Barkhale Camp

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Barkshale Wood

In the civil parish of Arundel.
In the historic county of Sussex (Modern Authority of West Sussex, 1974 county of West Sussex).

Guy writes "Castle known to have existed at Barkshale Wood. He gives no source or evidence. Guy's unquestioning certainty is enough for me to consider this site doubtful. My thanks to Jon Sheddon for identifying the location of this site (at Barkhale Wood). I presume Guy is referring to the neolithic causewayed enclosure here, which is in a possible position for a siege work of Arundel but has had some excavations and has not shown medieval finds, on this bases I have rejected the site. The site is recorded in PastScape as "A Neolithic causewayed enclosure surviving as earthworks. The enclosure was surveyed by RCHME in 1995 as part of the Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic Project. See the archive report for full details of the site. The enclosure is located on the South Downs near Bignor Hill, just below the crest of the Downs on gently sloping ground. A single line of causewayed earthwork bank and ditch encloses an oval area measuring 215 metres by 145 metres internally. The enclosure is bisected by a trackway of probable early C19origin. North of the track, the earthworks are relatively well-preserved, despite the area being under the plough until recently. South of the track, in an area which was formerly wooded, the earthworks are poorly preserved. The site was first identified as a possible causewayed enclosure in 1929, when a single trench was dug across the ditch. The site was more fully investigated by V Seton-Williams in 1958-61 and by the Sussex Archaeological Field Unit in 1978, though in both cases all trenches were very small. Much of the pottery recovered was undiagnostic, and although some sherds were definitely Neolithic, most of the identifiable ones were Bronze Age, Iron Age or Roman. Large quantities of flint were found, including scrapers, a leaf-shaped arrowhead, and a transverse arrowhead. Most would fit into an Early Neolithic context, though they generally came from the ploughsoil."

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
This site is rejected as a medieval fortification or palace.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU97581261

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 249593