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In 1827 a group of workmen planting trees on the hill top of Highdown, north-west of Worthing, discovered part of a large and important Anglo-Saxon cemetery. The cemetery was used in the fifth and sixth centuries AD and was associated with a thriving settlement, the site of which has not been found. Both cremation and burial were practised and a range of items were used as grave goods, reflecting the different levels of wealth in the community. The grave goods show that these people had contact with the Romans and they were probably among the first Saxons who settled in England when the Romans were preparing to withdraw in the early fifth century.

Among the items discovered was a unique and fragile Egyptian glass vase ‘The Highdown Goblet‘, made in about 400BC.