Legend of the Trundle Assault

1000 years ago...

Towards the end of the Anglo-Saxon era, England was under the rule of a fierce Danish warrior King called Canute (Cnut - Olde English). He had already conquered vast areas of northern Europe and when he defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Edmund, he became known as one of the most powerful kings to have ever ruled. Such was the extent of his self belief, Canute thought he could conquer any one and any thing, including the sea and tide.

Legend has it, one sunny summer afternoon, he took his throne from his castle in Winchester to a beach in "Westringes" now known as West Wittering. He set his throne by the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet and robes. Yet, the tide continued to rise and much to the amusement of the onlooking crowd of locals, Canute returned to Winchester embarrassed and ashamed with soggy shoes. On that day he vowed to punish the inhabitants of the major local settlements who had laughed at his failure to control nature, by taxing all their worldly goods, gold and possessions.

However, the gold never made it back to Winchester, instead Canute built caves in the fields between the settlements of "Loventone" (Lavant), "Silletone" (Singleton) and "Prestetone" (West Dean) and stored the gold there, taunting the locals. As the years went by the levels of treasure increased and new caves were built on top of existing ones and a great hill of gold grew out of the ground.

By the time Canute was on his death bed in 1035AD, the hill of gold (now known as the Trundle) had grown to almost 300m high. The inhabitants of Chichester and local settlements had lost everything and were desperately poor. In their weakened state they made one final plea to the king and begged him to set them free of the taxes and allow them to reclaim their possessions. Canute saw they repented and he had punished them enough and so, as one of his final acts as king, he ordered a stop to the taxes, but, instead of allowing them to reclaim their possessions, which now belonged to realm, he set up a challenge, that would see the settlements compete to earn back portions of their gold every year.

The first Trundle Assault, held in 1035AD, saw the villagers elect their strongest and fastest athlete to scale the mountain from the start point at their local inn. With the victor returning to their village with enough gold and treasure to eat and drink like champions for the whole year. Such was the success of this event that when Harold I succeeded Canute, he continued the tradition. On occasions it was even rumoured he was the one standing at the summit giving out the gold. Sometimes great contests erupted at the points where the routes converge, which drew in a passionate crowd of spectators and one year someone was even seen profiting from tea and mead sales. Over the years to follow, the four settlements prospered evenly and wealth was restored to the region. The local Inns displayed trophies to show off their successes, legends were born, and heroes embellished over victory ales.

By 1066 the Trundle had lost almost 100m of height (in treasure) and now stood at 200m tall. A great war was about to take place and Harold had enlisted all the villagers to take arms and stand against the Norman invasion at what was to become the Battle of Hastings. Sadly in the fight, the local settlements sustained heavy losses and when William the Conqueror succeeded the throne, under a new Norman regime, it was decided, by the few survivors, to keep quiet about the Trundle Assault and the hill of gold in the hope they could reclaim all their remaining possessions at last.

However, that very year, William passed through the area en route to his beach hut on the coast and spotted the Trundle and the commanding position it held over Chichester. Within days he had commissioned the build of a Motte-and-Bailey castle, one of the first of its kind, right on top of the gold without even realising it, sealing it off, much to the despair of the locals.

In the centuries that followed, accounts of the Trundle Assault and the hill of gold disappeared into folklore, whispered over beers in the four Inns, from generation to generation. The castle was replaced by a chapel, a windmill and now aerials. Many archaeologists and gold hunters have attempted to dig for the treasure but it is said to be protected by the spirits of those villagers 1000 years ago in the form of a golden calf that roams the Trundle luring the fortune seakers away.

It is rumoured the only way for the Trundle to reveal its riches and to prove you are worthy of it, is to become a champion in the running of an official Trundle Assault.

Conquer the Trundle and become a champion

*Any accuracies in the above account are entirely accidental!

Further reading on buried treasure, the golden calf and the Trundle:

http://www.sussexarch.org.uk/saaf/treasure.html

https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/the-trundle-folklore/