SUSSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS A New Roman Road - A new
Roman road is seldom found in England, so that Mr. Ivan B. Margary's fortunate d scovery of such a road south of Edenbridge and through Ashdown Forest deserves attention. The seventy-third volume of Sussex Archaeological Collections, publis.hed by the Sussex Archaeological. Society (Cambridge, Heller), contains Mr. Margary's full. and scholarly report on the road, with maps, diagrams and photo- graphs. He shows that the Roman road already traced from ‘Vest Wickham to Edenbridge was continued southward through rough country to the neighbourhood of the Roman ironworks near Marestield. It is about twenty yards wide and for many miles it is constructed of slag from the ironworks. At one place he was told that the local residents had-noticed that trees in a certain valley were apt to be struck by lightning. He found that the lost road, now a solid mass of iron slag, ran through the valley and naturally attracted the lightning. Hitherto no traces of Roman occupation had been found in Ashdown Forest. Mr. Margary's research has now shown how the Romans reached their ironworks ; they solved the problem of transport • more successfully than the Wealden ironworkers of later ages. The London end of the road must have been at New Cross Gate ; its continuation to the south coast may yet be traced. In the same well-edited volume are a detailed account by Mr. Winbolt of the important Roman villa at Southwick, a note by Mr. Salmon on the attractive little church at Bramber, and several papers on prehistoric sites. The Sussex Archaeological Society, with its 1,250 members, is to be congratulated on such excellent work.
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