Balsdean

The valley of Balsdean is the most reliable migration stopover in Sussex of the rare Arctic and high mountain breeding wader the dotterel.

Some were faintly plated, or washed, with silver, and they were so little damaged that their relief remained perfectly sharp.

They were of the time of Valerian, who reigned AD 225, Gallienus, Claudius, Quintilius, Posthumus, Victorinus, Marius, and Tetricus.

Balsdean Manor house and two workers' cottages were inhabited until the Second World War, when the population was evacuated and the buildings were used for target practice by Allied artillery.

Part of the original sheepdown is now protected by the Castle Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest.