Of immemorial antiquity, the harbour of
Shoreham, first of Old Shoreham, perhaps the Roman Portus Adurni, and
then when that silted up of New, has played always a great part in the
history of South England. That the Romans knew and used it is certain.
It was probably here that the Saxon Ella and his three sons Cymne,
Cissa, and Wlencing, landed in 477, and it is not likely that it was
neglected by the Normans, who, in fact, built here a very noble
cruciform church, dark and solemn, indeed, rather a fortress than a
church. It was at Shoreham certainly that John landed when he returned
to England to make himself king after the death of Coeur de Lion, and
we may gather some idea of the real importance of the port from the
fact that it furnished Edward III. with twenty-six ships for his fleet
in 1346. Thereafter the place declined, but history repeated itself
when Charles II., in flight in 1651 and anxious to reach the French
coast, set out from Shoreham and landed at Fecamp. Shoreham thus was
an important way in and out of England, but the road by which it lived
was not in its keeping at all, but in the power of the Castle of
Bramber which dominated and held it on the north side of the Downs,
where it issued out of the pass or gap made by the Adur.
Pages:
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269