Bignor Hill, Bignor Roman Villa and Bignor Village

The chalk ridge of the South Downs Way once provided a safe route for the Roman army from Chichester to London. Along it, they built Stane Street in around AD70. This cambered road was 20 to 25 five feet wide, surfaced with hammered chalk and flints. Today, only the central embankment, or agger, remains, forming a grassy raised section that is pleasant to walk on.

The first point of interest you reach walking along the South Downs Way from the car park is an interesting memorial. Toby's Stone, lying just east of the crest of Bignor Hill, marks the remains of a tribute to Toby Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, the secretary of the local Cowdray Hounds Hunt, who lived from 1888 to 1955.

Nearby, shallow ditches mark the even older site of Barkhale Neolithic Camp, a rare New Stone Age settlement. Pottery finds dated to around 2,500 BC. Unlike later Iron Age hill-forts, the camp was obviously not built for defence as it is easily reached by causeways.

As a complete contrast to the high and wide open spaces of the neolithic settlement, the village of Bignor is a charming cluster of stone-built russet-tiled houses, cradled in a semicircle of the Sussex Downs. Its half-timbered Wealden house, with an overhanging upper storey, is more than 400 years old. Houses like this are typically found in villages lying between the North Downs and the South Downs. This one was once the village shop.

On the outskirts of the village are the remains of Bignor Roman villa. This magnificent Roman courtyard villa is world famous for its beautiful mosaics. Discovered by chance in 1811, the villa has been roofed and protected since it was opened to the public in 1815.

On the return route you pass Holy Cross, Bignor's little church, which has an 11th century chancel and a delicately worked wooden rood screen that was carved in 1320.