Felpham
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Felpham (/ˈfɛlpəm/, FEL-pəm[3], locally /-fəm/ or /-θəm/, thəm) is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Although sometimes considered part of the urban area of greater Bognor Regis, it is a village and civil parish in its own right, having an area of 1.645 square miles, (4.26 km),2 with a population of 9,611 people that is still growing (2001 census). The population at the 2011 Census was 9,746.[2]
Key Information
Felpham lies on the B2259 coastal road.
The 12th century Anglican parish church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.[4] There is also a Methodist church close to the three-way junction of Felpham Way, Flansham Lane and Middleton Road, in the east of the village.
History
[edit]Felpham is mentioned in a charter of 953 by which King Eadred granted thirty hides of land there to his mother Queen Eadgifu.[5] It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of the 11th century, under the hundred of Binstead: "St Edward's Abbey [Shaftesbury] holds and held Felpham before 1066..." Its value before 1066 was said to be £10.[6][7]
The poet William Blake was introduced to the village by his friend William Hayley and lived in Felpham for three years between 1800 and 1803.[8] He wrote Milton: A Poem in Two Books, while living in a house now named Blake’s Cottage. The poem contains the line about "England's green and pleasant land", today known as the anthem "Jerusalem", which were inspired by Blake's "evident pleasure" in the Felpham countryside.[9] The cottage where he lived is depicted in the illustrations for the poem. It lies within the original village, close to the Fox public house. Of the village he wrote:
Away to sweet Felpham for heaven is there:
The Ladder of Angels descends through the air
On the turrett its spiral does softly descend
Through the village it winds, at my cot it does end.
The "turrett" in the verse is Hayley's house, east of the church, which he built around 1800. It was in Felpham that Blake had his altercation with the drunken soldier John Scofield, who was trespassing in his garden.[4] This led to Blake's trial for sedition because of Scofield's allegation that he had cursed the king. Blake has a road named after him, Blake's Road, the road on which his former residence is sited, and a memorial window dedicated to him in St Mary's Church.
Blake's host, Hayley, was also famous in his day for having turned down the offer of the position of poet laureate in 1790.[citation needed]

The village has a village hall, called the Memorial Hall, built in remembrance to the fallen from the First World War and a church community hall called St Mary's Centre.
Due to the 1960s redevelopment, Peartree Cottage in Vicarage Lane is now the oldest house in Felpham. It is a late medieval (c. 1500), four bay, timber-framed thatched Yeoman's house with queen struts and clasped side purlins. It had an open first bay, (probably a workshop) and still has an intact smoke bay. In the 1700s the house was 'modernised' with the insertion of a chimney built within the smoke bay and three exterior walls replaced with flint with rubble infill. Peartree has a small Victorian extension faced with galleted knapped flint. Two small bays were added to the south face of the house in the early 1900s.[citation needed]
In the 1940s the house was owned by the Jagger family, namely David Jagger (1891–1958). He and his siblings, Edith Jagger (1880–1977) and Charles Sargeant Jagger (1885–1934) were all celebrated artists.
Great expansion of the village took place between 1930 and 1960 when three (nominally) gated housing estates were developed, and again in the 1970s when two public housing developments took place on farmland between Felpham and its neighbouring village of Middleton-on-Sea. In December 2006 planning permission was granted for further development, this time on farmland to the north between felpham and flansham and was finished in early 2019.
Local facilities
[edit]Felpham has two primary schools, Bishop Tufnell CE School (A Church of England Aided School) and Downview Primary (Infant and Junior) School.
Felpham Community College, the main school in the area, operates its own youth wing. It is situated next door to the Arun Leisure Centre which has extensive playing fields. FCC (As it is locally referred to as) also hosts a SEND block and a sixth form wing.
Felpham has a recreation ground, King George's Field, named after King George V.
Sport and leisure
[edit]Felpham Colts Football Club (including mixed teams, boys' teams and girls' teams) is the largest youth football club in West Sussex. It has 26 teams competing in local football leagues and has been in existence since 1973. In the early 2010s a men's team was started and went on to win a number of promotions, currently playing in the West Sussex Football League Division Two South. Their home ground is the King George V Playing Field.[citation needed]
Predators Youth started in 1994 and has grown to 14 youth teams, a women's team and an adults team.[citation needed]
The Felpham & Middleton Country Dance Club is one of the oldest extant English country dance clubs in England.[citation needed]
Felpham beach
[edit]Much like its neighbour to the west Felpham also hosts a seaside. The beachfront features:
- The local sailing club, founded in 1955
- Rentable beach huts
- Several restaurants
- The Beachcroft Hotel
References
[edit]- ^ "2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish" (PDF). West Sussex County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
- ^ a b "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18 ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 185, ISBN 978-0-521-76575-6
- ^ a b Nairn, Ian; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1965). The Buildings of England: Sussex. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 219. ISBN 0-14-071028-0.
