Pevensey is a small village (1991 pop. 2,725) on the south-east coast of the county of East Sussex in southern England. It lies one mile back from Pevensey Bay, which has a shingle beach. There is no formal sea-front. This small area of coastline repeatedly played a key role in the history of England. File links The following pages link to this file: Pevensey ... A village is a human settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... East Sussex is a county in South East England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ...

Two railway stations serve the area: Pevensey and Westham and Pevensey Bay Pevensey & Westham railway station serves the villages of Pevensey and Westham in East Sussex. ... Pevensey Bay railway station serves Pevensey Bay in East Sussex. ...

Main Street ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 479 KB) Summary Photo taken and supplied by Brian Voon Yee Yap. ...

History

The village's history is tied to its famous castle. The castle at Pevensey was built between 300 and 340 by the Romans during a time when Britain was still part of the Roman Empire. At this time the south and east of the province Britannia were under constant attack from marauding barbarian tribes, namely the Jutes and Saxons. The south and eastern seaboards of Britannia were collectively known as "the Saxon Shore" and several large forts were built to defend it. For other uses, see number 300. ... Events Constantine II attacks his brother Constans near Aquileia, aiming for sole control of the western half of the Roman Empire. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... Britannia, the British national personification. ... Barbarian was originally a Greek term applied to any foreigner, one not sharing a recognized culture or language with the speaker or writer employing the term. ... The Jutes were a Germanic people who are believed to have originated from Jutland in modern Denmark and part of the Frisian coast. ... This article is about the Saxons, a Germanic people. ... The Saxon Shore is the collective name given to a series of fortifications built along the south-east coast of what is now England, during the latter years of the Roman occupation of Britain. ...

The fort was named Anderida by the Romans and was built on what was then an uninhabited peninsula of land rising above the coastal marshes. The sea washed over what is now Pevensey Marshes surrounding Anderida on three sides, so giving a safe and sheltered landing point. This marshy inlet of the sea, extending inland as far as Hailsham, was studded with small areas of high land which remained as islands at high tide so giving the place-names of Rickney, Horse Eye, North Eye and Pevensey. All are derived from the Old English word 'eye' meaning island. Location within the British Isles Hailsham is a town in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. ...

When the Roman legion left Britannia in 408, the Romanised native Britons attempted to defend their island from attack. They were relatively successful until in 449, their High King - a shrewd politician but inept general called Vortigern - paid these same enemies to help him as mercenaries and attack his enemies in the north - namely the Picts. The Jutes (led by Hengist) were successful and were granted the island of Thanet in Kent for their troubles. However this plan backfired and the Jutes soon revolted and within ten years had captured London and thrown Britain into disarray. Events Theodosius II succeeds his father Arcadius as Emperor of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire In the summer of this year, the usurper Constantine III captures Spain, destroying the loyalist forces defending it. ... Events August 3 - The Second Council of Ephesus opens, chaired by Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria. ... Vortigern, Vortiger, or Vortigen was a fifth century warlord, possibly legendary, traditionally said to have invited the Anglo-Saxons to settle in Britain as mercenaries, who later revolted and established their own kingdoms. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Hengest or Hengist (d. ... William Cobbett in 1827 when he rode to the Island The Isle of Thanet is an area of northeast Kent, England. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, which contains Big Ben London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...

Following the Jutish example the Saxons began invading Britain in earnest. In 491, a Saxon army led by Aelle landed on the south coast west of Kent and besieged Anderida. After an heroic battle the British defences were overrun and the entire garrison as well as scores of British refugees seeking shelter were massacred. The remaining Britons on the south coast either fled north in to the forests or by boat over the channel to found what is now called Brittany in France. Aelle then declared that land to be the Kingdom of the South Saxons - later called Sussex - and the old Roman fort of Anderida was burned and left derelict for 600 years. For a while the ruined castle was known by the Saxons as Andredceaster and the Weald of southern England which stretched 120 miles from Anderida to Dorset was named Andredsweald or the Forest of Andred. Events AElle conquers the fortified Roman town of Anderida through siegecraft. ... Ælle was king of the South Saxons from 477 to perhaps as late as 514, and was named Bretwalda by Bede, who adds that he was overlord of the Anglo-Saxons south of the Humber river. ... Traditional coat of arms This article is about the historical duchy and French province, as well as the cultural area of Brittany. ... Sussex is a traditional county in southern England, divided for administrative purposes into West Sussex and East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove. ... A weald once meant a dense forest, especially the famous great wood once stretching far beyond the ancient counties of Sussex and Kent, England, where this country of smaller woods is still called the Weald. ...

