14/05/2026
Old Idsworth Guided Walk.
Saturday 20th June
Starting time 10:30
Meeting Point: The entrance to the footpath up to St Hubert's Church. There is limited parking along the side of the road or opposite.
Post Code PO8 0BE
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Cost: Members £1.00, non-members £6.00 (if places are available) payable in cash on the day. Please book your place in advance by emailing myself, [email protected]
Recent archaeological work by CDAS has revealed that the church of St Hubert’s Idsworth (The Little Church in the Field) is built on top of much older buildings and has potentially been used as a sacred site for thousands of years. In the Bronze Age there were numerous round barrows in the area. A complex series of boundary ditches have been found in the field by CDAS. These date to the Iron Age and indicate that there is a pagan temple under the church. When the Romans arrived, they built their own temple on the Iron Age site. Then, with the arrival of Christianity, a wooden church was built on the site. This was followed by the current stone-built church, the western wall of which has a foundation of Roman pilae. A considerable amount of Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and Medieval pottery has been found by CDAS in the field.
It is known that Roman religious cults and then the early church "appropriated" significant locations from previous religions to convert or suppress them, and Idsworth would appear to support this theory.
The walk will include Old Idsworth Gardens where permission has been obtained to see its dovecot, icehouse and walled garden. We will also see the unusual and intriguing medieval wall paintings in the church and discuss the interpretation of these.
The walk will be illustrated with Geophys images, other documents and samples of pottery. There will also be a display of the finds by Bart Smith, a metal detectorist. He has found some intriguing items which we can discuss.
The total length is less than a mile. The going is easy with one style (though this can be avoided) and should take about an hour and a half. There are no facilities. Dogs are welcome – St Huberts is dedicated to hunters and hunting dogs!
Afterwards, if you would like some refreshment, we can meet in The George, Finchdean, and have a closer look at some of the finds.
Mark Seaman
Chairman, Chichester & District Archaeology Society
