Cissbury Ring

From Traditional Witchcraft Wiki Project

Cissbury Ring is a ditch and rampart hill-fort on the South Downs, and the second largest in England. It is near the Sussex village of Findon, and from it you can see the equally famous Chanctonbury Ring. Its neolithic flint mines were amongst the most important at the time, dating back some 5-6,000 years, and the Iron Age hill-fort about it was built in 3,000BC, and later reinforced by the Romans when they were defending against the Saxons. It is now owned by the National Trust & is acknowledged as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

On the lower northern slope there is a hollow where a dewpond once stood. This dewpond has destroyed forever during the second world war, when tanks tore it up during training. It was to be renovated fairly recently but the exceedingly rare & protected fairy shrimp has been found there, and it can only survive in temporary ponds as it is vulnerable to predators. However, there is a renovated dewpond to the east of the ring.

Cissbury, as can be expected of such an ancient site, has a rich body of folklore attached to it. It is said to have a tunnel beneath it containing treasure, which is guarded by large Serpents; this tunnel has been linked by earth mystery researchers with a possible ley alignment. The mound itself is said to have been formed by clods that flew from the Devil's spade as he dug out Devil's Dyke, the other clods forming such landmarks as Chanctonbury Ring and Rackham Hill. Like other earthworks, Cissbury Ring has its resident fairies, and at Midsummer they may be seen dancing upon its slopes. Intriguingly, coins attributed to a mint that folklore attests to have once stood upon Cissbury have the word "sithe" on them, which has led some to speculate that the name Cissbury comes from Sithesbury. In modern times there has been evidence of witch activity, including burning candles, ribbons tied upon hawthorn trees, and various other activities, and it has a local reputation of being a witch haunt.