Unearthing Stories from the Past trail
Discover stories from the last 5000 years and explore the artefacts found in Eastbourne and Willingdon as you walk through and over the archaeology that tells us about life in Eastbourne as a Downland settlement. The walk is reasonably flat but is over open Downland so is more challenging at different stages.
The Big Dig Project is part of the Changing Chalk Partnership Led by the National Trust, Changing Chalk connects nature, people and heritage to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life and offer new experiences in the outdoors. Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery Players and The Linbury Trust
Discover an early Neolithic enclosure circling the top of Butts Brow in Willingdon.
Explore the stories of an area of Eastbourne from its earliest use as a Bronze Age cemetery; specialist work collecting salt in the Iron Age, processing crops in the Roman period and the first evidence of an Early Saxon settlement in Eastbourne.
Discover one of the routes used by people in Eastbourne for over 1000 years. Not merely a path but an enduring imprint of human activity etched into the earth.
Explore the stories of people from Gypsy and Traveller communities using Stopping Places in Eastbourne over 100 years ago
Find out more about the original Willingdon/Jevington Mill and the road travelled by those going to and from Willingdon Mill, worn by centuries of traffic carrying corn up and flour down the hill.
Changing Chalk: connecting nature, people and heritage
Working in partnership to connect nature, people and heritage for the future of the Downs
Changing Chalk is a partnership of organisations supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund working together for the future of the South Downs. Through this project, we are reversing the decline of the fragile chalk grassland, and connecting local communities to the nationally significant landscape on their doorstep. Led by the National Trust, the partnership connects nature, people and heritage. It is restoring lost landscapes and habitats, bringing history to life and offering new experiences in the outdoors. Find out more about the Changing Chalk partnership here
