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Town Creep - a Roman settlement ??
 

Town Creep an interesting story 
 
Town Creep can be found in Creep Wood near Penhurst very close to the ancient Celtic then Roman ridgeway from Hastings which is currently on private land.

The next few paragraphs are extracts from various historical records.
 

Extracted from the Sussex Archaeological Society Thursday, Aug. 19th, 1886.
 

An allusion to " Town Creep '' will exhaust our subject.

There is a large arid beautiful wood called Creep Wood, sloping southward and overlooking the valley of the tiny river Ashburn. Half-way down the slope, upon an independent hillock, there is a space of some two acres, whereon are to be found scattered building materials.

The plateau upon which these stones lie has always been spoken of as the ancient abode of a people who were driven from their home by invaders at a time anterior to the Norman Conquest; and from this traditional cluster of buildings, the whole wood has been named " Town Creep."

From time to time desultory diggings have been made, but there does not appear ever to have been any systematic examination of the spot. Certainly the tradition with respect to this locality appears to have been continuous and constant, while the position of the "Town " is one that might have been selected for a Roman outpost, commanding as it does the greater part of the valley which leads from it towards Anderida (Pevensey).
 

Extracted from the Sussex Archaeological Society 1889. 
 

ON THE TRADITIONAL SITE OF A TOWN IN THE PARISH OF PENHURST

Creep Wood lies in the most secluded part of Penhurst, one of the most secluded parishes in the county. For the name of the wood I can suggest no derivation; but the name of the parish has both a British and a Saxon element-the word" Pen" (meaning" bead" or "ridge") being applied to that high portion of the great forest of Anderida which lies at the back of what is now Ashburnham Park.

Creep Wood, which has all the appearance of primitive forest land, covers more than one of the lower ridges to the west of the highest point. That part of the wood which is locally known as Towncreep occupies the summit of an elevated spur, running from north to south, which for about half a mile is nearly flat at the top, and then slopes downward with increasing steepness till it reaches the lane between Penhurst Church and Catsfield, at a point where three valleys meet. The river Ashburn, which runs into the sea at Pevensey, but is here a mere brook, rises near this point, and flows out of the eastern into the southern valley.

The southern slope of the spur is at present covered with a thick grove of Scotch fir, reaching almost to its foot; but the plateau at the top is only covered with short underwood, and, according to the popular belief, cannot be planted with large trees because of the masonry beneath. If we suppose that the entire spur was cleared of wood, and a walled town situated on this plateau, it would be hardly possible to imagine a place more suited to stand a long siege. The only approach from the south would be up the long and exposed face of the southern slope; for on its eastern and western sides the spur falls almost precipitously into two deep valleys, more than 100 feet below. The north end is not so well protected; but if the surrounding country were forest the only access to it open to an invader from the south would be up one of the lateral valleys, which would be completely covered by the defenders from the steep sides of the spur.
 
Local Place names

Creep Wood - creáp wudu a wood where you should creep - a place of the dead

Town Creep - tún creáp a hilltop where you should creep - a place of the dead

Ashbourne - æsc burnan the stream of the ash trees

Ashburnham - æsc burnan ham the village in the valley of the ash stream

Penhurst - pin hyrst the clearing in the pine forest

Kane Hythe road - Cyne Hýþ rád the royal starting point road

Sprays wood - Spracen Wudu the alder tree wood

Floats wood - Flota Wudu the ship wood - probably where the shipbuilding timber comes from
 
Landscape

Nearby Roman

The old Roman Settlement and iron working site at Kitchenham where a Roman road has been discovered that runs back up the Ashbourne valley along the ridge to the junction of the modern A271 and B2096.

The location is also near to the Celtic Ridgeway that runs from the old Hillfort at Baldslow Down in Hastings along the ridges to Crowborough where it joins the London to Lewes Roman Road.
 

Conjecture. 
 
If Pevensey had been the CLBR fleet base until Carausius was killed, then Carausius and Allectus would have needed Villas to live in, there is a possibility that Carausius villa was near to Bodl Street as this means 'the Roman road to the Mansion' and the road across the valley floor from Windmill Hill to Bodl Street is known as the causeway.

And again its possible that Allectus had a mansion at 'Town Creep' as this is where the red haired men(Roman Soldiers plumes) killed the inhabitants.



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