WOOLSTONBURY (MAPS 6 & 7)

Below the steep, northern side of Wolstonbury are fields that are 10 by 8 actus, 1/5th of a taxable centuria. A friend pointed out that I could add a field of 10 by 8, (No 1) if I used the old Parish Boundary which was no longer on the O.S. map. It has been moved to the western field. Later I saw a hedge on the “old” boundary! The next field, (No. 2, travelling east), is shown on the complete Danny Estates map as two 5 x 8 actus fields, with the footpath between them. But on O.S. maps the footpath has been moved westward to create a 10 x 8 field.

The 3^rd field is bounded to the south by the Pyecombe Parish Boundary and to the east by a very high-banked earthen road. If this road was built up when land below Wolstonbury was frequently flooded and badly drained the road could be very much older than Roman times. Roman surveyors would ignore the fact that it did not form a true rectangle. Was the footpath from the hollow above needed to carry chalk for roads and buildings or was the hollow the place where people lived, a dwelling? Another line shown on Figg’s map of Danny travels from another chalk hollow through where Danny House would later be built and on to an unusual “straight stream”, probably made for fishing, a very important food in times past. It crosses through No 3, a 10 x 8 actus field. Perhaps the hollow was a pre-Roman home. Perhaps closer inspection could give more evidence just as the accurate survey of Washbrook Farm did.

The 4^th field is doubtful but the southward slippage over many years could account for the southern edge and the odd little triangular field to the northwest might have belonged to the rectangle. Further east are boundaries that can be measured in actus terms.

A Roman villa has been found, ref. TQ281151, and since Romans were very good at drainage it is likely that they drained the fields below Wolstonbury. This would reduce the damage caused when heavy downpours flooded below the scarp slopes. It would seem that the parish boundaries were already there, see fields 1, 3 & 4, just as they were for the 8 parishes from Clayton eastwards with their ley lines.

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