London to Brighton Way

The road south of Godstone at Tilburstow Hill

The London to Brighton Way, also called the London to Portslade Way, is a Roman road between Stane Street at Kennington Park and Brighton (or more specifically Portslade) in Sussex. The road passes through Streatham and Croydon, then through the Caterham Valley gap in the North Downs. It passes through Godstone and Felbridge, then follows an almost straight line through Ardingly, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and Hassocks to the South Downs at Clayton. At Hassocks it crosses the Sussex Greensand Way at a large Roman cemetery. It climbs the South Downs escarpment, crossing the ridgeway and connecting with other local tracks.[1] South of Pyecombe the route is uncertain, and may have continued to Brighton or to Portslade.

The road passed through some of the strategically important iron-producing areas of the Weald and was partly constructed from iron slag in those areas, although to a lesser extent than the London to Lewes Way.[2]

  1. ^ Margary, Ivan D. (1968). Roman Ways in the Weald. Phoenix House. ISBN 0-460-07742-2.
  2. ^ Cleere, Henry Roman Sussex–The Weald Figure 32 and p.61. Retrieved 2009-05-08