Burpham; enclosure near The Burgh (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Burpham.
In the historic county of Sussex.
Modern Authority of West Sussex.
1974 county of West Sussex.
Medieval County of Sussex (Rape of Arundel).

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ04841101
Latitude 50.88925° Longitude -0.51050°

Burpham; enclosure near The Burgh has been described as a Siege Work but is rejected as such.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Comments

Clearly marked feature on map and air photo but does not seems to be recorded in the archaeological databases. The Burgh bowl barrow scheduled monument lies 200m NNW. A very similar feature lies 900m west (at TQ040112) and is also not recorded. A 'Norman' cooking potsherd is reported by some authors as a find near this site, the dating of this find is dubious and anyway one shard of pottery may just represent a one night camp by one individual rather than a significant encampment. Medieval occupation/use seems unlikely.
Although not currently (Dec 2013) in the West Sussex archaeological database the initial opinion of the county archaeologist is 'that due to their regular size and circular form they are dewponds/former dewponds but of unknown date'. The westernmost one is water filled.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 393222.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- Allcroft, A.H., 1930, Waters of the Arun (London)
Periodical Articles
- Purton, Peter, 1998, 'The siege castles at Arundel' Postern Vol. 8 p. 13-4
  Curwen, Eliot and Curwen, E Cecil, 1922, 'Notes on the Archaeology of Burpham and the Neighbouring Downs' Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol. 63 p. 1-53
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Rachel Salter, 12-12-2013, pers. corr. quoting opinion of Mark Taylor, principle county archaeologist.

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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