Selsey
Encyclopedia : S : SE : SEL : Selsey
Selsey is an English seaside town, about 7 miles (11 kilometres) south of Chichester, West Sussex. Notable residents of Selsey include Sir Patrick Moore [1968-present].
Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, a small island almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounded to the west by Bracklesham Bay, to the north by Broad Rife (rife being the local word for stream or creek), to the east by Pagham Harbour and terminates in the south at Selsey Bill. There are significant rock formations beneath the sea off both of its coasts, named the Owers rocks and Mixon rocks.
There is one road in and out of the town - which briefly becomes a bridge at a point known as "the ferry", crossing the water inlet at Pagham Harbour (a part of Bognor). The term ferry is used because at the bridge point there was at one time a ferryman who took people across to the island.
Early History, prior to innundation
Selsey was the capital of the South Saxons kingdom, founded by Ella, who set up his headquarters on the peninsula. Wilfrid arrived circa 680AD and converted the kingdom to Christianity, as recorded by the Venerable Bede. The South Saxon monastry and cathedral to St Wilfred stood at Selsey until it was moved to nearby Chichester in 1075, around which time what is believed to have been a sizable settlement was abandoned to the encroach of the sea.Today, nearby Chichester itself stands on the foundations of the Romano-British urban settlement of "Noviomagus Reginorum", which translates to "New Market of the Kingdom". It has been hypothesised that this settlement name recalls it having developed with an (older) market/port settlement at Selsey, similar in status to the pre-roman urban centre at Hengistbury Head near Christchurch. The existence of a viable saxon port on the site supports the idea, but the submerged location makes investigation difficult.
It is believed that in the Iron Age, local networks of harbours and islands along the solent coast (which the Romans later christened "Magnus Portus" in their geographies) were pivotal to the efficient economy seen at Hengistbury - the first urban site in Britain - and that Selsey might have partaken in this also.
Today
This erosion has continued ever since, and the area remains low-lying and vulnerable to flooding, frustrating homeowners in the area, many of whom bought houses without being aware of the area's history. Local groups now lobby for greater flood prevention, but many wonder at the wisdom of investing in such a known-vulnerable stretch of land.
The modern name Selsey is derived from "Seal Island", and until as recently as the 1930s the town's name was variable, also being spelt Selsea.
Its primary economic background until the mid 19th century was fishing trade, however this was equalled in significance by the development of tourism in the town, and during much of the 20th century, visiting holidaymakers (referred to as "grockles" by the locals) doubled the population.
The rise of international travel has led to a slowing of the tourist trade, however still Selsey has a significant leisure industry centred around the many caravan parks in the area.
Selsey has two significant achievements - the B2145 road into the town is the busiest B-road in the UK, and the West Sands Caravan Park is the largest such park in Europe.
A further 'achievement' Selsey can lay claim to is experiencing the highest occurrence of tornadoes on the mainland UK.
The town was the seat of a diocese until 1075, - see Bishops of Selsey and more recently saw the foundation of the International Bognor Birdman event.
See also
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.