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Designations

• Scheduled Monument 1013379: PEVENSEY CASTLE: A SAXON SHORE FORT, NORMAN DEFENCES, A MEDIEVAL ENCLOSURE CASTLE, AND LATER ASSOCIATED REMAINS
• Conservation Area: PEVENSEY & WESTHAM

Summary

The monument includes the Roman fort of Anderitum, traces of later, Norman defences, an enclosure castle, a 16th century gun emplacement and World War II defences situated on a low spur of sand and clay which now lies around 2 km north west of the present East Sussex coastline at Pevensey. Scheduled.

Monument Types

• BASTION (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• CAUSEWAY (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FORT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• GATEHOUSE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• POSTERN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• RUBBISH PIT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• TIMBER FRAMED BUILDING (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• WELL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• BAILEY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• CASTLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• CURTAIN WALL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• DITCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• GATE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• GATEHOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• KEEP (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• MOTTE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• PALISADE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• TOWER (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• GUN EMPLACEMENT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• BLOCKHOUSE (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• COMMAND POST (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• OBSERVATION POST (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• PILLBOX (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• RADAR STATION (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)
• TANK TRAP (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)

Description

[TQ 6445 0480] ANDERIDA [G.S.] (Remains of)[TQ 6433 0469] GATEWAY [G.S.][TQ 6436 0482] Postern Gate [T.I.] (Remains of)[TQ 6433 0475] Roman Coins and Pottery found A.D. 1906-8 [T.I.][TQ 6457 0477] PEVENSEY CASTLE [G.T.] (Remains of)[TQ 6455 0477] KEEP [G.T.][TQ 6450 0478] CHAPEL [G.T.] (Site of) FONT [G.T.][TQ 6447 0476] DRAWBRIDGE [G.T.] (Remains of)[TQ 6451 0476] WELL [G.T.][TQ 6453 0474] SALLYPORT [G.T.][TQ 6442 0472] Gun [T.I.] (1)
Full account, plan and photographs. (a)Account of excavations 1906-7. (b)Account of excavations 1907-8. (c)Other references. (d-g)ANDERITA (h) (2)
ANDERITA (Roman Fort) and PEVENSEY CASTLE, as described by Auth. 2a.They are under the care of the Ministry of Works and in excellent condition.A.M. Survey amended. (3)
According to a document in the Public Record Office (PRO ChanceryMiscellanea (C47) 9/1) a chapel still existed in the 13th c close to the Keep of Pevensey Castle apparently having parochial rights, and for this reason was considered sufficiently inconvenient for the Lord Peter of Savoy to apply for a licence for its removal to some other suitable site within the walls of the town.Today, the footings of an evidently early church or chapel are aprominent feature within the castle courtyard and, although lying slightly nearer to the W curtain wall than to the Keep they may none the less belong to the chapel of the PRO record. If this is so the terminus ad quem of the chapel would be about 1250. No part of the surviving wall footings is dateable architecturally but with walls less than 2' 6" in thickness and having notably massive quoinstones and with its long narrow nave and small nearly square chancel, it conforms to a pattern that would not be inconsistent with a pre-conquest origin. (4)
Anderida Roman fort and Pevensey Castle as described planned and illustrated in the DOE guide (a).There is some confusion about the name of the Ro fort.The DOE name plaque, the curator, documentary evidence shown to the investigator by the curator, and the 1952 official guide called it Anderida. Only the OS and the 1970 revised pamphlet call it Anderita. (5)
The name 'Anderita' or 'Anderida' :-'Anderida' is the traditional name, but Jackson discusses the orthography in detail and concludes (a) ... "a Celtic 'Anderida' is meaningless, whereas to the eye of the Celticist the correct form is obviously Roman-British 'Anderitum' or rather its plural 'Anderita','The Great Fords'," and (b) "It is to be hoped that the unwarranted 'Anderida' will be dropped in future, and 'Anderita' substituted."Name 'ANDERITVM' accepted for 4th.edition R.B.Map. (6)
I Pevensey Castle Scheduled Ancient Monument given to the then Office of Works by theDuke of Devonshire in 1925. The outer walls comprise the Roman fortof Anderida built at the end of the third century. They enclose an irregular oval of nearly 10 acres and are built of sandstone rubble with coursed facings of stone cut in imitation of bricks with bondingcourses of brick. They are about 12 feet thick and nearly 25 feethigh and survive nearly complete except on the south side.Within and at the south-east corner of these walls Robert deMortain, brother of William the Conqueror, built a Castle enclosedby a ditch on the north and west sides. Either he or his successor,Richer de Aquila. built a masonry Keep in the extreme south-east corner at the end of the C11 or beginning of the C12. The ground floor of this survives, and is of stone rubble and flints faced withashlar. The Gatehouse on the west side with its twin bastions datesfrom 1220 circa. The curtain walls or inner bailey connecting thiswith the Roman walls, including 3 half-round towers, were added inmiddle of the C13, probably by Peter of Savoy, uncle of Henry III'sQueen, Eleanor of Provence. (7)
ANDERITUM - The Roman fort at Pevensey. (8)
A survey carried out in 1996 showed that rural sites in East Sussex continued to be damaged or destroyed at the same rate as 1976. The most vulnerable individual sites and site groups were identified and remedial action was suggested. [9]
Work to remove vegetation at Pevensey Castle revealed elements of the Roman period bastion as well as a garderobe door circa 1250 in date. A seige ball (possible dating from 1264 - 1265) was found embedded into one Roman wall with mortar. [32]
Excavations carried out in 1993 revealed evidence of the Roman foundation piles beneath the fortress wall and coins associated with its construction. This provided a terminus post quem for the construction of Pevensey fort of AD 293. Evidence for occupation from the Roman period through to the building of the Norman Keep was also recorded. [33]

Sources

Associated Events

• Market Square, Pevensy: Watching Brief
• Field observation on TQ 60 SW 16
• Field observation TQ 60 SW 16
• PEVENSEY CASTLE, PEVENSEY: Excavation (Ref: EI 601)
• PEVENSEY CASTLE, PEVENSEY: Excavation (Ref: EI 602)
• PEVENSEY CASTLE, PEVENSEY: Excavation (Ref: EI 603)
• PEVENSEY CASTLE, PEVENSEY: Excavation (Ref: EI 604)
• PEVENSEY CASTLE, PEVENSEY: ex & restoration (Ref: EI 605)
• PEVENSEY CASTLE (Ref: EI 606)
• PEVENSEY CASTLE (Ref: EI 608)
• PEVENSEY CASTLE (Ref: EI 28068)
• PEVENSEY CASTLE
• The East Sussex Plough Damage Survey 1995-1996 : Survey
• Pevensey Castle, Pevensey : Resitivity Survey
• Pevensey Castle, Pevensey : Excavation

Associated Monuments - none recorded

Associated Finds

• ANIMAL REMAINS (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• BUCKET (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• STAKE (AD 2nd Century to AD 3rd Century - 131 AD to 270 AD)
• COIN (AD 3rd Century - 287 AD to 296 AD)
• SHERD (AD 13th Century to AD 14th Century - 1200 AD to 1399 AD)

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