The 'Selsey Feet'

The 'Selsey Feet', larger than life statues or flukes of nature?

"Heron Allen and the 'Saxon Feet' from Selsey", is a recent article written by West Sussex geologist, David Bone in which The Novium's Selsey Feet are discussed. The first of the two slightly larger than life size 'feet' was dredged up by local fisherman at what was thought to be the site of the submerged Cathedral at Selsey in 1909. The second was found on the Selsey foreshore in 1939.

The 'Selsey Feet' were first identified by Edward Heron-Allen, local historian and archaeologist in the early 20th century. At the time of the discovery Heron-Allen described the piece as the 'foot of a statue of Caen stone, probably from the old Cathedral, Selsey'. It wasn't until the discovery of the second piece of stone in 1939 that doubt over the identification began. Heron Allen described this second piece of stone as 'an artefact, or pseudomorph of a foot'.

In his recent article in the Sussex Archaeological Collections, Volume 151, David Bone reassesses the identification of the 'feet' to argue that geological evidence clearly shows the stones are formed of Bognor Rock and are almost certainly flukes of nature.

Bone, D. 2013. Heron-Allen and the 'Saxon feet' from Selsey. Sussex Archaeological Collections, 151: 187-192.