Roman Activity on the Coastal Plain

c. 100 AD

The coastal plain around what is now Bognor Regis was occupied and farmed during the Roman period. The area lies within the hinterland of the Roman palace at Fishbourne, built around 75 AD, and the walled town of Noviomagus Reginorum at Chichester. Archaeological finds across the Bognor area, including pottery, coins, tile fragments, and building materials, confirm Roman settlement and agricultural activity on this stretch of coast. The fertile, flat land of the coastal plain was well suited to arable farming, and the Romans exploited it systematically, laying out field systems and connecting their settlements with roads and tracks. The coastline was further south than it is today, with land that has since been lost to erosion and rising sea levels. A Roman road ran east from Chichester towards Littlehampton, and smaller tracks connected the settlements and farms that dotted the plain. The later discovery of the Iron Age Bersted warrior burial, with its decorated bronze helmet, confirmed that the area was significant well before the Roman arrival. Roman activity here was agricultural and domestic rather than military, forming part of the prosperous civilian hinterland of Chichester that supported the palace, the town, and the wider Romano-British economy of the region.