Southwick, West Sussex
| Southwick | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Southwick Location withinWest Sussex | |
| Area | 3.33 sq mi (8.6 km2)[1] |
| Population | 13,1952001 Census[1] |
| •Density | 3,962/sq mi (1,530/km2) |
| OS grid reference | TQ241055 |
| •London | 46 miles (74 km)N |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRIGHTON |
| Postcode district | BN42 |
| Dialling code | 01273 |
| Police | Sussex |
| Fire | West Sussex |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
Southwick(/ˈsaʊθwɪk/) is a town in theAdurdistrict ofWest Sussex,England located five miles (8 km) west ofBrighton.It covers an area of 863.7 ha (2,134 acres). In 2001 it had a population of 13,195.
The town is loosely divided into three sections: south of Brighton Road is the harbour with its associated industries and businesses; north of Brighton Road up to Old Shoreham Road is mainly residential properties dating from the middle of the nineteenth century to the 1950s; and the area between Old Shoreham Road and theSouth Downsbeing the most recent to be developed, also largely residential.
The main road which passes through the town is now designated theA259 coast road.TheA27 roadbypasses the town to its north.
History
[edit]
Southwick was recorded in theDomesday book(1085):Nigel holds Esmerwick of William. Azor held it ofKing Edward.Then, and now, it vouched for onehideand a half. There is land for 4 ploughs. Indemesneare 2 ploughs, and 4villeinsand 6bordarswith 2 ploughs. In the time of King Edward it was worth 40 shillings, and afterwards 30 shillings. Now 4 pounds.In that excerpt, the village is referred to by its Saxon name, Esmerewick, meaningEast poolhamlet.The village was first recorded as Southwick in 1309.[2]
The town grew as the coast became a popular holiday destination, many of the properties being tourist accommodation. Therailwayarrived in the town on 12 May 1840, being the original terminus.[3]
Beneath Manor Hall Road lies a first century AD Roman villa. It was an elaborately decorated lavish residence similar in design toFishbourne Roman Palace.The site was acquired by the Sussex Archaeological Trust in 1931 and part of the villa was opened to the viewing public during summer months. In 1953-4 the site was sold to a property developer and in 1965 the Methodist church on Manor Hall Road was built. The site has now been developed for housing.[4]
There is a tradition that King Charles II stayed overnight at the cottages on Southwick Green before escaping to France.[2]TheOld Town Hallin Albion Street was completed in 1906.[2]
Community
[edit]The town's open-air shopping centre, Southwick Square, is home to many traditional and local businesses as well as some larger chains, and is central to the village since its expansion north of the Old Shoreham Road in the middle of the twentieth century. Before that the main shops were located on Albion Street, the main coast road. Adjacent to 'the Square', as it is known locally, is the Southwick Community Centre, and Southwick Library, which was rebuilt for 2007.[5]
Education
[edit]Primary schools are Eastbrook Primary Academy on Manor Hall Road (formerly Manor Hall First and Middle schools), Holmbush Primary Academy and Herons Dale School, a communityspecial school,both in Hawkins Crescent (just on the Shoreham side of the Shoreham/Southwick border), and Glebe Primary in Church Lane. The main secondary schools for this catchment area are in Shoreham-By-Sea: King's Manor Community College (comprehensive), now rebranded Shoreham Academy and Shoreham College (public). Some children may go further afield and attend Portslade Community College, St Andrew's CE High School for Boys or Davison High School (for Girls) inWorthing,Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Hove, orSteyning Grammar School.[6]
Transport
[edit]Southwick is served bySouthwick railway stationon theWest Coastway Line,which connects toSouthamptonwestbound and Brighton eastbound.[3]
700 Coastliner busses operated by Stagecoach also run across the south of the town across the A259 operating services to Brighton to the east and Worthing across to Littlehampton to the west. Brighton & Hove busses also operate the 46 service from the town toHollingbury(Brighton).
