TRAIL LOCATION - STRETHAM MANOR

Stretham Manor, the very first settled part of Henfield parish lies close to the junction of the Downs Link and the river. "Stret" was the Roman road, part of a network carrying trade from Chichester to London crossed the River Adur, and "ham" the Saxon house close by. The land was owned by the Bishops of Chichester, whose stewards managed the estates. A circular ring of earth - difficult to see from the Downs Link but clearer from the air - shows the site of the home of Count Warbald and his wife Tilburga in 770. This is the year that the first church was dedicated in Henfield - a dedication said to be the earliest recorded in Sussex.