In a field south of the Lawn Memorial Cemetery on the Woodingdean to Brighton road, a neat floral design has appeared in a field of bearded wheat.  It is visible when looking south from the high point of the road near Brighton racecourse.  Ovingdean, site of several formations in years past, lies just a little further south.

The overall diameter of the formation is 148' and it is a classic six-fold 'flower of life', within an additional 6' wide perimeter.  

The lay is generally tidy and shows a variety of centres and lay directions.  One centre, for instance, contains a very tightly knotted clump of stems, while others are splayed out from around standing centres.  The inner flattened petals are generally laid with one side flowing outwards, and the other inwards.  The outer flattened petals seem to alternate clockwise and anticlockwise.  One of them appears to have two centres, though the secondary one is less well-defined.

The crop itself is thin and rather short, and there is a lot of bindweed caught up in the lay.

 This year, most of the Sussex crop formations seem to have geometrical links with each other.  Once again, overlaying this formation onto the second Sompting design of 2002 reveals a remarkable correlation of proportional geometry (see diagram).

SURVEYED BY:  Allan Brown & Andy Thomas

AERIAL PHOTO:  David Russell

Report by ANDY THOMAS, Southern Circular Research/Swirled News

Copyright (C) 2002