Rockhouse Bank, Bexhill (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Bexhill.
In the historic county of Sussex.
Modern Authority of East Sussex.
1974 county of East Sussex.
Medieval County of Sussex (Rape of Hastings).

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ67910561
Latitude 50.82568° Longitude 0.38271°

Rockhouse Bank, Bexhill has been described as a probable Artillery Fort.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

On the south side of Rockhouse Bank, in a commanding position on the lip of a slight escarpment overlooking the seaward approaches to Norman's Bay, there is a small earthwork which is shown on the OS. It is three-sided only with the open side facing inland. The central arm measures c. 37.5m in length and the two flanking arms each c.20.0min length. The work consists of a ditch with inner rampart. Ditch is also discontinuous having two causeways. The interior is featureless. It is most probably one of a series of coastal batteries erected in C16 (Lower) of which there is a surviving example at Pevensey Castle (TQ 60 SW 16), and one NE of Pevensey Bay (TQ 60 NE 6), now destroyed. It no doubt covered the entrance to Pevensey Harbour which, because of coastal erosion and silting, is known to have moved eastwards to the area of Norman's Bay during C16 (Salzman). (Field Investigators Comments–F1 CFW 24-FEB-60).
The work is generally as described. The interruptions in the 'V'-shaped Md ditch have a later appearance, and the breaches in the breastwork, though mutilated, have the appearance of gun ports (Field Investigators Comments–F2 PAS 29-MAR-73).
The remains of this battery are well preserved and generally as described in 1960, except that the end of the E arm has since been worn down by cattle, and the end of the W arm has been mutilated; also the two gaps in the earthen bank or breastwork are probably ? World War II mutilations rather than gun ports. (Both are visible on the 1946 APs) (Field Investigators Comments–F3 MJF 29-OCT-87). Use as a defended locality in WW2 identified in Butler, C, 2007 (PastScape/East Sussex HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 411728.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MES118.

Books
- Chris Butler, 2007, East Sussex Under Attack: Anti-invasion sites 1500-1990 p. 83
Periodical Articles
- Salzman, L.F., 1910, 'The Inning of Pevensey Levels' Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol. 53 p. 58-9 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Lower, M.A. (ed), 1870, Survey of the Coast of Sussex temp Eliz I p. 5

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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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