camp on the north side is broken about midway by an angle, at which was probably the entrance. This rampart is composed of chalky material, brought, perhaps, in baskets and thrown down in such a way that the contents of each basket might still be traced as a separate layer when the place was investigated some years ago. Hastings, East Hill. — The hill, which ends in a rather nar- row point near the lift leading to East Hill, Hastings, marks the south-west extremity of an in- teresting specimen of a camp of Class A. Along the southern side the steep sandstone cliffs of the seashore form a sufficient natural defence. On the opposite side in an irregular line extending the natural surface of the ground So sharp is the slope that it seems probable that it has been artificially augmented by the cutting of a species of cliff which is now weathered and partly hidden by vegetation. The north-east side of the camp is formed by a rampart 468 BuRPHAM Camp. from the south-west to the north-east, slopes abruptly to the north-west.