Littlehampton
Encyclopedia
Littlehampton is a seaside resort
town and civil parish in the Arun
District of West Sussex
, England, on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun
. It lies 51.5 miles (83 km) south southwest of London
, 17.5 miles (28 km) west of Brighton
and 11 miles (18 km) east of the county town of Chichester
.
The parish covers an area of 11.35 km² (4 sq mi) and has a population of 25,593 (2001 census).The Sub-Urban Area of the town has a population of approx 55,000. The conurbation includes other settlements: Wick
in the north west; Lyminster
to the north; and Rustington
to the east. Wick and Toddington became part of the town in 1901. Nearby towns include Bognor Regis
west southwest and Worthing
to the east. The town is also the westernmost settlement of the 12th largest urban area in the UK, the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton
conurbation, a region encompassing some 461,181 people (2001 census).
of 1086 as the small hamlet of 'Hantone'. The settlement is believed to have been a fishing community around this time, appearing on a French map in around 1100 as 'Hanton'. 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. The expansion of port activities led to a new river mouth being cut in 1735, alongside the building of a wooden harbour.
As the eighteenth century progressed, the town developed from a fishing community to a holiday destination, with Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
, Percy Bysshe Shelley
and John Constable
all believed to have spent time there.
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. The population of the town grew tenfold over the century, from 584 in 1801 to 5,954 in 1901. 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.
In 1967, the town attracted attention by becoming the base for the first ever Blue Peter
lifeboat.
is situated towards the north of the town, and is a major employer in the area.
Paul Matthew International is a haulage company with headquarters located in the marina.
A local company, Dando Drilling International
Ltd, has been exporting drilling rigs from Littlehampton since 1867. Van Heyningen Brothers (VHB) salad growers was a major employer in the town from 1964 to 2003. Much of the local economy comprises smaller companies with fewer than ten employees although Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Greggs, Costa Coffee, Iceland and Lidl are in the town centre and the local authority is actively seeking to promote and expand business opportunities.
, a building on the seafront designed by Heatherwick Studio.
The building is a fully welded monocoque structure. The building reflects its exposed location with a rough, weathered appearance which Heatherwick describes as being like a piece of weathered flotsam swept up onto the beach. It was built in Littlehampton, with steelwork by Littlehampton Welding Ltd and site work by Langridge Developments, another local firm. 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.
Littlehampton Longest Bench opened in mid-July 2010. It was created by an award winning company Studio Weave.
for which is Conservative
Nick Gibb
.
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. On West Sussex county council, the town is represented by two Conservatives and a Liberal Democrat.
, which opened in 2009, replacing the Littlehampton Community School
.
For younger children there are three primary schools — Lyminster, River Beach and White Meadows. These schools came into existence in 2011 following a major reorganisation of primary school provision in the town that replaced 6 separate junior and infant schools with 3 primary schools. River Beach Primary was formed from the merging of Connaught Junior with Arun Vale and Elm Grove Infants, whilst the merger of Flora McDonald Junior and Wickbourne Infants brought about the creation of White Meadows. Lyminster existed before the reorganisation as an infant school, and has now begun a phased expansion to become a primary school.
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.
Littlehampton is served by three railway stations, Littlehampton railway station
, Angmering railway station
and Ford railway station
.
Trains services from Littlehampton railway station
are provided by Southern
and occasionally First Great Western
, with direct services to Brighton
, London Victoria, Gatwick Airport
, East Croydon, Bognor Regis
, Chichester
, Portsmouth
and Southampton
.
In the summer of 2011, a ferry service is to be introduced, linking the west and east parts of the river.
Gatwick Airport is an hour away to the north, Southampton Airport
is an hour and a half away to the west, Chichester Airport
is 30 minutes also to the west and Shoreham Airport
is 45 minutes to the east. The port of Dover
and the Channel Tunnel
about three hours to the east; Portsmouth Harbour
an hour to the west and Newhaven Harbour about an hour to the east.
