John Mills explained that the job of a County Archaeologist was involved with looking at the way any planning scheme might effect archaeological remains, and what to do about it. Records of all the known archaeological sites and finds in the area are kept at County Hall, which are then used to give advice to the District Councils as well as the County Council. Local museums, such as Henfield, are asked to keep the County Archaeologist informed of 'finds' over the years, so that an accurate picture of the County may be plotted. Some areas, such as Worthing (where there has been a very active archaeological research group) are well plotted, but knowledge is sadly lacking in huge parts of the County, including Henfield.

Whilst building work was being carried out in Coombe Drove, Steyning, two skeletons had been found under the footings of a garage, which was being under-pinned. The Police had already been called and had decided that no post-mortem examination was necessary as the skeletons were over 200 years old. Although records show a lepers burial site in the Maudlin area of the town, there were no previous records of skeletons having been found on this particular site.

However, an old charter boundary map of the town shows this area is known as the Heathens Burial Corner, indicating boundaries dating from the late Saxon/early middle ages. Whilst over 30 heathen burial place names are known from Saxon times, this one in Steyning is the only one where the heathen burial placename survived after the Norman Conquest and into modern times. The original interpretation of the word 'heathen' though may not mean non-Christian, but implied they came from outside of the community, possibly immigrants.

A pathologist examined the skeletons and advised that the first skeleton (of which only the lower half was found) was of a fairly young individual in his teens, and about 5 ft 9 ins tall. The second skeleton, also male was between 30 and 35 years of age. There was no evidence that either had been executed. One of the ways to date the graves is to see if anything was buried with the bodies, such as Pagan shields, spears, jewellery - the only thing found was a tiny piece of late-bronze age pottery, dating from around 1000 BC. Another way to date the skeletons is to radio carbon date the protein in the bones. The first skeleton produced a reading of 1003 +/- 2 years, and the second a reading of 1002 +/- 21 years.

A new sewage treatment works was being constructed last year on the coastal plain at the old Ford Aerodrome. Most of the site is covered in archaeology which has not been recognised in the past. The soil is far too acid and any bones would not survive in the area. Remains of ditches and pits were found, and were believed to be the very first marking out of fields when the area was first ploughed around 1400 BC. Another set of fields running at a completely different angle were also found and believed to date from 100 BC to 43 AD. A further corner of the site was active during the period 15-150 AD, with no further evidence of activity until the 19th century.

In the spring of last year John was called out to St. Mary's in Bramber - using radar they had found a cavity in the garden, but didn't understand what they had found. Some years ago, when taking up the floorboards, the owners found a fireplace which was the remains of a building which stood on the site prior to the building of the present house, which is late 15th century. It would seem that these finds in the garden were also evidence of buildings which pre-date the existing house.

The coastal plain near Chichester was the site of another archaeological examination where gravel was being extracted from a site before building a new plant. Two areas were found with a lot of historical archaeology, and Wessex Archaeology was taken on by Goodwood Estate to record the archaeology. An Anglo-Saxon post-hole was discovered, but whereas what you would expect to find evidence of a hut built over a hole with timber and thatch, what was actually found was a wicker frame hut. These were not used for living accommodation, but were temporary shelters from the wind where activities such as weaving took place. Bronze Age urns used for the burial of cremation remains were also discovered at this site.

In 1999 the County Archaeologist was called to Furners Lane in Henfield where several houses were being built. A Medieval ditch was found running along the site, and also part of a Bronze Age cremation urn. In 1977/78 a small archaeological dig took place on the Parsonage Estate to examine a mound by the side of the road - could this be one of the last remaining boundaries of the Deer Park which existed on the site?