Knowledge of our local history goes back to the days of the Roman occupation as the remains of a Roman villa less than half a mile to the NW of the church were discovered in 1818, but were not excavated until 1948 prior to the layout of the Sunninghill Estate when coins of the era of Emperor Valerian were found dating back to circa 250 A.D.
Saxon Era
The Saxons later established an estate with settlements interconnected by existing Roman tracks. On an archaeological map of the area as in Saxon times, the ‘hides’ of Blatchington and also Hangleton are identified on the routes of these ancient tracks. One of these, labelled ‘Droveway’, passed through Blatchington and continued north and was joined by another from the southwest that passed through Hangleton, originating from the port of the Adur.
Old English Roots
The latter track is labelled ‘Port’s road’ from which the village of Portslade must surely get its name since ‘lad’ is an O.E. word for a ‘way’ or a ‘course’. The term ‘hides’ refers to parcels of land of sufficient size for a small settlement to be self-supporting and which hedges or banks separated.
We have a huge amount of information on the history of the church – if you would like to read more about our history please view our PDF document which will tell the whole story.