Littlehampton has a large number of bus routes from several bus companies. The bus station at Littlehampton handles anything up to 1,000 passengers a day and over 200 buses.
Littlehampton also has a large number of taxis, with taxi ranks all over the town and four different taxi companies.
parish church while St Catherine's is the principal Catholic church. In the cemetery, which is on the northern side of the town, lies the grave of Katharine O'Shea ("Kitty O'Shea") (1845–1921), the wife of Charles Stewart Parnell
.
There are two other Anglican churches: St James the Great on Arundel Road and All Saints in Wick. Littlehampton Baptist Church, Littlehampton United Church (United Reformed
and Methodist
), Parkside Evangelical
Church, the Arun Community Church (Evangelical) and the Quaker Friends Meeting House
also serve the town.
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 his characters in the sitcom, Granville could have been inspired by Granville Road nearby.
An annual event is the bonfire procession, bonfire and firework display which are organised by the Littlehampton Bonfire Society
.
Littlehampton supports a range of performance groups including Stagedoor Theatre Company, 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.
Littlehampton is the home town of British Christian rock band Delirious?
, who all still live there.
LA Pebbles On The Beach is an annual charity music festival held on Beach Green. It features local acts that cross the musical spectrum so that there is something for all tastes during the course of the day. A sequence of monthly fund-raising events ae held in the town prior to the festival itself.
Character actor Stanley Holloway
(1890—1982) died in The Nightingale Nursing Home, Littlehampton, in 1982 aged 91.
Littlehampton is the setting for an important episode in British author Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel Never Let Me Go
Littlehampton was as the backdrop for Swanage
for the first episode of series 2 of the comedy drama series, The Inbetweeners
, with filming taking place on the promenade and River Arun
. Also the The Inbetweeners was filmed at the Travelodge
by the Body Shop
in Fifth episode of series 2, when Simon goes to see his Dad
Littlehampton is also used as the town centre in Ever Decreasing Circles.
, 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.
is at the entrance of the River Arun with two restaurants, two arcades, a rollercoaster, log flume and other attractions. Next to harbour park is ActionBoat. Action Boat offers speed boat rides to Worthing Pier
, River Arun
trips, and sight seeing trips to Brighton
, Chichester
and Isle Of Wight
. Action boat also does special trips to Southampton Power Boat Show, Lymington
Power Boat Show and to Cowes
and Torquay
for the Cowes to Torquay power boat race. Norfolk Gardens, a multi-purpose outdoor site owned by Inspire Leisure, is further along the promenade. The site includes a 9-hole pitch and putt
course, 9-hole adventure golf course, tennis and bowls, and the Putting Green Café. The Littlehampton Miniature Railway runs for 800 yards from Norfolk Gardens site to Mewsbrook Park.
Littlehampton harbour is on the River Arun at the western side of the town, with yacht moorings, and on the west bank of the river are Littlehampton Redoubt
and Climping sand dunes
.
Littlehampton's police station is situated just outside the town centre with a C.I.D. building and the head major incidents unit in West Sussex adjoining. There is also an ambulance station and the Youth Offending Team.
Littlehampton has a small fire station near the town centre, which maintains two water-tender ladders and a water carrier. Every two years the fire station holds an open day, usually on the same Saturday as Littlehampton Carnival. There is another fire station in East Preston with two water-tender ladders.
Littlehampton Heath Centre is also in the town centre. It has a physiotherapy clinic, chiropody clinic, speech and hearing clinic, Child Heath, Diabetic Eye Screening, Family Planning, Osteopath and a dental surgery for NHS patients. The Fitzalan Medical Group has three surgeries in Littlehampton, including the headquarters surgery just outside the town centre, one in Rustington and one in Wick.
Littlehampton's hospital was demolished in 2005 and is due to be rebuilt in 2012 and open in 2013 as Arun Community Hospital. A private company has posted the planning application and has a £12 million budget. Although in Rustington (Littlehampton) there is the Zachery Merton Community Hospital, which lacks an A&E Department but does have a Minor Injuries department, 31 beds and other clinics.
