Balsdean

50°49′12″N 0°02′46″W / 50.820°N 0.046°W / 50.820; -0.046

Balsdean is a deserted hamlet in a remote downland valley east of Brighton, East Sussex, England, on record since about 1100. It was formerly a chapelry of the parish of Rottingdean, and its territory touched that of the mother parish only at a single point. Despite its remoteness, it falls within the boundaries of the city of Brighton and Hove.

The valley of Balsdean is the most reliable migration stopover in Sussex of the rare Arctic and high mountain breeding wader the

The nearby hill known as the Bostle is the site of a Bronze Age cemetery consisting of a group of three large Bronze Barrows, with other barrows located nearby.^[1]

Roman

Roman occupation of the neighbourhood has been recorded by two notable finds. In 1757 a Roman dagger was found in a tumulus at Balsdean. In 1798 a stoneware urn or jar was unearthed, containing upwards of a thousand Roman copper coins. Some were faintly plated, or washed, with silver, and they were so little damaged that their relief remained perfectly sharp. Therefore, they could not have been much, if at all, in circulation. They were of the time of Valerian, who reigned AD 225, Gallienus, Claudius, Quintilius, Posthumus, Victorinus, Marius, and Tetricus.^[2]

Saxon

An Anglo-Saxon barrow cemetery consisting of 27 early Anglo-Saxon barrows have been recorded in the vicinity of the Bronze Age cemetery on The Bostle.^[1]

Medieval

Balsdean was a hamlet, which consisted of two farms, Norton and Sutton, more generally known as Norton and Balsdean.^{[citation needed]}

Later history

Norton farm was used as a

There is a modern farm named after the original Balsdean Farm on the fringe of Rottingdean, and from there most of the ancient farmlands of Balsdean are still worked. Part of the original sheepdown is now protected by the Castle Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest. Much of the former sheepdown, however, is now the site of the Brighton suburb of Woodingdean, the building of which started around 1918.^[3]

References

External links

• Newmarket Hill: Exploring the natural and local history of the South Downs between Brighton and Lewes

Media related to Balsdean at Wikimedia Commons