Rockhouse Bank, Bexhill
Has been described as a Possible Artillery Fort
There are earthwork remains
| Name | Rockhouse Bank, Bexhill |
| Alternative Names | |
| Historic Country | Sussex |
| Modern Authority | East Sussex |
| 1974 Authority | East Sussex |
| Civil Parish | Bexhill |
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)
Not scheduled
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | TQ679056 |
| Latitude | 50.8256797790527 |
| Longitude | 0.382710009813309 |
| Eastings | 567910 |
| Northings | 105610 |
