Eastbourne looking back: Burial ground reveals secrets in 2015

Eastbourne Heritage Service, in association with East Sussex County Council's archaeology team, carried out the dig at Ocklynge Hill on Willingdon Road in August 2015, where up to 200 ancient ancestors lie.

The purpose of the excavation by hand was to prevent any further unnecessary damage to burials by establishing the cemetery's boundaries.

Scientific testing has already shown that the people buried on Ocklynge Hill lived more than 1,200 years ago in the late 600s to mid 700AD. All of the tested remains of individuals showed they had grown up in the Eastbourne area and nearly all were found to have had a diet very high in seafood.

Over the last 150 years some 200 burials have been uncovered on the site where the A2270 Willingdon Road crests the rise known as Ocklynge Hill.

The dig was authorised after initial tests to determine the full extent and condition of the cemetery failed to clarify things. A ground penetrating radar survey was carried out in March 2015 but the results were unclear so the Heritage Service undertook the excavation.