234 Local History
Celebrate Sussex Day on 16th June! A brief history of the county by local historian Chris Hare Sussex is a county with a proud tradition that dates back some 1,600 years. Unlike other English counties, such as Surrey, Hampshire, or Dorset, Sussex once was a kingdom. Yes, there once was a king of Sussex! This was the land that Saxon migrants made their Chris Hare with the home in the fifth centu- Sussex flag ry. Historians are divided as to how brutal the conquest was: some believing that the native population were slaughtered or forced to flee to the west; while others think there was a great deal of assimilation. No one can be sure, as written records from those times are few and unreliable. What is known is that nearly every place name in Sussex is Saxon in origin. Other counties, for example, Devon and Cornwall, have a good mix of Saxon and pre-Saxon place names, but here in the land of the ‘South Saxons,’ there is very little to remind us of the days of the Roman Empire or of the British tribes that co-existed with it, their history was, at the very least overshadowed by the arrival of the newcomers. The first king of Sussex, according to the AngloSaxon Chronicle, was Aella, who landed on the Sussex coast with his three sons and their families. The old English scribes loved to paint a picture of valiant and ruthless warriors, who, in a series of glorious battles, cowed and killed the natives who resisted them. The truth, though, may be less bloody. It seems likely, that in many instances, existing communities, found common cause with the settlers. Evidence from archaeological sites, like Highdown, north of Goring and Ferring, suggests that the two ethnic groups worked together for a common cause. The last king of Sussex was Aethewalh, who ruled in the mid-seventh century. He made alliance with King Penda of Mercia against their mutual enemy, Wessex. For a time, the alliance proved glorious for Sussex, and its proud king invaded and occupied the Meon Valley and the Isle of Wight. He ruthlessly put to death surviving
princes on Wight, who might threaten his rule. By this time, all the old English kingdoms had been converted to Christianity, all apart from Sussex, which clung to its pagan ways. When Bishop Wilfrid of Ripon arrived on the Sussex coast at Selsey, in 666, the Sussex king ordered his men to attack the bishop and his monks, and they were lucky to escape with their lives. However, 20 years later, fete dealt Sussex a cruel blow: the harvests failed and starvation beckoned. The great Wessex king, Caedwalla, who was a great friend of Bishop Wilfrid, overwhelmed Sussex in a surprise attack, crushing all resistance, and subsumed Sussex into Wessex. Yet, the old instincts died hard, and during the following reign of King Ine, Sussex rose in revolt, led by two men of royal birth, Byrthun in the west and Andhun in the east. It would seem that the idea of an East and a West Sussex dates back to those far off days. The Godwin family, who ruled England with an iron fist in the early eleventh century, had ancestral lands at Bosham. It was one of the Godwins, Harold, who was declared king of England in January 1066, and died, along with all his nobles at the Battle of Hastings, ten months later. The Sussex flag, unlike other county flags I could mention, is not the creation of clever tourist executives, but dates back to medieval times. Sussex knights went into battle with the ‘martlets’ emblem emblazoned on their shields.
Yes, Sussex has been around a long time and may it continue to do so for many years to come. Chris Hare will be leading a guided the Duck Pond Sailors walk around the village of Slindon on Sussex Day, Thursday, 16th June. Local shanty and folk song group, the Duck Pond Sailors, will be singing songs of Sussex, its history, its folklore, and its landscape. For details please visit: www.friendsofthesouthdowns.org.uk/publicevents/
