Identifying and mapping sites of national importance in wetland environments in East Sussex
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2015-08-03

Carl Champness, Oxford Archaeology South

The paper presents the results of one of the commissioned pilot projects in the National Importance Programme. East Sussex was selected because it is facing new challenges following the recent discovery of wetland sites of national importance, but which may not be scheduled under the terms of the 1979 Act and would be termed 'sites without structures'. The area has a large wetland and coastal resource rich in heritage assets, including significant collections of early prehistoric, medieval and military sites associated with former coastal areas.

The project develops various themes and builds on previous work undertaken by OA and others in East Sussex, discussing techniques for identifying, mapping, recording and predicting sites of national importance, specifically relating to wetland sites and sequences within East Sussex. The study advocates a landscape approach to protection rather than the current protection of individual sites. 

Many of these wetland sites were found to fall inside areas of existing wetland or former marshes, with the vast majority either being protected as SSSI or under other agri-environmental schemes. With one or two exceptions very few of these sites are currently threatened by development pressure but are under increasing pressure from changing land-use management strategies, associated with flood risk measures and habitat enhancement schemes. Through greater predictive mapping and understanding of heritage assets within wetland sequences it is hoped to offer better alert heritage mapping to help share, and inform land management strategies, which will bring benefits to both the natural and historic environment.