Chanctonbury Rings, Findon, West Sussex

Spiritual Lineage

The lineage of sacred recognition at Chanctonbury Ring does not flow through a single tradition but through the recurring human response to this particular place. Bronze Age peoples buried their dead here, presumably believing the elevated position significant for the journey beyond death. Iron Age communities built earthworks, claiming the hilltop for purposes we can only partially understand. Romano-British worshippers constructed temples, adapting the existing sacred precinct for their own gods. After the Roman departure, formal religious use seems to have ceased, but the folklore that accumulated suggests the site was never forgotten. The Devil associations may preserve distant memory of pre-Christian worship, transformed into cautionary tale by subsequent generations. The counting traditions, the fertility beliefs, the ghost stories all speak to a continuous awareness that this hilltop was somehow set apart. Charles Goring's tree planting was not explicitly religious, but it created the conditions for a new kind of sacred encounter. The enclosed grove, visible from miles around, became a destination for those seeking something beyond the ordinary. The Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men, the modern pagans who gather at solstices, the seekers who simply feel drawn to climb the escarpment all continue this lineage of recognition, adding their own layer to what the site holds.