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Archaeological evidence shows us that during the Roman period local people were influenced by Roman culture and traded in farm produce. Two Roman roads crossed the area, one followed the same route as the Old Shoreham Road and the other ran from Southwick through Portslade and Hangleton to Hassocks and beyond.
The remains of a Roman villa were found at West Blatchington in the 1940s. The villa was occupied in the second and third centuries. The inhabitants could have been native Britons with a taste for Roman culture or retired soldiers from the Empire. The objects found there include farm tools, pottery, glass and burial urns and suggest the villa was used as a farm.
Eleven ovens were discovered at the site, thought to be for drying or malting grain. This suggests the farm was capable of producing crops for market. Further evidence of trade is supported by the find of Roman coins dating from 265 - 374AD under what is now Woodland Avenue, Hove.
See objects in the Roman section of the local history gallery, Hove Museum & Art Gallery
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Roman
