Cissbury Ring
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 Location within West Sussex
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| Area of Search | West Sussex |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TQ140080 |
| Coordinates | 50°51′37″N 0°22′46″W / 50.860141°N 0.37932°WCoordinates: 50°51′37″N 0°22′46″W / 50.860141°N 0.37932°W |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 81.9 ha (202 acres) |
| Notification | 1980 |
| Natural England website | |
Cissbury Ring is a hill fort on the South Downs, in the borough of Worthing, England, and about 5 kilometres (3 mi) from its town centre, in the county of West Sussex. It is the largest hill fort in Sussex, the second largest in England and one of the largest in Europe overall, covering some 60 acres (24 hectares). The earthworks that form the fortifications were built around the beginning of the Middle Iron-Age possibly around 250 BC but abandoned in the period 50 BC - 50 AD.
The site of the fort contains a Neolithic mine, one of the first flint mines in Britain. Around 200 shafts were dug into Cissbury hill over around 900 years of use. Shafts were up to 12 metres (39 ft) deep with 7 metres (23 ft) diameters at the surface. Up to eight galleries extended outwards from the bottoms of the shafts, often interconnecting with one another. There is concern that the site is being irreversibly damaged "by illicit use of metal detectors", police say.
The ditches and banks are the remains of a defensive wall that enclosed 65 acres (260,000 m2) of land; the inner band of the wall is over a mile around. The ditches are said to be as deep as three metres and were filled with loosened chalk and covered with timber palisade. The 600 foot (184 m) hill is open to the public. From the top, one is able to see to the west Selsey, Chichester Cathedral, the Spinnaker Tower and the Isle of Wight. To the east, one is able to see Brighton, the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. Cissbury Ring is the highest point in the borough of Worthing.
Several Bronze Age barrows have been found just outside Cissbury Ring. In the Romano-British period, farmers settled within the ramparts of the hill fort. It has been suggested that a medieval mint which produced coinage existed at Cissbury around the eleventh century. Coins have been found across Sussex from Chichester to Lewes bearing the name Sithe, Sithsteb and Sithmes, taken to mean the former name of Cissbury in use at this time of 'Sith(m)esteburh'. The coins found are from the reigns of Ethelred the Unready and Cnut. Although it is quite possible that a mint existed at Cissbury, no trace of it has yet been found.
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