Chichester Harbour research framework, West Sussex

Clients: Chichester Harbour Conservancy

Authors: Nick Bateman and Anthony Francis

MoLAS carried out a major assessment (an archaeological research framework) of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) of Chichester Harbour, on behalf of the Chichester Harbour Conservancy as the first element of their Heritage Lottery funded two-year programme of activity for enhancing peoples' enjoyment and understanding of the harbour area.

The 74 sq km of the AONB comprises several villages, farmland, large areas of mudflats and tidal creeks, and expanses of estuary and river. It is particularly rich in archaeological remains: Mesolithic flint scatters; Iron Age hillforts; Fishbourne Roman palace; Bosham Saxon church; many half-submerged wrecks and foreshore structures; and lots of World War II defences.

The research framework comprised assessment of the buried, visible and subtidal archaeology, presented first on a chronological and then on a thematic basis. This summary of 'gaps in knowledge' was followed by identification of possible research priorities and activities which the Conservancy might seek to push forward over the next 18 months. The projects eventually chosen to go forward by the Conservancy will, as far as possible, involve local people and volunteer groups rather than professionals.

Research priorities identified by us centred around the following themes: the changing landscape (shorelines etc); the palaeoenvironment; military history (from hillforts to the Second World War); industrial evidence (from brickmaking to fishing); settlement; and subtidal features (wrecks, buried landscapes).

MoLAS's involvement in the project, however, is not yet ended. We will be joining in a day conference on the state of knowledge about the harbour next spring; MoLAS specialists will be contributing to artefact-handling sessions to be run by the Conservancy; and we hope to be setting up a joint web site with the Conservancy to present some of the results.

This site report is extracted from MoLAS 2004: annual review