Castlefacts³

Cissbury Ring Burh

Has been described as a Questionable Urban Defence

There are earthwork remains

Name	Cissbury Ring Burh
Alternative Names	Cissbury Knot
Historic Country	Sussex
Modern Authority	West Sussex
1974 Authority	West Sussex
Civil Parish	Worthing

Hillfort of probable Iron Age date enclosing an area of circa 60 acres. The ramparts partially enclose Neolithic flint mines. (PastScape)

Bond list this as a C11 Anglo-Saxon Burh.

It has been suggested that Cissbury was once the site of a Saxon mint. Coins bearing the mint signatures Sithe, Sithsteb and Sithmes have been found on coins of Ethelred II and Cnut (1009-1023) and by their distribution it is thought that they were minted in an area between Lewes and Chichester. The use of old forts for mints is not unknown, when nearby mints are moved there during dangerous times, though there has been no archaeological confirmation of the mint at Cissbury. (Sussex Archaeology and Folklore online)

Gatehouse Comments

A mint of itself was not a large operation and the extensive excavations of Cissbury could have missed it but mints are usually found in association with high status residences or, as it seems Bond is assuming, an urban site and it seems unlikely that evidence of substantive Saxon occupation would have been missed. However it appears to be argued the mint was an emergency and temporary construction. It seems likely that Cissbury lacked a sufficiently good water supply to be a residential base, particularly during the relatively warm period of the C11-C13. Wherever the location of the Sithe mint it seems unlikely Cissbury was a Saxon urban centre.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)

395595

County Historic Environment Record

www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MWS3177&resourceID=1032

OS Map Grid Reference	TQ139080
Latitude	50.8607406616211
Longitude	-0.382279992103577
Eastings	513950
Northings	108050