Anglo Saxon History Home Background Landscape Changing Landscape and Language Sea Levels in AD400(Pevensey) Sea Levels in AD400(The Wash) Sea level changes last 2000 years Andredsweald and Anderida Where are the Roman Roads History of the Romney Marsh The Great Storm 1287AD List of Landscape Documents Local The Haestingas The Cinque Ports 914AD Alfred the Great's fort in Hastings Battle Museum Battle History Society Villagenet Local Gazeteer World War 2 Tank database Simon the Piman(Raspberry Pi) Tourist Guides for the area Romans First Invasion 55BC Second Invasion 43AD Roman roads in Britannia Ptolemy Geographica Tribes MAP-Margary Roman Roads MAP-Roman Roads South East MAP-Roman Roads South West MAP-Roman Roads Wales MAP-Roman Roads South Midlands MAP-Roman Roads South Yorkshire MAP-Roman Locations Norfolk MAP-Roman Locations Essex MAP-Wealden Roads/Bloomeries Wealden Bloomeries 1st Century Wealden Bloomeries 2nd Century Wealden Bloomeries 3rd Century Wealden Bloomeries 4th Century MAP-Antonine Itinery I Roman Industry in the Brede Valley Decline in Roman Wealden Ironworking The Gallic Empire 260AD - 274AD Types of Roman Fortification List of Roman Documents Saxon Chronicles 449AD Hengest & Horsa arrive 455AD Hengest & Horsa defeat Wurtgern 457AD Hengest & Horsa take over Kent 460AD Hæstinga Saxons arrive 477AD Cymensora 485AD Suth Saxons Mercredesburnan 491AD Suth Saxons Pevensey 914AD Burghal Hideage Locations - 449AD Ebbsfleet Locations - 455AD Agelesþrep Locations - 485AD Mearcredesburnan Stede Locations - 914AD Eorpeburnan List of Saxon Chronicles Documents 1066 Battle Documentary Evidence Available Documents 1 Anglo Saxon Chronicles 2 Battle Abbey Chronicles 3 Bayeux Tapestry 4 Carmen Guy d'Amiens 5 Florence of Worcester 6 Henry of Huntingdon 7 Master Wace 8 Orderic Vitalis(Gesta) 9 William of Jumièges(Gesta) 10 William of Malmesbury 11 Quedam Exceptiones Reference to Locations Phases of the Events Phases 1066AD 1 Background 1066AD 2 In Normandy 1066AD 3 Channel Crossing 1066AD 4 The Landing 1066AD 5 Feast after Landing 1066AD 6 Building the Forts 1066AD 7 Raiding the Area 1066AD 8 Warning to Harold 1066AD 9 Stamford Bridge 1066AD 10 Harold returns to London 1066AD 11 William is Alerted 1066AD 12 Exchange of Messages 1066AD 13 Defenses 1066AD 14 Harold Reconnoitres 1066AD 15 Preparations 1066AD 16 The Night Before 1066AD 17 The Battle 1066AD 18 Harold is Killed 1066AD 19 The English Rout 1066AD 20 After the Battle 1066AD 21 The Malfosse Warriors, Weapons & Snippets Saxon - Huscarl Saxon - Fyrd(Fyrð) Senlac Hill The Malfosse The Hoar Apple Tree The Shield Wall Salt Production near Hastings The Battle of Jengland 851AD William's Ship List Norman/Viking Ships and stuff Norman bows and crossbows Harold was NOT killed by an arrow The Time Team view of the Battle 1066AD Landscape Details 1066AD Sailing from Normandy 1066AD Norman Landing 1066AD Possible Fort 1066AD to Pevensey and Hastings 1066AD Manors Wasted 1066AD Manors All 1066AD Warning to Harold 1066AD Harold to Hastings List of 1066AD Documents List of 1066AD Weapons 1086AD Domesday Boundary of Anderida Domesday Hursts Post Domesday Hursts Domesday Manors Wasted UK Norfolk Salt Production Salt Production near Hastings The Wash at 1086 The Humber estuary at 1086 Domesday County details B Bedfordshire Domesday Population Berkshire Domesday Population Buckinghamshire Domesday Population Domesday County details C Cambridgeshire Domesday Population Cheshire Domesday Population Cornwall Domesday Population Domesday County details D Derbyshire Domesday Population Devon Domesday Population Dorset Domesday Population Domesday County details E Essex Domesday Population Domesday County details G Gloucestershire Domesday Population Domesday County details H Hampshire Domesday Population Herefordshire Domesday Population Hertfordshire Domesday Population Huntingdonshire Domesday Population Domesday County details K Kent Domesday Population Domesday County details L Leicestershire Domesday Population Lincolnshire Domesday Population Domesday County details M Middlesex Domesday Population Domesday County details N Norfolk Domesday Population Northamptonshire Domesday Population Nottinghamshire Domesday Population Domesday County details O Oxfordshire Domesday Population Domesday County details R Rutland Domesday Population Domesday County details S Shropshire Domesday Population Somerset Domesday Population Staffordshire Domesday Population Suffolk Domesday Population Surrey Domesday Population Sussex Domesday Population Domesday County details W Warwickshire Domesday Population Wiltshire Domesday Population Worcestershire Domesday Population Domesday County details Y Yorkshire Domesday Population Place names Translate my Location Celtic name snippets Jutish name snippets Roman name snippets Saxon name snippets Viking name snippets Norman name snippets Modern name snippets Villages containing EY/EYE/SEA Villages containing HAM Villages containing TON Villages containing CASTLE Sussex Locations with ING Domesday Sussex with ING Kent Locations with ING Sussex Locations with HURST Loads of Village Translations Res Landscape - The Cliffs of East Sussex and Erosion 450-2024AD The Sussex cliffs include the sandstone outcrops near to Hastings and the Chalk Cliffs that go from Eastbourne past Brighton, including Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters . The Seven Sisters taken in July 2005 Background The reason for this article is that I was interested in the coastline of Roman Britain and when Aelle the Saxon landed in Sussex in 477AD, however this erosion also effects a lot of other of my historic interests. Geology of the Region The cliffs from Brighton to Beachy Head are made up of Sussex White Chalk which is mostly chalk with very few large fossils. From Beachy Head to Eastbourne the cliffs are mostly made up of Lower Chalk formations, these contain more clay and fossils than the purer Sussex White