Boxgrove is a village,

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Chichester District Chichester is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It is named after the city of Chichester, which is its largest settlement and where the council is based. The district includes the towns of Midhurst, Petworth and Selsey and s ...

of the English county of

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, about north east of the city of

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

. The village is just south of the

A285 road List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is ...

which follows the line of the

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

Stane Street Stane Street is the modern name of the Roman road in southern England that linked ''Londinium'' (London) to ''Noviomagus Reginorum'' (Chichester). The exact date of construction is uncertain; however, on the basis of archaeological artefacts ...

. The Anglican parish has an area of . According to the 2001 census it had a population of 901 people living in 423 households of whom 397 were economically active. The 2011 Census indicated at population of 957. Included in the parish are the hamlets of Crockerhill, Strettington and

Halnaker Halnaker ( ) is a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A285 road 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-east of Chichester, where it follows the line of the Roman road to London called Stane Street. There is a pub, ' ...

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

in the same name exists. This ward stretches northwest to West Dean with a total population taken at the 2011 census of 2,235.

History

Archaeology

Boxgrove is best known for the

Lower Palaeolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears ...

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

discovered in a gravel quarry known as Amey's Eartham Pit located near the village but in Eartham Parish. Parts of the site complex were excavated between 1983 and 1996 by a team led by Mark Roberts of

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Numerous

Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo ...

flint tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a c ...

s and remains of animals (some butchered) dating to around 500,000 years ago were found at the site. The area therefore was used by some of the earliest occupants of the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. Remains of ''

Homo heidelbergensis ''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...

'' were found on the site in 1994, the only postcranial hominid bone to have been found in Northern Europe. Teeth from another individual were found two years later.

Hundred of Boxgrove

The ancient

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Boxgrove was listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

(1086) as comprising nine settlements with 246 households. The settlements were

Aldingbourne Aldingbourne is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Its centre is north of Bognor Regis and east of Chichester with the A29 and A27 main roads running through it. The civil parish is na ...

, Strettington, Runcton, East Hampnett,

Merston Merston is a small village, an Anglican parish and former civil parish, now in the civil parish of Oving, in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies just south of the A259 road southeast of Chichester.Ordnance Survey History M ...

Westhampnett Westhampnett (or West Hampnett) is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in the district of Chichester in West Sussex, England, located northeast of Chichester on the former A27 road, now by-passed. The village is pre-Norman and is home ...

and

Upwaltham Upwaltham is a scattered settlement and civil parish in the South Downs, in the District of Chichester of West Sussex, England. It surrounds a parish church, which is about south-southwest of Petworth on the A285 road. The parish is about l ...

, and Boxgrove village itself had 13 households.

Boxgrove Priory

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

was founded at Boxgrove by Robert de Haia (or de la Haye) early in the 12th century. The priory church remains as the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of St Mary and St Blaise, minus the original nave, and mostly dates from the 13th century.

Early cricket

Several parishioners of Boxgrove were prosecuted for playing

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

in the churchyard in 1622. There were three reasons for the prosecution: one was that it contravened a local bye-law; another reflected concern about church windows which may or may not have been broken; the third was the charge that "a little childe had like to have her braines beaten out with a cricket batt".McCann T (2004) ''Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century'', p.xxxi. Sussex Record Society.

19th century

The population of the parish in 1861 was 666, and the area , of which 1,700 were arable, and the remainder downland.

References

External links

Further historical information and sources on GENUKI

British History online: Boxgrove area
{{authority control Chichester District Villages in West Sussex