- ^ Kelly, Susan, ed. (1996). Charters of Shaftesbury Abbey. Anglo-Saxon Charters. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press for the British Academy. pp. 70-72 (charter S 562). ISBN 978-0-19-726151-4.
- ^ Morris, John, ed. (1976). History from the Sources: Domesday Book : Sussex. Chichester: Phillimore. p. 8a–9. ISBN 0-85033-145-5.
- ^ "Open Domesday: Felpham". Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Blake's Cottage (Grade II*) (1353792)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ^ Amanda Gilroy, Green and Pleasant Land: English Culture and the Romantic Countryside, Peeters Publishers, 2004, p. 66.
External links
[edit]Felpham
View on GrokipediaGeography
Location and physical features
Felpham is a coastal village and civil parish situated in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, immediately east of Bognor Regis along the south coast facing the English Channel.[10][11] Its geographic coordinates are approximately 50°47′N 0°39′W.[12] The area occupies a low-lying position on a flat coastal plain, with an average elevation of 2 meters (7 feet) above sea level.[13] The physical landscape features a shingle and sand beach backed by a promenade, slipways for water access, and clusters of beach huts, supporting its role as a seaside locality.[14] Inland from the shoreline, the village core preserves elements of rural morphology, including historic structures, prominent flint boundary walls, and a network of narrow, meandering lanes that evoke pre-urban development patterns.[1] The surrounding terrain consists primarily of level alluvial and glacial deposits typical of the Sussex coastal margin, with minimal topographic variation beyond the immediate beachfront.[13]History
Early settlement and medieval period
Evidence of early human activity in Felpham dates to the Mesolithic and Bronze Age periods, including a burnt mound northwest of the church and a late Bronze Age founder's hoard discovered in Hoe Lane, Flansham, indicating sporadic occupation rather than permanent settlement.[3] Possible Roman-era presence is suggested by pottery finds near Outerwick Farmhouse and at the west end of Limmer Lane, though these remain indicative of limited activity without confirmed structured settlement.[3] The area's incorporation into Anglo-Saxon Southumbria followed the conversion of the South Saxons around 681 CE by St. Wilfrid, who established a monastery at nearby Selsey.[15] Felpham itself first appears in records as "Felhamme" in 880 CE, within the Kingdom of Sussex.[15] By 885 CE, King Alfred the Great bequeathed the estate to Osferth in his will, after which it reverted to the Crown.[15] In 953 CE, King Eadred granted a 30-hide estate—likely encompassing the ancient parish—to his mother Eadgifu, who subsequently transferred it to Shaftesbury Abbey.[15] Around 1040 CE, the Abbey constructed a timber and plaster church in the village.[15] In the Domesday Book of 1086, Felpham is recorded in the hundred of Binsted, Sussex, held by Shaftesbury Abbey both before and after the Norman Conquest.[16] The entry details 73 households, comprising 48 villagers, 19 cottagers, and 6 burgesses, supporting 12 ploughlands (with 1 lord's plough team and 15 men's), 8 acres of meadow, woodland rendering 30 swine, a fishery, and a church; the estate's annual value had risen from £10 in 1066 to £20 by 1086.[16] By 1341, the manor emphasized arable agriculture, with a ninth of sheaves valued nine times higher than fleeces and lambs, alongside two mills.[3] These records reflect a stable medieval rural economy centered on farming and coastal resources, with the Abbey maintaining oversight amid feudal structures.[3]Residence of William Blake
In early 1800, poet and artist William Blake, experiencing severe melancholy amid economic hardship in London, accepted an invitation from William Hayley, a prominent poet and biographer who had relocated to Felpham in 1798, to reside in the village and assist with illustrating Hayley's works.[17] Blake and his wife Catherine moved from London to a modest 17th-century thatched cottage in Felpham on 18 September 1800, renting it for an annual fee of £20.[18] [19] The rural coastal setting, contrasting sharply with urban London, initially inspired Blake, who described seeing "a tree filled with Angels, bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars."[20] During his three-year stay, ending precisely on 18 September 1803, Blake produced significant works, including the epic poem Milton: A Poem in Two Books, which incorporated the preface "And did those feet in ancient time," later known as the hymn "Jerusalem."