Chalk. The Pevensey Marshes then separate these Chalk Cliffs from the Sandstone and clay cliffs from Hastings through Fairlight to Pett . The cliffs from Brighton to Newhaven contain the highest human population density and most of the modern sea defenses can be found here against these cliffs. The Chalk cliffs at Seaford These are being eroded at a slower rate than those at the Birling Gap at about 0.3 metres per year. The Romans had a large settlement on top of this part of the Downs, probably with their main port at the mouth of the Ouse valley near modern Seaford. However at the time this headland would still have been a further 500 metres out in the English Channel. From the Ouse past Seaford to the Cuckmere valley the cliffs are not really visible as the coastline curves out into the sea. This area is eroding quite quickly up to 0.6 metres per year. The Cuckmere valley was probably even more sheltered in Roman and Saxon times due to the Seaford headland and the Seven Sisters being further out to sea . The Seven Sisters These are actually the valleys along the Chalk Cliffs from the Cuckmere Valley towards Beachy Head . The erosion at this point is quite rapid at about 0.6 metres per year so the headland would have been much further out to sea. At the Birling Gap on the hill toward the Belle Tout lighthouse is the remains of an ancient defensive works, of which more than half has been washed away. Birling Gap to Beachy Head This is a foreland so is only really visible from the sea, the land is still eroding at the 0.6 metres per year rate. The Belle Tout lighthouse has been moved back 50 metres from the cliff edge in 1999, and is now in need of movement further inland. Beachy Head This is the headland between the Seven Sisters and Eastbourne , here the cliffs stand nearly vertically 162 metres above Sea Level making them the tallest Chalk Cliffs in Britain. The views across this area on a sunny summers afternoon are absolutely stunning. The erosion here is probably about 0.5 metres per year so is still quite fast in geological terms. Pevensey Levels and Bexhill This area is mostly flat farmland with a few small hills at Bexhill. Filsham Valley At the east end of Bexhill is a small cliff at Galley Hill which would have protected the entrance to the Filsham valley(old Hastings Harbour). St Leonards to Pett Level The area along St Leonards seafront is the start of the Sandstone cliffs that go all the way to Pett Level, with a few valleys such as Hastings Old Town. The land between Fairlight and Cliff's end at Pett Level is made up of bands of clay and sandstone so the erosion can be very quick if the bands of clay are at sea level. The cliffs along this area are not a steep as the Chalk Cliffs to the west, but still stand quite high. The erosion here is probably about 0.5 metres per year so is still quite fast in geological terms. Erosion It is believed that the cliffs along this stretch of coastline have been eroding fairly constantly over time, with the following observations made for the different areas based on the differences between the Ordnance Survey maps from 1873 to the present day. Peacehaven appears to have been eroding at about 0.3 metres per year. Birling Gap appears to have been eroding at about 0.6 metres per year Ecclesbourne Glen(Hastings) 0.3 metres per year Fairlight Cove 0.6 metres per year Extrapolating the above would mean that the cliffs at Fairlight could have been a further 550 metres out in 1066 and in Saxon times about 900 metres towards France. The Chalk Cliffs at the Seven Sisters would have been the same at 550 metres further in 1066 and 900 metres in Saxon times. The green areas shown on the coast are the estimated area of additional land that time has eroded since 1066AD. The orange areas are shingle banks that are made up of spoil from the cliffs, Old Winchelsea and Broomhill are shown in yellow. Erosion Rates by location Click the image to see the original article Deposition of eroded material The East Sussex coastal area has longshore drift that transports cliff fall spoil towards the East hence creating shingle banks to the eastern edges of the cliffs at Eastbourne and Fairlight. The deposited chalk from the cliffs between Brighton and Eastbourne only provides a few flint nodules and some gravels, this is because the chalk that falls is slowly dissolved in the salt water making it more acidic, but not providing much spoil. Hence a shingle bank produced by the cliffs at Beachy Head is not as large as others further to the East. The cliffs at Hastings and Fairlight however contain large amounts of sandstone which is not soluble in the sea, hence the shingle produced is significantly more than that produced by chalk cliffs. These cliffs also have horizontal bands of clay that the sea can easily erode, and therefore the average erosion rate is significantly faster than other sandstone cliffs that don't have the clay layers. It's the shingle from these cliffs that have created modern Pett Level, and the spit at Dungeness, and have influenced the outfall of the river Rother, which has moved from Hythe in Roman times to New Romney and finally to Rye today, a distance of about 20 miles, due in the most part to the longshore drift and a few very fierce storms that hit this part of the country. Landscape - The 1287AD Storm and its effect on the Kent and Sussex Coast Click the following link to see the changes in the Romney Marsh over time. (Landscape - The History of the Romney Marsh in maps(Pre-Roman to Modern times)) References University of Sussex research Retreat of Chalk cliffs in the eastern English Channel during the last century Landslip Remediation of Fairlight Cove, Brighton Cliff Geological Investigation of the Ashdown Beds at Fairlight Archaeology, Art & Coastal Heritage - Hastings case study Copyright saxonhistory.co.uk 2013 - 2025Contact SimonAuthor Simon M - Last updated - 2024-07-16 15:36:01All pages on our site (Sitemap)
