Bellway is joining forces with a team of archaeologists to excavate the site of a former First World War training camp in Bexhill in a project which will involve the local community.

Cooden Camp was used as a training base for troops sent to the front line during the Great War. Among those trained there were soldiers of the Royal Sussex Regiment which suffered devastating casualties on the Western Front on 30 June 1916 – known locally as ‘The Day Sussex Died.’

Bellway, which has planning permission to build 70 homes off Clavering Walk, on land which was part of the former camp, has commissioned the dig as part of the planning conditions for the new development.

The housebuilder has teamed up with Archaeology South-East – part of the UCL Institute of Archaeology – and the County Archaeologist at East Sussex County Council on the project, which will involve a two-week excavation with local volunteers later this month.

An exhibition day will be held once the dig is complete to give members of the public an opportunity to find out more about the archaeological and historical significance of the site. Archaeology South-East will also work with local schools to design and deliver outreach sessions, and a leading expert from the team is set to give public lectures about the excavation.

It is hoped that the study will shed new light on the role the camp played in the training of troops – and the living conditions they experienced – during the First World War.

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.”

Opened in 1914, Cooden Camp was used throughout the First World War, originally housing men who would form the 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment. The Sussex men who trained at the camp were involved in The Battle of the Boar’s Head at Richebourg-I’Avoué in France on 30 June 1916, when the three battalions would suffer some 1,100 casualties.

The camp was subsequently used as the temporary home of men in training from as far afield as South Africa and Australia, later becoming the site of a Princess Patricia’s Canadian Red Cross Hospital in 1918, before closing the following year.

The excavation is taking place on the northern part of the site and is due to finish by December 2024. It follows archaeological trial trench evaluations conducted in two phases between 2019 and 2021. This identified the extensive remains of features relating to the training camp and hospital.

Simon Stevens, Project Officer at Archaeology South-East who is leading the excavation, has a personal connection to the stories of the men who fought and died in the First World War. He said: “’My interest in The First World War originally stemmed from the service of my maternal grandfather, Charles Curl, 6th Battalion, East Kent Regiment, wounded twice, taken prisoner, a man who suffered both physically and mentally for the rest of his life.

“I have had the privilege to research the experiences of men from the Sussex village of Newick who served in the First World War over many years, some of whom trained at the camp and died at the Boar’s Head. I’m proud to be leading the archaeological team that will help to shed light on the sometimes all-too-short lives of the men who trained at Cooden.”

Bellway secured detailed planning permission to build 70 homes on the site in August 2021. Under the terms of the outline planning conditions, construction work will not begin until the archaeological dig has been completed.

Bellway Kent is building new homes across Kent and East Sussex. For more information, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/kent.