SEAWARD SUSSEX - online book

A Description of Travels in Sussex During the early 1900s

	CHAPTER VII THE VALLEY OF THE ROTHER Pulborough on Stane Street was once a Roman station. Relics of the occupation are constantly turning up in the neighbourhood. Near the church is a mound, on which stood the "castellum." A glance at the map will show the commanding position the station held over the meeting of the Arun and Rother. There are traces of a Roman villa at Borough Hill north-east of the village.
	The fine church is mostly Perpendicular, though there are Early English portions. Note the archaic Norman font and several interesting brasses, especially that of Thomas Harlyng, Canon of Chichester and rector here in 1420; also the restored sedilia and beautiful modern reredos. Not far from the church are the remains of the ancient "Old Place" once belonging to the Apsleys; the neighbouring barn is even older than the house; "New Place," a little farther north, is another picturesque house with a fine hall. Pulborough is, with Amberley, a Mecca for weekend anglers; it has a famous inn, the "Swan," and is a good halting place before proceeding westwards, in which direction our road now runs. A mile out of the town we take final leave of the Arun at Stopham Bridge, a fine medieval structure of many arches. The Rother joins the larger river just below the bridge and between the two streams may be seen Stopham House, the home of the Bartelotts, seneschals of the Earls of Arundel; their monuments and brasses for several centuries are in the church, an ancient building among trees some distance from the bridge.