The parish covers an area of 11.35km2 (4sqmi). The suburban area of the town has a population of approximately 55,000. The conurbation includes other settlements: Wick in the north west; Lyminster to the north; and Rustington to the east. Wick and Toddington, which has a large business park, became part of the town in 1901. Nearby towns include Bognor Regis (WSW) and Worthing to the east.
A human settlement at Littlehampton can be traced back to prehistoric and Roman times, while it appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the small hamlet of 'Hantone'.[4] The settlement is believed to have been a fishing community around this time, appearing on a French map in around 1100 as 'Hanton'.[4] The settlement is then believed to have been given to the Abbey of St Martin de Seez in Normandy, who owned Littlehampton until around 1400. The area then passed back to the ownership of successive Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk, whose successors still reside in Arundel today.
Littlehampton began to develop as a port as a result of constant silting of the River Arun, perhaps leading to the prefix of 'Little' being added to 'Hampton', in order to distinguish it from the larger Southampton further along the coast.[4] The expansion of port activities led to a new river mouth being cut in 1735, alongside the building of a wooden harbour. At this time it was also known as Arundel Port.[5]
The town's status as both a port and a holiday resort led to economic success in the nineteenth century, with a railway line and a cross-channel ferry to Honfleur in France being introduced.[6] The population of the town grew tenfold over the century, from 584 in 1801 to 5,954 in 1901.[4] Littlehampton remained as a holiday resort in the twentieth century, becoming known as 'The Children's Paradise' in the 1920s.
Post-war Littlehampton saw large-scale house building on the outskirts of the town, eventually absorbing the surrounding villages of Wick, Lyminster and Toddington, while the commercial element of the town became increasingly focused on boat building and water sports.[4]
In 1967, the town attracted attention by becoming the base for the first ever Blue Peter lifeboat.[7]
Economy
The world headquarters of The Body Shop is situated towards the north of the town, and is a major employer in the area.
A local company, Dando Drilling International Ltd, has been exporting drilling rigs from Littlehampton since 1867.[citation needed] Van Heyningen Brothers (VHB) salad growers was a major employer in the town from 1964 to 2003.
At a local government level, Littlehampton is part of Littlehampton Town Council, Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council. Littlehampton currently has 10 seats on the district council, spread across five wards – Beach, Brookfield, Ham, River and Wick with Toddington. At the district elections held in May 2011, the Conservatives won 7 of these 10 seats, Labour 2 and the Liberal Democrats 1.[8] On West Sussex county council, the town is represented by two Conservatives and a Liberal Democrat.[9]
For younger children there are five primary schools — Lyminster, River Beach, St. Catherine's, White Meadows and Georgian Gardens. These schools came into existence in 2011 following a major reorganisation of primary school provision in the town, which replaced six separate junior and infant schools with three primary schools. River Beach Primary was formed from the merging of Connaught Junior with Arun Vale and Elm Grove Infants schools,[10] whilst the merger of Flora McDonald Junior and Wickbourne Infants schools brought about the creation of White Meadows.[11] Lyminster existed before the reorganisation as an infant school and has now begun a phased expansion to become a primary school.[12]
Transport
A map of Littlehampton from 1946
Littlehampton is on the A259, though this bypasses most of the town. Littlehampton is connected to the A27 south coast trunk road by the A284, which also provides the main north–south route out of the town and links to the A29 and A24. The A27 also later links with the M27. The A280 also links Littlehampton to the A24 and is a main route from the north-east.
The Littlehampton Ferry, is a ferry linking the east and west parts of the River Arun together. The Ferry operates from 31 March to 30 September between 10am and 5pm, although has been closed in recent years due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The Ferry Company also provide harbour tours on the hour.
Littlehampton has a number of bus routes operated by Compass Travel and Stagecoach South. The bus station at Littlehampton handles anything up to 1,000 passengers a day and over 2 buses.
Littlehampton also has a small number of taxis, with taxi ranks all over the town and four different taxi companies.
Littlehampton Port
Littlehampton's port is based around the River Arun, which opens onto the English Channel. A small stretch of this, 5 miles out to sea and 6 miles wide, is locally known as the "Littlehampton Channel". Littlehampton started as a fishing port but now is a thriving port for thousands of leisure craft which visit from all over the UK and Europe. In 2009, use of leisure craft at Littlehampton rose to the extent that at least 200 more moorings were required.
Littlehampton is also a commercial port, handling around 50–60 ships a year from Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France with cargo including marine aggregates, stone, marble chippings and timber. From the early 1920s David Hillyard built yachts in Littlehampton, and the company of David Hillyard Ltd continued here until 2009,[13] producing a total of over 850 yachts.
