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Fascinating Facts
- Chichester Harbour is the only area of outstanding natural beauty that includes a harbour.
- Around 8,000 people live in Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
- 1.5 million people visit the AONB each year
- 'Conservancy', is a noun meaning 1 an organization concerned with the preservation of natural resources. 2 a commission controlling a port, river, or catchment area. 3 conservation. (www.askoxford.com - 20 July 2005)
- Over 10,000 boats use Chichester Harbour
- More than 50,000 birds live in or visit Chichester Harbour each year
- Navigation marks on the left of a channel are called 'port hand', they are always red
- Navigation marks on the right of a channel are called 'star board', they are always green
- Birdham Pool marina was built in the 1930s and is thought to be the oldest marina in the country
- Chichester Marina is the second largest marina in the country
- In the 1980s, Vietnamese 'boat people' were accommodated on Thorney Island. A school was opened to teach the children English.
- Elephants, rhinoceros and lions, used to live around the Harbour many thousands of years ago.
Looking for rare species
Sailing a dinghy in the harbour
- Some small to medium size warships were built at Itchenor in the 18th and 19th centuries.
- In 1977 scenes from the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, were filmed at Chichester Harbour.
- Windsurfing was invented at Hayling Island. The first windsurfers were used in 1958.
- In 1963 the winter was so cold, the Harbour froze over.
- Harbour Master Lt Col John Davis received an OBE in 2005. It was for his hard work looking after sailing and the environment of Chichester Harbour.
- Chichester Harbour is the only harbour in England from which you can see a cathedral.
- Oystercatchers don't eat oysters.
- Chichester Harbour is the most important single site on the south coast of England for waterfowl. It ranks in 27th position nationally.
- Chichester Harbour has internationally important numbers of 5 species of wildfowl and waders It is nationally important for at least 8 further species.
- Chichester Harbour has the 7th largest area of saltmarsh in Britain.
- At least 25 nationally rare species of plants and animals occur in Chichester Harbour- and that's not including non-breeding birds.
- An area of mudflat similar to that occupied by a dinghy could hold 40,000 tiny Laver spire shells, 60,000 Corophium shrimps, 50,000 Baltic Tellin shellfish or up to 500 Ragworms.
- Under the water there are slippers, spiders, peacocks, dahlias, carrots and gooseberries (slipper limpets, spider crabs and peacock worms, dahlia anemones, carrot sponges and gooseberry sea squirts)!
The Romans made bricks and roof tiles just south of Dell Quay. These were used for the villas at Langstone and Warblington and at Fishbourne Roman Palace.
Southern Marsh Orchid
Why do crabs walk sideways? Because that is the way their legs bend!
- You can get spring tides in autumn! Spring tides happen when the moon is full or when there is no moon – so there are two ‘spring’ tides every month, whether it is summer, autumn or winter!
- How often does the tide come in and out? Twice a day – it takes a little more than 12 hours for a complete cycle.
- East Head has moved! In the 18th Century it used to point south westerly into the Solent, now it points north.
- East Head is one of only two dune sites in West Sussex. It is an SSSI because it is a mobile sand dune feature and geomorphologically important. An SSSI is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
- A cannon was recovered from the harbour (though it did not necessarily originate from there) in 1996. It was identified as a wrought iron breech-loading cannon with its timber bed, dating from the late 15th century.
- In Iron Age and Roman times salt was produced on Chidham Point.
- Salt was smuggled in the 17th Century because there was so much tax on it!
- Crabs can re-grow their legs. Sometimes they will deliberately remove a damaged one.
- Amazing alien-like cuttlefish live in the harbour, with better camouflage techniques than a chameleon! They squirt out black ink, and gave the origin to the term sepia (from their Latin name Sepia officinalis)
- In 2004 a dog walker found a 10,000 year old hand axe on Prinsted beach
- There is a colony of around 14 harbour seals living in the harbour
- Breeding pairs of Black-tailed Godwits spend winter in separate places, yet arrive back in Iceland to mate within days of each other. If one partner is late back, they can be “divorced” – as happened to a male from Fishbourne
- In 2004 Harbour Patrol helped 328 people out on the water
- The village of Bosham features in the Bayeux Tapestry, showing King Harold praying at the church before sailing to Normandy in 1064. The village of Bosham features in the Bayeux Tapestry, showing King Harold praying at the church before sailing to Normandy in 1064.
- The legends of King Canute relate to Bosham, and his daughter is said to lie buried at the church there.
- There are over 350 listed historic sites and buildings in the harbour, including churches, mills and structures such as pill boxes together with ancient field systems and deserted villages.
- The shoreline of Chichester harbour is 50 miles long – about the same distance as Chichester to Eastbourne!
- Some of the boats in the harbour are over 100 years old and are still being sailed.
- Young Brent geese stay with their parents throughout their first winter.
- Young Black-tailed Godwits come to the harbour without being shown the way by their parents, who may not even spend the winter in the same place as each other.
- One ship 'The John', built in Chichester Harbour, fought against the Spanish armada
- When the Romans invaded in AD43 the sea levels were 2 metres lower than today
- An experimental 6 masted ship - The Transit - was built at Itchenor
- Lots of places are called ...nore - this is an old Anglo Saxon word meaning hard or landing place - Ellanore, Cobnor, Itchenor
- 25% of all the moorings in the Solent are to be found in Chichester Harbour
- The single tower of Warblington Castle is all that remains after it was besieged by the Roundheads in the civil war and put to the torch.
- In the grounds of Warblington Church is a watchman's hut built to protect graves from body snatchers.
- Many of the sections of the Mulberry Harbour were assembled on its shores and launched into Chichester Harbour before being towed to the assembly point off the Isle of Wight for the Normandy invasion. You can still see the remains of some of the launch sites, identifiable because they had a concrete slipway resembling squares of chocolate (lots to see by Burn shipyard)
- The Hunting Lodge at Bosham depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, along with Bosham Church, has never been found.
Common Crab
Warblington Castle
References
Chichester Harbour, An Informal Look at the Last Hundred Years, Monika Smith, 2004,
Chichester Harbour Education
Chichester Harbour, An Archaeological Research Framework, July 2004, Museum
of London Archaeology Service
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