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During the thirteenth century the largest settlement in Hove and Portslade was at Hangleton. At its high point the population of the village was approximately 250. From 1300 disease and farming problems contributed to the village's decline. By 1428 there were only two households left.
Foundations of twelve medieval buildings were discovered in Hangleton during the 1950s. The earliest buildings had thatched roofs and walls made of wattle and daub, a mixture of clay, straw and other materials pushed into a wooden framework. Later buildings had walls made of flint. The objects, which survived illustrate everyday life in the village. They include cooking pots, spindle whorls for spinning wool, sickle blades for harvesting, horse and ox shoes and arrow heads for hunting.
By the late fourteenth century Hangleton was virtually abandoned. Taxation records for 1340 describe the village as 'barren and uncultivated' as a result of poor weather, a failed wheat crop and disease amongst the sheep. A similar decline in farming was recorded at Portslade, whilst at Aldrington; the sea had eroded large areas of farmland. Eight years later the Black Death reached Sussex killing approximately one third of the local population.
See objects in the Middle Ages section of the local history gallery, Hove Museum & Art Gallery
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Middle Ages
