An Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Settlement at Botolphs, Bramber, West Sussex

Abstract

Three early Anglo-Saxon sunken-featured buildings dating to the late fifth or early sixth century were discovered during excavation. Finds suggest that stamp-decorated and grass-tempered pottery was made in the settlement. Burnt daub with a lime-washed surface was found, possibly from other, larger buildings. In the late tenth or early eleventh century the site was reoccupied. Traces of five timber buildings from this second phase of activity were recorded to the south of the parish church, which was built (or rebuilt) during this period. Other structures including a well and fence-line were excavated. During the later medieval period the area examined was probably part of the glebe of the parish of Botolphs. A ditch and rubbish pits of the later thirteenth and fourteenth centuries found here are to be associated with the nearby vicarage.