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Places
Looking back in time
Finding the Evidence
Virtual Field Trips
Panoramic Views
Image Gallery
Places
Harbour Stories
Corpse Lane | Thorney Island | Itchenor | Bosham | West Wittering | Selsey | Warblington | Hayling Island | Emsworth | Smugglers Tales
Corpse Lane
Corpse Lane is a sunken lane leading from the water towards Apuldram Church, today protected by overhanging trees. The parish is part of the Manor of Bosham and the church was probably built around 1100AD. However, until 1447 no burials were allowed so the monks had to row round to collect the dead after the service for internment at Bosham. In that year the parishioners were given permission to have their own cemetery.
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Thorney Island
Island of Thorns was once much bigger than it is now. In the late 1800s an attempt was made to reclaim the land by building an embankment across the channel but it failed. Now only the stakes mark where the sea broke through. In 1935 the RAF built an airfield that is still there - but the airfield at Dell Quay, built for WWII has been reclaimed to farmland.
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Itchenor
There is a legend that when the Vikings came into the Harbour, they rowed up to Bosham under the cover of fog. They raided the village, set fire to the wattle and daub houses and stole the church bell. When the fog lifted, the men of Itchenor saw what had happened and were waiting for the long boat when it came down the creek. In the fight, the bell sank to the bottom. Afterwards they dredged the mud, but each time the grapnel brought the bell to the surface, the rope broke and the bell sank into the mud again. What were they to do?
The bell had been consecrated, and the parson said that they must use a consecrated rope woven of hair from the tails of white oxen. All this was done and the new rope and grapnel were blessed in Bosham's now bell-less church.
They tried again. They dredged again and found the bell, but as it broke the surface of the water, the rope broke. Why? They examined the broken end of the rope to find one black devil's hair among the white. So, the bell lies forever in the Bell Hole and if you listen on a quiet evening you might hear it ring...
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Bosham
Just north of the village there is the remains of a bank, built to hold back the sea in an early attempt to dam the channel. This happened in King Canute's reign. As the words bank and bench have the same origin, this is thought to be where the story of Canute sitting on a bench attempting to hold back the rising tide came from.
There is a famous picture story woven on to the Bayeux Tapestry that shows King Harold riding to Bosham and a picture of the church, before he set sail from the village in his newly built yacht. On this particular voyage he was rescued by William of Normandy. In 1066 William invaded England, killed King Harold in battle, and crowned himself King.
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West Wittering
The village lies to the east of the entrance to Chichester Harbour behind a sand spit named East Head. Probably the Romans landed on the shore behind the dunes, perhaps one end of Stane Street is there leading to London.
The old East Head was so steep and high with sand and shingle that cargoes could be landed straight onto the top. Even today West Wittering creek is a Board of Trade Harbour - although the coastguard cottages are now in private ownership.
The watch-house used by the customs men has been replaced by a row of beach huts for holidaymakers. The effect of coastal erosion is still changing the shape of East Head. The East Winner Bank was once Cockbush Common - now we fear with every high tide and southerly gale the sea will break through to the creek.
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Selsey
Who knows what Roman buildings lie under the encroaching sea off the Manhood Peninsula? Are there seven churches, St Wilfred's Abbey and villages that were drowned by the rising tide levels, culminating in the great flood of 1048 when Seal Island was overflowed and the Saxon Cathedral abandoned?
What we do know is that 10,000 years England was still part of the European land mass and the Ice Age was ending. The flow of water and ice carried boulders, stones and gravel picked up from one area and dropped in another can still be found on the beaches at Selsey and Bracklesham and in the Harbour. At low water springs a favourite beach combing activity is looking for sharks teeth and fossils.
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Warblington
Pictures of Warblington Castle show an imposing fortified square building that was built in 1525 by the Countess of Salisbury. It was destroyed and plundered in 1643 during the Civil War when the Royalists were besieged by the Roundheads. There are early traces of Roman occupation followed by Saxon resettlement because the area was rich in springs of fresh water and good farming land. The churchyard contains a splendid yew tree and two 19th Century flint-built sentry boxes to guard against body snatchers.
A recent burial in the large cemetery is Peter Blake, the New Zealand Round the World sailor living in Emsworth who was killed by pirates on the Amazon River in 2001.
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Hayling Island
In pagan times islands were of religious importance and the remains of a Romano-British Temple were found on Hayling Island in 1976. By Domesday Hayling had been divided into three, one each owned by the King, the Abbey of Winchester and a French monastery that had moved from Caen in Normandy.
Foot passengers were able to cross to the island from Langstone by ferry, but carts had to wait for low water and use the ancient Wadeway. Eventually, a toll bridge was built, and then came the railway on its own bridge. The Puffing Billy ran from Havant to the lovely sandy beaches opposite the Isle of Wight and was very popular with holidaymakers from London. Sadly there is no railway now but there is a very busy bridge and still a small quay at Langstone.
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Emsworth
Emsworth had a large oyster fleet and its oysters were larger and more succulent than others. At one time they were cheap and popular, which brought poaching fleets from the east coast and France. When they became scarce the Emsworth smacks would go to France and bring back spats to grow near the quay in the village.
From the earliest times drains from all homes round the Harbour ran down to the water, and the waste was taken by the ebb tide. Emsworth was one of the first places to join their drains together and unfortunately the untreated sewage emptied over the oyster beds.
Six years later in 1902 Emsworth oysters were served at a city banquet in Winchester. Several people died (including the Mayor and the Dean) of typhoid fever. There were other outbreaks so the sale of oysters from Chichester Harbour was banned until recently.
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Smugglers Tales
Find out about smuggling in the 21st Century as well as historical tales (pdf)