Chanctonbury Ring

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• published: 23 Jul 2010
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Chanctonbury Ring (known as Chanklebury in Sussex dialect)[1] is a hill fort based ring of trees atop Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs, on the border of the civil parishes of Washington and Wiston in the English county of West Sussex. A ridgeway, now part of the South Downs Way, runs along the hill. Bertrand Russell once remarked that "any view that includes Chanctonbury Ring is a good view".Chanctonbury Ring was originally a small hill fort in a commanding position looking across the weald to the north. Pottery found and carbon dating on an animal bone suggest the fort was built in the early Iron Age, in the 6th to 5th centuries BC, but some Bronze Age pottery has also been found on the site. [edit] Roman temples After the abandonment of the hill fort, the ring was used by the Romans as a religious site (possibly due to similar Iron Age religious activity there). Two temples were erected, although it is not clear whether they stood at the same time or whether one succeeded the other. One, of Romano-British type with towered central sanctuary and outer ambulatory, certainly dated from the later Roman period. The second Roman temple may have been earlier and was more classical in form and consisted of a polygon of perhaps eleven sides. Human remains approximately one thousand years old have also been found there. Copse of beech trees, c.1904 [edit] 18th century copse The fame of the Ring, however, is due not to the hill fort but to the beech trees, which were planted in 1760 by Charles Goring within the earth bank of the fort,[2] which is still prominent today. The trees became a prominent landmark, very thickly wooded; however, the Great Storm of 1987 destroyed most of the trees and the replanted trees are only now beginning to restore the ring to its former glory.Local legend has it that Chanctonbury Ring was created by the Devil and that he can be summoned by running around the clump of trees seven times anti-clockwise. When he appears he will offer you a bowl of soup in exchange for your soul. The Ring is also rumoured to increase fertility in women who sleep underneath the trees for one night. If you come to the Ring at summer solstice and recite Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, magic little people may appear in front of you. The Ring is mentioned in folklore and legends. There have been a number of reports of Ghosts and UFO sightings by visitors. In 1974 three members of a Worthing based paranormal research group visited the site and one member of this team was said to have levitated whilst walking amongst the trees which crown the hill. As the story goes, he remained suspended in mid air for several seconds and during that time he was crying out 'No more! No more!' and was obviously in some considerable pain. He was then thrown to the ground injuring his back[ci