Recreation
[edit]There is a leisure centre and recreation ground in Old Barn Way, which is home toSouthwick Football Club.[7]
Southwick Hockey Club has a local clubhouse, although the home pitch is in Portslade.[8]
The Green, once common land central to the old village, consists of two separate fields divided by a short road of the same name. The smaller southern field, also home to the town's war memorial located in the south-eastern corner, is often used for local cricket matches. The larger northern field contains a small children's playground and is most often used for general recreation and is also the location where travelling fairgrounds and local fairs will set up during the summer and autumn months. There is also some parkland off Cross Road, just south of the Old Shoreham Road. North of the Old Shoreham Road, there is Quayside, once home to the Quayside Youth Centre which burned down in May 2005 and since re-built.[9]
Unusually for a town of its size, Southwick has a theatrical scene thanks to the Barn Theatre, an 18th-century barn building converted into a theatre in 1951 and thoroughly revamped in 1998.[10]
Media
[edit]Local news and television programmes is provided byBBC South EastandITV Meridian.Television signals are received from theWhitehawk HillTV transmitter.[11]Local radio stations areBBC Radio Sussexon 95.3 FM,Heart Southon 103.5 FM,Capital Brightonon 107.2 FM, andMore Radio Worthingon 107.7 FM.[12]The town is served by the local newspapers,Shoreham Herald[13]andThe Argus.[14]
Religious life
[edit]Churches
[edit]
There are several churches in Southwick:St Michael and All Angelsin Church Lane,St Theresa of Lisieux(RC) in Downland Avenue, SouthwickMethodistChurch in Manor Hall Road and Southwick ChristianCommunity Churchin Roman Crescent.[15]
Notable residents
[edit]- Attila the Stockbroker,punk poet, grew up in Southwick and lives there today.[16]
- Dame Clara Butt,celebratedcontralto,was born at 27 Adur Terrace.[17]
- Thérèse Lessore,artist, born in Southwick[18]
- S. P. B. Mais,author, journalist, and broadcaster[19]
- Ralf Rangnick,German football player and manager[20]
- George Albert Smith,pioneer film-maker, lived in Roman Crescent.[21]
- Wing CommanderKen Wallis,leading exponent of autogyros, lived in Church Lane.[22]
References
[edit]- ^ab"2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish"(PDF).West Sussex County Council. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 8 June 2011.Retrieved22 March2009.
- ^abcBaggs, A. P.; Currie, C. R. J.; Elrington, C. R.; Keeling, S. M.; Rowland, A. M. (1980)."'Southwick', in A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 1, Bramber Rape (Southern Part), ed. T P Hudson ".London: British History Online. pp. 173–183.Retrieved30 April2022.
- ^ab"Stories of steam rarely-seen photographs".Sussex World.7 March 2018.Retrieved30 April2022.
- ^Standing, Giles. "Southwick Roman Villa, West Sussex, One of the Lost Treasures of Roman Britain".The Bulletin of the Association for Roman Archaeology (2013–14)(22). The Association for Roman Archaeology: 34–41.
- ^"Southwick's new library officially opened".Sussex World.26 February 2007.Retrieved30 April2022.
- ^Breach, Powell (1900)."Wm. Holland, Alderman of Chichester, and the Steyning Grammar School".Sussex Archaeological Collections.43.Lewis: Sussex Archaeological Society.doi:10.5284/1085811.
- ^"Southwick Football Club – Latest news".Southwickfc.teamexpert.co.uk.Retrieved17 January2013.
- ^Southwick Hockey Club (29 November 2012)."Southwick Hockey Club".Pitchero.com.Retrieved7 September2015.
- ^"New Southwick youth centre to rise from the ashes".Sussex World.19 April 2007.Retrieved30 April2022.
- ^"Barn Theatre".Wick Theatre Company.Retrieved30 April2022.
- ^"Full Freeview on the Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, England) transmitter".UK Free TV.1 May 2004.Retrieved27 December2023.
- ^"Local news media links".West Sussex County Council.Retrieved27 December2023.
- ^"Shoreham Herald".British Papers.6 February 2014.Retrieved27 December2023.
- ^"The Argus".British Papers.24 December 2013.Retrieved27 December2023.
- ^"Southwick Christian Community Church".Retrieved30 April2022.
- ^"John Baine, also known as performance poet Attila the Stockbroker, at home in Southwick with his mother Muriel Stanford".Alamy.Retrieved30 April2022.
- ^Kennedy, Michael."Butt, Dame Clara Ellen (1872–1936)",Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford University Press, 2004. Online edition, January 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2013(subscription orUK public library membershiprequired)
- ^"Thérèse Lessore".Aberdeen Archives.Retrieved30 April2022.
- ^"S. P. B. Mais".E. O. Hoppe.Retrieved30 April2022.
- ^"Schalke coach learned his craft playing for non-League Southwick".The Guardian.24 April 2011.Retrieved24 April2011.
- ^Hall, Trevor H.(1964).The Strange Case of Edmund Gurney.Gerald Duckworth., p. 172
- ^"The Wallis's: The Complete Story".Retrieved30 April2022.
External links
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