[3] [20] However, the patronage arrangement with Hayley soured; Blake chafed under expectations to prioritize engraving over his visionary poetry and art, leading to personal and creative tensions that he later reflected upon as a period of artistic suppression.[21] A pivotal event occurred on 12 August 1803 when Blake confronted and ejected a private soldier, John Schofield, from his property after overhearing seditious remarks; Blake reportedly declared, "Damn the soldier," prompting Schofield to accuse him of cursing the king.[18] This led to Blake's arrest on charges of sedition and trial at the Chichester Assizes on 11 January 1804, where he was acquitted following testimony from Hayley and others affirming his loyalty.[18] The ordeal, compounded by deteriorating relations with Hayley, prompted the Blakes' return to London shortly after, marking the end of Blake's Felpham residence and a shift toward greater independence in his later career.[20]20th-century expansion and post-war changes
During the early 20th century, Felpham experienced gradual housing development, with the Felpham Building Estate marked out by 1904 and largely constructed by 1934, though fully completed only by 1940.[3] This period saw infilling along existing roads and the emergence of estates such as Felpham Beach (developed 1918–1927) and Summerley (laid out post-1922), featuring detached houses and bungalows that attracted holidaymakers and retirees.[3] Population growth reflected this expansion, rising from 744 in 1901 to 2,827 by 1931, driven by the village's appeal as a coastal destination adjacent to the growing Bognor Regis resort.[4] Interwar expansion accelerated in the 1920s and 1930s, with estates like Roundle (1932–1940) and developments along Admiralty Road (post-1910) and Downview Road (pre-1940) contributing to a proliferation of private housing that retained an exclusive character through gated layouts.[3] The village's rural edges began eroding as Bognor Regis urbanized, leading to the demolition of farm buildings after 1920 for shops and flats, alongside exponential overall development that shifted Felpham toward a suburban profile.[4] Post-World War II changes emphasized infrastructure and further residential infill, including a new sea wall and promenade constructed in the mid-1950s between Bognor and Blake's Road, later extended eastward in the 1960s to bolster coastal defenses amid rising sea levels and erosion risks.[3] The straightening of the Aldingbourne Rife in 1959 facilitated nearby Butlin's holiday camp construction, indirectly supporting Felpham's integration into broader recreational economies.[3] Housing developments proliferated in the 1950s and 1960s, with post-war estates in areas like Old Rectory Gardens and Hayley's Gardens featuring terraced houses, bungalows, and flats on former rectory and garden lands, often at densities around 28.7 dwellings per hectare; a village shopping centre also emerged in the late 1940s.[4] By the 1970s, additional building south of Felpham Way and Middleton Road continued this trend, marking a shift from sporadic interwar growth to more systematic suburbanization.[3]Demographics and society
Population trends
The population of Felpham civil parish remained modest for much of the 19th century, reflecting its status as a small coastal agricultural settlement. In 1861, the parish recorded 592 residents.[22] By 1911, this had increased modestly to 911, driven by limited local economic activity centered on farming and fishing.[23] Significant growth occurred in the interwar and post-war periods, coinciding with residential development and expansion as a suburb of Bognor Regis. The population rose to 2,827 by 1931, more than tripling from 1911 levels amid improved transport links and holiday home construction.[23] This trend accelerated after World War II, with the 2001 census registering 9,611 inhabitants and the 2011 census showing 9,746—a modest 1.4% increase over the decade, attributable to steady housing infill and migration to the area for retirement and coastal living.[23] The 2021 census marked a sharper uptick to 11,170 residents, representing a 14.6% rise from 2011, fueled by new residential estates, population aging in West Sussex, and net inward migration.[24] Overall, Felpham's population has expanded over 18-fold since 1861, transitioning from rural hamlet to a larger commuter and retiree community integrated with nearby urban centers.[24]| Census Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 592 |
| 1911 | 911 |
| 1931 | 2,827 |
| 2001 | 9,611 |
| 2011 | 9,746 |
| 2021 | 11,170 |
