The former WW1 training camp at Cooden originally housed men who would form the 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment. Archaeology SouthEast was commissioned to excavate the site by Bellway, which has planning permission to build 70 homes off Clavering Walk.
The camp, which opened in 1914, served as a training base for soldiers, including the Royal Sussex Regiment which suffered devastating losses during the Battle of the Boar’s Head on 30 June 1916—a day locally remembered as “The Day Sussex Died.”
The excavation, carried out by Archaeology South-East in partnership with East Sussex County Council and housebuilder Bellway, has uncovered numerous artefacts, such as bottles, plates, boots, and spent ammunition. These findings provide a glimpse into the lives of the men who trained at the site, many of whom joined up together, trained together, and tragically died together.
Cooden Camp also hosted troops from South Africa and Australia during the war and later served as Princess Patricia’s Canadian Red Cross Hospital in 1918. It closed in 1919.
You can join ASE’s Simon Stevens and the fieldwork team on site with BBC Sussex by reading the article, watching the short video, or listening to the radio interview (from 1:54:20).
And if you still want to know more about Cooden Camp and our project, you can find more information here.
Chris Moore, Managing Director of Bellway Kent, said: “Cooden Camp would have been one of the last places these brave young soldiers stayed in England before they headed to the battlefields of France. More than a century after those tragic events, this excavation aims to shine a light on the lives of these courageous men who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
“We feel honoured to be working alongside Archaeology South-East and the County Archaeologist on this exciting project which we hope will give current and future generations a greater understanding of the role that these men, and the training camp that once stood on this site, played in the war effort.”
