Anyway, the trig point is oddly my favourite part of the fort. Its a cool structure to lean or sit against, has a kind of beauty in its own right and, lets face it, it is as legitimate a field monument as any prehistoric megalith. Often the trig point is used as convienient meeting place and we've spent many fine summer evenings here sat about doing whatever it is you do up a hill at night. There has been a little depression here for as long as I can remember where others have lit fires.
The other cool thing about the trig point is the great western and southern views you get from here. On a fine day you can see across to the Isle of Wight while, closer to home, the hills of Cissbury, Highdown, Chanctonbury and Wolstonbury all loom on the western horizon. These sites were all hillforts (though Wolstonbury could have been a henge or other ritual enclosure). Throughout the Iron Age these settlement would have been plainly visible as stockaded hilltops with encircling scars of chalk ramparts. I often imagine one clan looking enviously on as they see there good-for-nothing neighbours busy building an ever more eleborate set of defenses. At night the views are also fantastic, especially the sight of hundreds of shimmering lights across Brighton, Hove and Worthing on a sultry mid-summer night.
To the east, the hills of Caburn and Kingston Ridge dominate the horizon. This horizon offers some fantastic sun rises, especially in the spring. On May Day the dawn is also accompanied by Morris Dancing. We first found this out one misty May morning, when sat on the hill at 5.30am we heard from the mist the sounds of hundreds of bells surrounding us and closing in......we thought the fairies had finally come to take us away.
Many people make the climb to the hill for the summer solstice but, to be honest, its not the best vantage point for that day. Best to try Chanctonbury or Wolstonbury.
