Your Town

We have a long history, dating back to at least the Bronze Age - a proud history with significant landmarks. We know that the tribe of the Atrebates and the Romans were here earlier but our recorded history starts with the date AD 477. Ella, his three sons and 150 warriors landed here and created the land of the South Saxons (Sussex). In AD 680 St Wilfrid brought Christianity to Sussex, established a Minster/Cathedral and was the first of 23 bishops of Selsey. The See was subsequently moved to Chichester in AD 1075.

With an enviable sun record, a very high light factor, clean air and fertile land, it is easy to see why we have welcomed visitors for so long; even before man lived in Selsey the area was roamed by mammoths and rhinos and the sea was the home of sharks.

Selsey escaped much of the warfare and political strife which plagued most of England (being cut off from the mainland by a Rife which runs from Pagham Harbour to Chichester Harbour at Sidlesham) as the village was only accessible by rowing-boat, wade way or horse way until 1809 when we were joined to the rest of England by the ferry bank.

Our isolation counted for little during the last war - in fact it probably was of crucial importance to the War effort. Canadian troops were billeted here prior to Dieppe and Mulberry Harbours were massed here prior to the Normandy landings. Selsey even possessed an advanced aerodrome to support those landings. Nevertheless, we did not escape the odd bomb or the occasional aircraft that fell from the sky.

Since those days, as the result of a massive building programme the small fishing village has expanded into a small town but, thankfully, has retained much of the character that attracts so many to our environs.