In time the Saxons, eager to forget Britain's Roman history, renamed the ruined island Pefele (which means the Island of Pefe) which over the years developed into the modern spelling of Pevensey. While England became unified, the fort of Anderida at Pevensey remained abandoned and derelict until 1042, when an Anglo-Saxon noble (Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex - later King Harold II of England) established a strong point here, improving fortifications by digging ditches within the walls of the Roman Fort. The English army remained at the fort during the summer of 1066 before abandoning it to meet the invading Norwegians further north. When the Duke William the Bastard of Normandy invaded Sussex in September 1066 there were no defences at Pevensey or anywhere else on the south coast. Events April 18/April 19 - Emperor Michael V of the Byzantine Empire attempts to remain sole Emperor by sending his adoptive mother and co-ruler Zoe of Byzantium to a monastery. ... Name Harold Godwinson Lived c. ... Events January 6 - Harold II is crowned King of England the day after Edward the Confessor dies. ... William I ( 1028 – 9 September 1087), was King of England from 1066 to 1087, and as Guillaume II was Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087. ... Mont Saint Michel is a historic pilgrimage site and a symbol of Normandy Normandy is a geographical region in northern France. ...

Remnants of Castle

In 1066 at the ensuing Battle of Hastings on Senlac Hill, Duke William defeated the combined English armies led by King Harold II. In late 1066 the castle at Pevensey was occupied by the Normans. Much of the Roman fort remaining on the castle site is due largely to the work of Robert of Mortain (half brother to William the Conqueror), who was granted Pevensey Castle shortly after the Norman Conquest. De Mortain used the existing fort as the base for building his castle, carrying out only minor repairs to the walls forming the outer bailey, and building a new inner bailey at the eastern end. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1704x2272, 391 KB) Summary Photo taken and supplied by Brian Voon Yee Yap. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1704x2272, 391 KB) Summary Photo taken and supplied by Brian Voon Yee Yap. ... The Battle of Hastings was the decisive Norman victory in the Norman conquest of England in 1066. ...

A new gateway replaced the original main entrance to the southwest, and the east gateway was repaired. Other alterations made were mainly additions and improvements to existing structures within the original fort. An irregular, rectangular-shaped enclosure was created using part of the Roman wall and two bastions on the southeastern side. Shortly after the inner bailey was created, the rectangular stone keep was erected, incorporating part of the east curtain wall and a Roman bastion. Some time later, three more bastions facing the inner bailey were added to the keep.

The castle was besieged by William Rufus in the Rebellion of 1088 and during a period of civil war by the forces loyal to King Stephen (1135-1141). Simon de Montfort, on his way back from taking Lewes, besieged the castle in 1264. William II (called Rufus, perhaps because of his red-faced appearance, or maybe his bloody reign) (c. ... The Rebellion of 1088 occurred after the death of William the Conqueror and concerned the division of lands in England and Normandy between his two sons William Rufus and Robert Curthose. ... Stephen (1096 – October 25, 1154), the last Norman King of England, reigned from 1135 to 1154, when he was succeeded by his cousin Henry II, the first of the Angevin or Plantagenet Kings. ... Two notable men bore the name of Simon de Montfort or Simon de Montford in the middle ages: Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester (1160 - 1218), a French nobleman, achieved prominence in the Fourth Crusade and in the Albigensian Crusade. ... Location within the British Isles Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England. ... Events May 12 - The Battle of Lewes begins (ends May 14). ...

During later times the ancient castle nearly did not survive. Queen Elizabeth I ordered the castle to be demolished but this was ignored and during the period of interegnum under Oliver Cromwell efforts were again made to destroy it but luckily only a few stones were removed. As late as 1942 small additions were made to the castle for the defence of Britain when it became a look-out over the channel for invading German warplanes during World War II. Elizabeth I Queen of England and Ireland Queen of France, nominal title Elizabeth I (September 7, 1533–March 24, 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from November 17, 1558 until her death. ... Unfinished portrait miniature of Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper, 1657. ... This article is about the year. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the...

Pevensey was well known for smuggling in the early 1800s. These lollipops, above, were found to contain heroin when inspected by the DEA. Smuggling is illegal transport, in particular across a border. ... Events and Trends Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). ...

Pevensey is famous for its beach based sailing club which attracts mariners from as far away as Markwick Terrace Hastings.

Pevensey in the arts

• J.M.W. Turner painted Pevensey Castle

• Pevensey features several times in Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1907). Kipling's characters describe it as 'England's Gate', the reason for this being the above history. Kipling lived near to Pevensey at Burwash, and the area is described in his autobiography.

• Pevensey features in the book of photographs by famous photographer Fay Godwin, The Saxon Shore (1983).

• The novelist Iain Sinclair's 2004 novel Dining on Stones or, The Middle Ground tells of the eccentric Andrew Norton and his adventures around Pevensey Bay.

• Pevensey is the setting for parts of George Gissing's 1887 novel Thyrza, with an especially fine description in Chapter XLI, 'The Living'.

J. M. W. Turner, English landscape painter The fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, painted 1839. ... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Englands Gate may mean: a small village in Herefordshire, England. ... For the Canadian churchman see Nathaniel Burwash, for the University of Toronto building see Burwash Hall. ... Fay Godwin (born 1931 Berlin, died 27 May 2005 Hastings). ... For the Australian politician, see Ian Sinclair Iain Sinclair is a British writer and film maker. ... George Gissing (November 22, 1857 – December 28, 1903) was a British novelist. ... 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ...

External links

• The Pevensey Levels nature reserve