There are two other Anglican churches: St James the Great on Arundel Road[14] and All Saints in Wick.[15] Littlehampton Baptist Church, Littlehampton United Church (United Reformed and Methodist), Parkside Evangelical Church, the Arun Community Church (Evangelical), Trinity Church (Evangelical) and the QuakerFriends Meeting House also serve the town.[14][16]
Littlehampton supports a range of performance groups including Stagedoor Theatre Company, The Edwin James Festival Choir & Orchestra, The Musical Comedy Society and Players Operatic Society who perform throughout the year. It also holds a popular 'Last Night of the Proms' concert performed annually by the Littlehampton Concert Band.[18]
On screen Littlehampton
The BBC comedy sitcom Open All Hours is claimed to be based on a shop in Norfolk Road near to where Ronnie Barker lived, although the series was not written by Barker, and had finished airing before he moved to the town. There was also speculation that one of the characters in the sitcom, Granville could have been inspired by Granville Road nearby.[19][20]
The Oyster Pond
Character actor Stanley Holloway (1890–1982) died in The Nightingale Nursing Home, Littlehampton, in 1982 aged 91.[21]
Littlehampton was in an episode of The Hungry Sailors on ITV.[23]
Littlehampton was mentioned in the BBC sitcom "Are You Being Served", Episode 5 of the second series made in 1974, entitled "Hoorah For The Holidays", where the character Mr Grainger mentions planning his summer holiday to Littlehampton.[24]
Odd Man Out, a comedy TV series from 1977 starring John Inman, was based in Littlehampton. It was about a man who leaves the safety of his Blackpool fish and chip shop to take over his deceased father's seaside rock factory in Littlehampton with his step-sister Dorothy. The programme ran for one series.[25]
Littlehampton Beach is the setting for Stuart Millard's Beach Diaries series of books.[29][30]
Media
In the town centre of Littlehampton were the headquarters of the Littlehampton Gazette, which is Littlehampton's local newspaper. BBC Sussex (Brighton), Spirit FM (Chichester), Splash FM (Worthing) and Wave 105 (Southampton) radio stations are received over-the-air in Littlehampton.
Theatre and cinema
The Windmill Entertainment Centre is a small theatre and single-screen cinema, with a 213-seat auditorium situated on the seafront in Littlehampton.
The building is a fully welded monocoque structure, reflecting its exposed location with a rough, weathered appearance, which Heatherwick describes as being like a piece of weathered flotsam swept up onto the beach.[33] It was built in Littlehampton, with steelwork by Littlehampton Welding Ltd and site work by Langridge Developments, another local firm.[34] The construction of the cafe caused a stir in Littlehampton, with some seeing it as an eyesore and others welcoming it as a world-class piece of architecture and a symbol of regeneration.[citation needed]
The bench is a continuous structure stretching 324 metres along the majority of Littlehampton's east beach promenade and is constructed of tropical hardwood slats reclaimed from coastal groynes and landfill.[38] The bench is described by Studio Weave as "a charm bracelet gifted to the town as a delicate piece of jewellery that can accommodate new and varied additions. The form of the bracelet's chain is informed by the simple seaside boardwalk together with some maths that envisages movement."[35]
Look and Sea Centre
The Look and Sea centre includes the Harbour Lights café and an observation tower.[39]
Norfolk Gardens, a multi-purpose outdoor site operated by Tivoli Lifestyle, is further along the promenade. The site includes a 9-hole pitch and putt course, recently refurbished 9-hole adventure golf course renamed Buccaneer Bay, tennis and bowls, and the Putting Green Café.[43]
The Littlehampton Miniature Railway runs for 800 yards from Norfolk Gardens to Mewsbrook Park and is the oldest 12¼" (311mm) gauge railway in the UK.[44][45]
Littlehampton lifeboat station is one of the UK's busiest RNLILifeboat stations. As well as providing local search and rescue coverage, volunteer crew members also provided humanitarian help during flooding in East Pakistan over 35 years ago.[46] The lifeboat station operates two boats: an Atlantic 85 class lifeboat, Renee Sherman (B-891) and a D Class Lifeboat, Ray of Hope (D-769).[47][48] The Arun class of lifeboats (in service 1971–2008) take their name from the Arun river, which comes to a head at Littlehampton, however no Arun-class lifeboats have been stationed at the station.[49] Until the retiring of the Atlantic 75 class lifeboat, Blue Peter 1 (B-779) in 2016, Littlehampton lifeboat station had operated a lifeboat funded by viewers of the BBC television programme Blue Peter since 1967.[50]
Littlehampton's police station is situated just outside the town centre with a CID building and the head major incidents unit in West Sussex adjoining.[51] There was also an ambulance station adjacent to the police station, although it's not not in use.[52]
Littlehampton's fire station, which is near the town centre, maintains two water-tender ladders.[53] The station has a full-time immediate response appliance, with the second appliance covered by on-call retained firefighters.[53] There is another fire station in East Preston with one water-tender ladder and a Red cross support unit.[54]
Littlehampton's hospital was demolished in 2005,[55] since then its replacement has been under debate at a local and national level.[56] Neighbouring Rustington has Zachary Merton Hospital, which lacks an Emergency department. It has 31 beds and other clinics.[57] The Fitzalan Medical Group has two surgeries in Littlehampton, including the headquarters surgery just outside the town centre and one in Wick.[58]
Sport
Rugby Union
Littlehampton Rugby Club plays in the Sussex Intermediate League, National Level 10, after promotion at the end of the 2010–11 season. Most games are played on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, either at The Littlehampton Academy or in the West/East Sussex area. The club is also involved in the local community, including the carnival, bonfire night, dragon boat racing and other charitable events.
Hockey
Having been established over 100 years ago, Littlehampton Hockey Club is one of the oldest hockey clubs in England. In 1999 became the first club in the history of Sussex Hockey to win the Sussex Open Premier League while remaining undefeated all season.[citation needed]
The flints that make up Littlehampton's West Beach contain quite a few fossils.[59] The flints are formed by silica from sea sponges and diatoms from around 60 to 95 million years ago. Some of the creatures become fossilised and can be seen as patterns on the outside of the flint. These are known locally as Shepherds crowns. The Littlehampton Museum[60] occasionally organises fossil hunting walks during the school holidays.
Freedom of the Town
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Littlehampton.
Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England.
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an area of 1,991 square kilometres, West Sussex borders Hampshire to the west, Surrey to the north, and East Sussex to the east. The county town and only city in West Sussex is Chichester, located in the south-west of the county. In the 2011 census, West Sussex recorded a population of 806,900.
Newhaven is a port town in East Sussex in England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse.
The River Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At 37 miles (60 km) long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small streams that form its source in the area of St Leonard's Forest in the Weald, the Arun flows westwards through Horsham to Nowhurst where it is joined by the North River. Turning to the south, it is joined by its main tributary, the western River Rother, and continues through a gap in the South Downs to Arundel to join the English Channel at Littlehampton. It is one of the faster flowing rivers in England, and is tidal as far inland as Pallingham Quay, 25.5 miles (41.0 km) upstream from the sea at Littlehampton. The Arun gives its name to the Arun local government district of West Sussex.
Arun is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It contains the towns of Arundel, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and takes its name from the River Arun, which runs through the centre of the district.
Rye is a small town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. An important member of the mediaeval Cinque Ports confederation, it was at the head of an embayment of the English Channel, and almost entirely surrounded by the sea.
Lyminster is a village that is the main settlement of Lyminster and Crossbush civil parish, in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It borders, to the south, Littlehampton, which has its town centre 2 miles (3 km) away.
Bognor Regis and Littlehampton is a constituency in West Sussex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Nick Gibb, a Conservative.
The Arun-class lifeboat was a fast all-weather lifeboat designed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for service at its stations around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. They were operated by the RNLI between 1971 and 2008. Many have been sold to see further service in the lifeboat and coastguard services of other countries.
Warningcamp is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Arundel, on the east bank of the River Arun. The south-east quarter of the parish is woodland.
Arundel & Wick is an electoral division of West Sussex in the United Kingdom and returns one member to sit on West Sussex County Council.
Worthing Rural District was a rural district in West Sussex, England from 1933 to 1974. It comprised an area to the north, west and east, but did not include the borough of Worthing. Its area encompassed the land in southern Sussex between the Rivers Adur and Arun, with the exception of Arundel, Littlehampton and Worthing itself. The rural district had its council offices at 15 Mill Road, West Worthing, Worthing.
Wells-next-the-Sea Lifeboat Station is a lifeboat station in the town of Wells-next-the-Sea in the English county of Norfolk. The station, run by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, operates both inshore and offshore lifeboats. The inshore boat is called Jane Ann III(D-661) and is a D-class (IB1) lifeboat, whilst the offshore boat is called Doris M, Mann of Ampthill(ON 1161), and is a Mersey class lifeboat. The station boathouse is located at the beach on the western side of Wells Harbour mouth.
Littlehampton Friends Meeting House is a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) place of worship in the town of Littlehampton, part of the Arun district of West Sussex, England. A Quaker community has worshipped in the seaside town since the 1960s, when they acquired a former Penny School building constructed in the early 19th century. The L-shaped, flint-faced structure, consisting of schoolrooms and a schoolmaster's house, has been converted into a place of worship at which weekly meetings take place. The house is a Grade II Listed building.
The Port of Newhaven is a port and associated docks complex located within Newhaven, East Sussex, England, situated at the mouth of the River Ouse.
Newhaven Lifeboat Station is an RNLI station located in the town of Newhaven in the English county of East Sussex in the United Kingdom. The station currently operates as all-weather lifeboat station. The original station was established in 1803 and taken over by the RNLI in 1854. The current lifeboat (2014) is the Severn class David and Elizabeth Acland .
Littlehampton Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station in the town of Littlehampton, in West Sussex, on the south coast of England. The station is on the harbour side on the eastern bank of the River Arun, a quarter mile from the harbour entrance and the pier. The current lifeboat house on Fisherman's Quay was built in 2002. The lifeboat station currently operates with two inshore lifeboats: a B-class lifeboat, Renee Sherman(B-891) and a D-class (IB1) lifeboat, Ray of Hope(D-769).
RNLB Keith Anderson was an Arun-class lifeboat which served at Newhaven Lifeboat Station for six years, in the relief fleet for one year and finished her RNLI career in Hartlepool in 2003 after serving for three years.
↑ Bayley, Stephen (10 June 2007). "Fresh seafood served here". The Observer. London. Archived from the original on 26 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
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