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.
s. The flint
s 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 occasionally organises fossil hunting walks during the school holidays.
Durmersheim
, Germany Chennevières-sur-Marne
, France
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
town and civil parish in the Arun
Arun
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.-History:...
District of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, England, on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun
River Arun
The Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. Its source is a series of small streams in the St Leonard's Forest area, to the east of Horsham...
. It lies 51.5 miles (83 km) south southwest of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 17.5 miles (28 km) west of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
and 11 miles (18 km) east of the county town of Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
.
The parish covers an area of 11.35 km² (4 sq mi) and has a population of 25,593 (2001 census).The Sub-Urban Area of the town has a population of approx 55,000. The conurbation includes other settlements: Wick
Wick, West Sussex
Wick is a community in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. Originally a separate village, it now forms part of the built up area around Littlehampton. It lies on the A284 road 0.6 miles north of the town centre....
in the north west; Lyminster
Lyminster
Lyminster is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It is located on the outskirts of the built-up area of Littlehampton, two miles north of the town centre. The civil parish covers an area of and has a population of 351 persons...
to the north; and Rustington
Rustington
Rustington is a seaside resort and civil parish near Littlehampton in West Sussex. Rustington is centrally situated on the West Sussex coast almost midway between the cathedral city of Chichester and Brighton. For local government purposes, it forms part of the Arun district of the administrative...
to the east. Wick and Toddington became part of the town in 1901. Nearby towns include Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...
west southwest and Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
to the east. The town is also the westernmost settlement of the 12th largest urban area in the UK, the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton
Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton
The Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation has a population of 461,181 , making it the 12th largest conurbation in the United Kingdom, after Greater Belfast and ahead of Edinburgh. It is England's 10th largest conurbation. Named the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation by the Office...
conurbation, a region encompassing some 461,181 people (2001 census).
History
A human settlement at Littlehampton can be traced back to prehistoric and Roman times, while it appears in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 as the small hamlet of 'Hantone'. The settlement is believed to have been a fishing community around this time, appearing on a French map in around 1100 as 'Hanton'. The settlement is then believed to have been given to the Abbey of St Martin de Seez in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, who owned Littlehampton until around 1400. The area then passed back to the ownership of successive Earls of Arundel
Earl of Arundel
The title Earl of Arundel is the oldest extant Earldom and perhaps the oldest extant title in the Peerage of England. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. It was created in 1138 for the Norman baron Sir William d'Aubigny...
and Dukes of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk
The Duke of Norfolk is the premier duke in the peerage of England, and also, as Earl of Arundel, the premier earl. The Duke of Norfolk is, moreover, the Earl Marshal and hereditary Marshal of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the...
, whose successors still reside in Arundel
Arundel
Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...
today.
Littlehampton began to develop as a port as a result of constant silting of the River Arun
River Arun
The Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. Its source is a series of small streams in the St Leonard's Forest area, to the east of Horsham...
, perhaps leading to the prefix of 'Little' being added to 'Hampton', in order to distinguish it from the larger Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
further along the coast. The expansion of port activities led to a new river mouth being cut in 1735, alongside the building of a wooden harbour.
As the eighteenth century progressed, the town developed from a fishing community to a holiday destination, with Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
, Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
and John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
all believed to have spent time there.
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
Honfleur
Honfleur is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie...
in France being introduced. The population of the town grew tenfold over the century, from 584 in 1801 to 5,954 in 1901. 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
Wick, West Sussex
Wick is a community in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. Originally a separate village, it now forms part of the built up area around Littlehampton. It lies on the A284 road 0.6 miles north of the town centre....
, Lyminster
Lyminster
Lyminster is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It is located on the outskirts of the built-up area of Littlehampton, two miles north of the town centre. The civil parish covers an area of and has a population of 351 persons...
and Toddington, while the commercial element of the town became increasingly focused on boat building and water sports.
In 1967, the town attracted attention by becoming the base for the first ever Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
lifeboat.
