Earnley Investigation

During mid June 2005 the project teamed up with Dr Martin Bates (Lampeter University) to try to locate the Earnley Channel on the West Sussex Coast. Trial trenching at low tide with a JCB successfully identified both edges of the channel as well as providing a section through the deepest parts of the channel. The deposits were not that thickly buried below the sand and the holes remained dry throughout the investigation, The fieldwork was constrained only by the very short low-tide window available for moving machinery onto the foreshore and the effects of large storms sweeping the Solent and causing a surge tide.



Samples for OSL dating, micropal and pollen analysis were taken in addition to samples of the exotic clasts from the channel gravel. The analysis of these samples will possibly clarify our understanding about the nature of the channel and its age.