Chanctonbury Ring

Many Brightonians tend to find themselves in need of a retreat from the busy streets and beaches of Brighton and Hove of a summer’s weekend. Displaced from the city they by incomers from London and the summer tourists they splash like droplets of water from a dewpond whose surface has been shattered by the stone throwing misadventures of small boys. But where do they go?
Well one place I find myself visiting on a July eve is Chanctonbury ring. A pleasant spot on the South Downs, Chanctonbury Ring was a hill fort in the Iron Age, hence its superb panoramic views. Chanctonbury is an important archaeological site, with caches of Roman coins and pottery having been discovered there from its time as a temple. Human remains have also been found. Reports were made in the 1970s of paranormal activity and evidence of occult ceremonies having taken place, but when questioned, local occult groups claimed that the site had a bad atmosphere and they wouldn’t risk going there. This may stem from the legend that Chanctonbury Ring is one of the clods of earth the devil threw from Devil’s Dyke, when he was carving out a channel inland to drown humankind before being foiled by a cockerel and an old lady’s sieve. However, the sheep nibble away in blissful ignorance, and the grassy knolls seem unlikely to conceal Satan in any of his myriad forms. The ring of trees from which the place takes its name came comparatively late, planted by Charles Goring, the then owner of Wiston Estate. The locals at first objected to the idea, but later when the trees were destroyed by the 1987 hurricane, they planted replacements in his memory. The hill is also an ordnance survey trig point, and beacons are lit there on New Year’s Eve in sequence with the rest of the Downs.
All in despite its slightly sinister past this spot offers an earthy and un-​crowded spot to have that Sunday afternoon BBQ with a little shade and plenty of space to ruminate on the weekend behind you or the week ahead.