Lane north of the town follows the Roman road for a distance south of Lowlands Farm and again briefly north of it. Between Burgess Hill and Hassocks very little has been found. This is the section that Vine observed being stripped of its stone in 1779 to build a turnpike road. At the crossroads with the Sussex Greensand Way at Hassocks there is a large Roman cemetery in the south west corner. Clayton to the coast Various sections of apparently Roman road found around Hassocks have caused long-standing confusion about the course of the road over the South Downs escarpment. Building and upgrading of turnpike roads over Clayton Hill in the 18th and 19th centuries have left abandoned roads which have been mistaken for Roman work, and disturbance from the building of the railway cutting and the tunnel with its many air shafts have further confused the issue. More recent research by Glen Shields suggests that the road followed a more westerly route, now known as the Nore Track, which uses another pass on the west side of a small hill called the Nore. This track, now a bridleway, reaches the summit at , then gently descends to Pyecombe as a broad and well-constructed terraceway along the west side of Wish Bottom. North of the village it is joined by the disused turnpike road which has crossed the valley from Clayton Hill; it then continues as the village street. The route from Pyecombe to the coast is not known. Margary concluded, without any evidence, that Brighton Old Steine might have been a better place for a port than Portslade, and that therefore the road would have gone down the valley to Brighton. This would have followed a valley bottom prone to seasonal flooding, which the Romans normally avoided, preferring to use higher ground. Steep side valleys, locally called coombes, would have prevented building along the valley sides. Alternatively the route may have turned south west on the track which is now the South Downs Way, heading towards the River Adur in the Portslade area. See also Roman Britain Roman roads in Britain References Bibliography External links A map of the known Roman road network in south east England using the Margary numbering system by Keith Briggs. (London to Clayton number 150) Roman roads in England Roads in London Roads in Surrey Roads in West Sussex