Economy
The world headquarters of The Body ShopThe Body Shop
The Body Shop International plc, known as The Body Shop, has 2,400 stores in 61 countries, and is the second largest cosmetic franchise in the world, following O Boticario, a Brazilian company...
is situated towards the north of the town, and is a major employer in the area.
Paul Matthew International is a haulage company with headquarters located in the marina.
A local company, Dando Drilling International
Dando Drilling
Dando is a British company manufacturing and supplying drilling rigs and equipment.-History:The Company was founded by a Mr Duke and a Mr Ockenden who in 1867 sank the first Tubewell to ensure a clean water supply in Littlehampton, England, following an outbreak of Cholera...
Ltd, has been exporting drilling rigs from Littlehampton since 1867. Van Heyningen Brothers (VHB) salad growers was a major employer in the town from 1964 to 2003. Much of the local economy comprises smaller companies with fewer than ten employees although Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Greggs, Costa Coffee, Iceland and Lidl are in the town centre and the local authority is actively seeking to promote and expand business opportunities.
Local issues
Littlehampton has received a great deal of publicity as the home of the East Beach CafeEast Beach Cafe
East Beach Café is a cafe in Littlehampton, West Sussex. It is owned by Jane Wood and Sophie Murray, who commissioned designer Thomas Heatherwick to create an iconic building for the seaside town of Littlehampton...
, a building on the seafront designed by Heatherwick Studio.
The building is a fully welded monocoque structure. The building reflects its exposed location with a rough, weathered appearance which Heatherwick describes as being like a piece of weathered flotsam swept up onto the beach. It was built in Littlehampton, with steelwork by Littlehampton Welding Ltd and site work by Langridge Developments, another local firm. 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.
Littlehampton Longest Bench opened in mid-July 2010. It was created by an award winning company Studio Weave.
Governance and politics
Littlehampton lies within the parliamentary constituency of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, the Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for which is Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Nick Gibb
Nick Gibb
Nicolas John "Nick" Gibb is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton...
.
At a local government level, Littlehampton is part of Littlehampton Town Council, Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council
West Sussex County Council
West Sussex County Council is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county also contains 7 district and borough councils, and 159 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county council has 71 elected councillors...
. 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
Arun Council election, 2011
Elections to Arun Council were held on Thursday 5 May 2011 to elect members to the council.The incumbent Conservative administration won an 11th election in a row, capitalising on a poor national performance by the Liberal Democrats by gaining five of their seats - Bognor Reigs Hotham, Bognor Reigs...
held in May 2011, the Conservatives won 7 of these 10 seats, Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
2 and the Liberal Democrats 1. On West Sussex county council, the town is represented by two Conservatives and a Liberal Democrat.
Education
Littlehampton has one secondary school, The Littlehampton AcademyThe Littlehampton Academy
The Littlehampton Academy is a large, mixed gender academy, sponsored by Woodard Schools and West Sussex County Council, in Littlehampton, West Sussex which opened in September 2009...
, which opened in 2009, replacing the Littlehampton Community School
Littlehampton Community School
The Littlehampton Community School was a large, mixed gender community comprehensive school located at the edge of Littlehampton, in West Sussex, England, and was the main secondary school in the Littlehampton area...
.
For younger children there are three primary schools — Lyminster, River Beach and White Meadows. These schools came into existence in 2011 following a major reorganisation of primary school provision in the town that replaced 6 separate junior and infant schools with 3 primary schools. River Beach Primary was formed from the merging of Connaught Junior with Arun Vale and Elm Grove Infants, whilst the merger of Flora McDonald Junior and Wickbourne Infants brought about the creation of White Meadows. Lyminster existed before the reorganisation as an infant school, and has now begun a phased expansion to become a primary school.
Transport
A259 road
The A259 is a busy road on the south coast of England passing through Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and part of Kent. Part of the road was named "the most dangerous road in South East England" in 2008.-Description:...
, though this bypasses most of the town. Littlehampton is connected to the A27
A27 road
The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish in the county of Wiltshire. It closely parallels the south coast, where it passes through West Sussex and terminates at Pevensey in East Sussex.Between Portsmouth and Lewes, it is one of the busiest trunk...
south coast trunk road by the A284, which also provides the main north-south route out of the town and links to the A29
A29 road
The A29 is a major road in England. It runs for approximately 34 miles from Capel, south of Dorking, leaving the A24, running through Billingshurst and Pulborough, crossing the South Downs at Bury Hill and passing Fontwell Park Racecourse before terminating on the B2166 on Bognor Regis sea...
and A24. The A27
A27 road
The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish in the county of Wiltshire. It closely parallels the south coast, where it passes through West Sussex and terminates at Pevensey in East Sussex.Between Portsmouth and Lewes, it is one of the busiest trunk...
also later links with the M27
M27 motorway
The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is long and runs west-east from Cadnam to Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983. It is however unfinished as an extension to the east was planned...
. The A280 also links Littlehampton to the A24 and is a main route from the north-east.
Littlehampton is served by three railway stations, Littlehampton railway station
Littlehampton railway station
Littlehampton railway station is in Littlehampton in the county of West Sussex. The station and the trains serving it are operated by Southern....
, Angmering railway station
Angmering railway station
Angmering is a railway station on the West Coastway Line, situated on the border of Angmering and East Preston in the district of Arun. It was opened in 1846. The station itself is situated about 3/4 of a mile away from the centre of Angmering village, and approx 150 metres south of the A259...
and Ford railway station
Ford railway station
Ford railway station is a railway station in Ford, West Sussex.It is located on the West Coastway Line which runs between Brighton and Southampton. The station and the trains serving it are operated by Southern....
.
Trains services from Littlehampton railway station
Littlehampton railway station
Littlehampton railway station is in Littlehampton in the county of West Sussex. The station and the trains serving it are operated by Southern....
are provided by Southern
Southern (train operating company)
Southern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Officially named Southern Railway Ltd., it is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, and has operated the South Central rail franchise since October 2000 and the Gatwick Express service...
and occasionally First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
, with direct services to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, London Victoria, Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport railway station
Gatwick Airport station is the railway station at London Gatwick Airport that provides a direct rail connection to London 43 km away. The station platforms are located directly below the airport’s South Terminal, and the ticket office is adjacent to that terminal’s concourse...
, East Croydon, Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis railway station
Bognor Regis railway station is in the town of Bognor Regis, in the English county of West Sussex, England. It is approximately 65 miles south of London Victoria. The station and the trains serving it are operated by Southern railway company...
, Chichester
Chichester railway station
Chichester railway station is a railway station in the city of Chichester in West Sussex, England. The station is a short walk from the city centre, and about a 10 minute walk from the university....
, Portsmouth
Portsmouth and Southsea railway station
Portsmouth and Southsea railway station is the main railway station in central Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. It is close to the Commercial Road shopping centre....
and Southampton
Southampton Central railway station
Southampton Central railway station is a main line railway station serving the city of Southampton in Hampshire, southern England. It is on the Wessex Main Line, the South Western Main Line and the West Coastway Line...
.
In the summer of 2011, a ferry service is to be introduced, linking the west and east parts of the river.
Gatwick Airport is an hour away to the north, Southampton Airport
Southampton Airport
Southampton Airport is the 20th largest airport in the UK, located north north-east of Southampton, in the Borough of Eastleigh within Hampshire, England....
is an hour and a half away to the west, Chichester Airport
Chichester/Goodwood Airport
Chichester/Goodwood Airport , normally referred to as Goodwood Airfield or Goodwood Aerodrome is located north northeast of Chichester, West Sussex, England....
is 30 minutes also to the west and Shoreham Airport
Shoreham Airport
- Sussex Police Air Operations Unit :The Sussex Police Air Operations Unit is headquartered at Shoreham Airport. The unit has been equipped since February 2000 with a MD Explorer, registered as "G-SUSX". The unit is headed by a Police Inspector, assisted by a Police Sergeant and two Police...
is 45 minutes to the east. The port of Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
and the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
about three hours to the east; Portsmouth Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it is a ria: formerly it was the valley of a stream flowing from Portsdown into the Solent River. The city of Portsmouth lies to the east on Portsea Island, and Gosport to the west on the mainland...
an hour to the west and Newhaven Harbour about an hour to the east.
Littlehampton has a large number of bus routes from several bus companies. The bus station at Littlehampton handles anything up to 1,000 passengers a day and over 200 buses.
Littlehampton also has a large 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 and a small stretch of sea 5 miles out to sea and 6 miles wide which 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, Holland, Germany and France with cargo including marine aggregates, stone, marble chippings and timber.Climate
Open spaces
- Mewsbrook Park
- Brookfield Park
- Rosemead Open Space
- East Beach Green
- West Beach Nature Reserve
- Norfolk Gardens
- Middle Mead
- Water Lane Recreation Ground
- St Catherines Recreation Ground
- Southfields Recreation Ground
Churches and cemeteries
St Mary's is the AnglicanAnglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
parish church while St Catherine's is the principal Catholic church. In the cemetery, which is on the northern side of the town, lies the grave of Katharine O'Shea ("Kitty O'Shea") (1845–1921), the wife of Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
.
There are two other Anglican churches: St James the Great on Arundel Road and All Saints in Wick. Littlehampton Baptist Church, Littlehampton United Church (United Reformed
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...
and Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
), Parkside Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Church, the Arun Community Church (Evangelical) and the Quaker Friends Meeting House
Littlehampton Friends Meeting House
Littlehampton Friends Meeting House is a Religious Society of Friends 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...
also serve the town.
Arts and culture
The BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
comedy sitcom Open All Hours
Open All Hours
Open All Hours is a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke which ran for four series a first run in 1976, a second run in 1981, third in 1982 and finally with a fourth run in 1985, with a pilot episode from the Seven of One series in 1973...
is claimed to be based on a shop in Norfolk Road near to where Ronnie Barker
Ronnie Barker
Ronald William George "Ronnie" Barker, OBE was a British actor, comedian, writer, critic, broadcaster and businessman...
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 his characters in the sitcom, Granville could have been inspired by Granville Road nearby.
Sussex Bonfire Societies
The Sussex Bonfire Societies are responsible for the series of bonfire festivals around Central/Eastern Sussex along with parts of Surrey and Kent from September - November....
.
Littlehampton supports a range of performance groups including Stagedoor Theatre Company, 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.
Littlehampton is the home town of British Christian rock band Delirious?
Delirious?
Delirious? were an English Christian rock and worship band. For the majority of their career, the lineup featured Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stu G on guitar and backing vocals, Jon Thatcher on bass guitar, Tim Jupp on keys and piano, and Stew Smith on drums and percussion...
, who all still live there.
LA Pebbles On The Beach is an annual charity music festival held on Beach Green. It features local acts that cross the musical spectrum so that there is something for all tastes during the course of the day. A sequence of monthly fund-raising events ae held in the town prior to the festival itself.
Character actor Stanley Holloway
Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady...
(1890—1982) died in The Nightingale Nursing Home, Littlehampton, in 1982 aged 91.
Littlehampton is the setting for an important episode in British author Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel Never Let Me Go
Littlehampton was as the backdrop for Swanage
Swanage
Swanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is situated at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, approximately 10 km south of Poole and 40 km east of Dorchester. The parish has a population of 10,124 . Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks,...
for the first episode of series 2 of the comedy drama series, The Inbetweeners
The Inbetweeners
The Inbetweeners is a British sitcom which aired for three series from 2008 to 2010 on E4. Created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, the show follows the life of suburban teenager Will , and three of his friends at the fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive. The Inbetweeners Movie was...
, with filming taking place on the promenade and River Arun
River Arun
The Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. Its source is a series of small streams in the St Leonard's Forest area, to the east of Horsham...
. Also the The Inbetweeners was filmed at the Travelodge
Travelodge
Travelodge refers to several hotel chains around the world. Current operations include: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and Australia...
by the Body Shop
Body shop
Body shopping is the practice of consultancy firms recruiting information technology workers in order to contract their services out on short-term bases...
in Fifth episode of series 2, when Simon goes to see his Dad
Littlehampton is also used as the town centre in Ever Decreasing Circles.
Media
Littlehampton is always in the local media. In the town centre of Littlehampton is the Head Quarters of the Littlehampton GazetteLittlehampton Gazette
The Littlehampton Gazette is a British local newspaper, serving the West Sussex town of Littlehampton and surrounding towns and villages such as Angmering, Arundel, Clapham, East Preston, Patching and Rustington...
, which is Littlehampton's local newspaper. BBC Sussex
BBC Sussex
BBC Sussex is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Sussex. It began on 14 February 1968 as BBC Radio Brighton, later becoming BBC Radio Sussex and then part of BBC Southern Counties Radio, before adopting its present name on 30 March 2009...
(Brighton), Spirit FM (Chichester), Splash FM
Splash FM
Splash FM is a United Kingdom radio station, based in Worthing, West Sussex, and operated by Media Sound Holdings Ltd. The station plays a selection of hit songs from the last forty years, and offers regular updates on local news, sport, travel and events...
(Worthing) and Wave 105
Wave 105
Wave 105 is a UK regional commercial radio station broadcasting across Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of West Sussex and Wiltshire. Playing a mix of adult contemporary music, it combines presenter-led shows with local news and information, entertainment guides and competitions. The...
(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.Attractions
Attractions include a casino in the town centre. The East Beach Café and the 'Look and Sea!' centre which includes the Harbour Lights café and an observation tower. Harbour ParkHarbour Park
Harbour Park is an amusement park in the coastal resort of Littlehampton, West Sussex, England. Opened in 1932, it is situated on the beach, adjacent to the working Harbour & Marina...
is at the entrance of the River Arun with two restaurants, two arcades, a rollercoaster, log flume and other attractions. Next to harbour park is ActionBoat. Action Boat offers speed boat rides to Worthing Pier
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
, River Arun
River Arun
The Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. Its source is a series of small streams in the St Leonard's Forest area, to the east of Horsham...
trips, and sight seeing trips to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
and Isle Of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. Action boat also does special trips to Southampton Power Boat Show, Lymington
Lymington
Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...
Power Boat Show and to Cowes
Cowes
Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...
and Torquay
Torquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
for the Cowes to Torquay power boat race. Norfolk Gardens, a multi-purpose outdoor site owned by Inspire Leisure, is further along the promenade. The site includes a 9-hole pitch and putt
Pitch and putt
Pitch and putt is an amateur sport, similar to golf. The maximum hole length for international competitions is with a maximum total course length of . Players may only use three clubs; one of which must be a putter...
course, 9-hole adventure golf course, tennis and bowls, and the Putting Green Café. The Littlehampton Miniature Railway runs for 800 yards from Norfolk Gardens site to Mewsbrook Park.
Littlehampton harbour is on the River Arun at the western side of the town, with yacht moorings, and on the west bank of the river are Littlehampton Redoubt
Littlehampton Redoubt
Littlehampton Redoubt, usually known as Littlehampton Fort, was built in 1854 to protect the entrance to the River Arun at Littlehampton on the south coast of England, against possible attack by the French under the Emperor Napoleon III. There had been a previous battery on the east bank of the...
and Climping sand dunes
Climping sand dunes
Climping Sand Dunes are a system of dunes at Climping in the Arun District of West Sussex, England located west of Littlehampton. The eastern end of the dunes adjoins the River Arun and Littlehampton Redoubt.-Vegetation at Climping:...
.
Public services
As one of the UK's busiest RNLI Lifeboat stations, Littlehampton is one of seven stations operating a lifeboat funded by viewers of the BBC television programme Blue Peter. 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.Littlehampton's police station is situated just outside the town centre with a C.I.D. building and the head major incidents unit in West Sussex adjoining. There is also an ambulance station and the Youth Offending Team.
Littlehampton has a small fire station near the town centre, which maintains two water-tender ladders and a water carrier. Every two years the fire station holds an open day, usually on the same Saturday as Littlehampton Carnival. There is another fire station in East Preston with two water-tender ladders.
Littlehampton Heath Centre is also in the town centre. It has a physiotherapy clinic, chiropody clinic, speech and hearing clinic, Child Heath, Diabetic Eye Screening, Family Planning, Osteopath and a dental surgery for NHS patients. The Fitzalan Medical Group has three surgeries in Littlehampton, including the headquarters surgery just outside the town centre, one in Rustington and one in Wick.
Littlehampton's hospital was demolished in 2005 and is due to be rebuilt in 2012 and open in 2013 as Arun Community Hospital. A private company has posted the planning application and has a £12 million budget. Although in Rustington (Littlehampton) there is the Zachery Merton Community Hospital, which lacks an A&E Department but does have a Minor Injuries department, 31 beds and other clinics.
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 AcademyThe Littlehampton Academy
The Littlehampton Academy is a large, mixed gender academy, sponsored by Woodard Schools and West Sussex County Council, in Littlehampton, West Sussex which opened in September 2009...
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.Other sport
- Littlehampton Town FCLittlehampton Town F.C.Littlehampton Town F.C. is a football club based in Littlehampton, England. It was established in 1896 and joined the Sussex County League in 1928. In the 1990–91 season, they reached the 1st round of the FA Cup. For the 2011–12 season, they are members of the Sussex County League Division...
play in the Sussex County LeagueSussex County Football LeagueThe Sussex County Football League is a football league broadly covering the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex and southeastern Surrey, England.Formed in 1920, the league now has six divisions - three for first teams and three for reserve sides...
Division Two. - Littlehampton Cricket ClubLittlehampton, Clapham and Patching Cricket ClubThe Littlehampton, Clapham and Patching Cricket Club is a cricket club in Littlehampton, West Sussex, England.The earliest record of cricket in Littlehampton was of a game on 2 July 1802 on the Littlehampton Green when a match between the Gentlemen of Sussex and the Storrington Club was played...
fields three Saturday sides, up to two Sunday sides, a ladies team and colts teams at ages ranging from under 10 to under 16. - Littlehampton is home to a marina and a golf club.
- Littlehampton Arunners Running Club
- Littlehampton Swimming & Sports Centre (LSSC), including two swimming pools, a small slide, a fitness suite and sports hall.
- Littlehampton Badminton & Squash Club
- Littlehampton Harbour Board - fishing and diving
- Arun Yacht Club
- Littlehampton Sailing & Motor Club
- Littlehampton and District Angling Club
- Sussex Tornados Youth Cheerleading Club serves ages five and up.
Fossils
The flints that make up Littlehampton's West Beach contain quite a few fossilFossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s. The flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
s 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 occasionally organises fossil hunting walks during the school holidays.
Twinning
Littlehampton is officially twinned with two towns. Each is twinned with the other two to form a three cornered link:Durmersheim
Durmersheim
Durmersheim is a small town in the district of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Southwest Germany and has a population of 12,049 .Durmersheim is situated between Karlsruhe and Rastatt, in the valley of the river Rhine near the border to France. There is also a forest in the valley, named Hardtwald, c...
, Germany Chennevières-sur-Marne
Chennevières-sur-Marne
Chennevières-sur-Marne is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:People have lived on the site of Chennevières-sur-Marne since pre-historic times, the hilly, riverside location being an advantageous spot. The Gauls built villages on...
, France
External links
- Arun District Council
- Littlehampton Town Council website
- Littlehampton at the Open directory projectOpen Directory ProjectThe Open Directory Project , also known as Dmoz , is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links. It is owned by Netscape but it is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors.ODP uses a hierarchical ontology scheme for organizing site listings...