River Street in Westbourne has been home to two waterwheel powered establishments, one a corn mill and the other a water pumping station. The corn mill is a solid brick building facing directly onto River Street. It dates back to the Industrial Revolution (1760s – 1830s) and the smaller section can be accurately dated to …
Category archives: Westbourne
Westbourne Square
Westbourne Square has been the centre of activity since the first recorded market and the focus of many fairs and commerce for a thousand years! The Earl of Arundel was the Lord of the Manor of Westbourne. Reverend Mee in his book ‘Bourne in the past’ mentions the Lamb Inn (owned by St John’s Church) …
Monks Hill & Golf Course
Monks Hill leads to Westbourne Common, which has been the site of sports events and a variety of outdoor gatherings for 150 years. The land was granted in 1859 to Admiral Sir Provo William Percy Wallis, a colourful character who lived at Funtington and served in the Royal Navy from Napoleonic times. Did you know? …
Westbourne Scouts
The 1st Westbourne Scout Group is one of the oldest in Sussex, having been founded just after the first World War. Did you know? Astronaut Tim Peake works for the European Space Agency. He was brought up in Westbourne and was also a Scout here! In 1920 Westbourne Scout Group had 16 Scouts, but within …
St John the Baptist
As you cross the gentle River Ems into West Sussex and Westbourne, the first building you see is the church of St John the Baptist, which dates from at least the early 13th century. Other evidence also suggests that a church could have been on this site as early as the 11th century. When a …
Westbourne Workhouse
Westbourne workhouse Westbourne’s workhouse opened in 1835 at Commonside, in the north of the village, on the site of what is today a small housing development called Union Yard. It replaced the original Poor House, which was opened in 1773 and enlarged in 1818. Did you know? The Westbourne workhouse survived all through WW1 and …
The Lamb Inn
The Lamb was an inn and hotel on the site of cottages leading to East Street from the junction of North Street and The Square. It once boasted a paddock garden, stables, shop, cottage, an outbuilding and a sizable ballroom that was often used for grand occasions in the early 19th century. Inquests and property …
Westbourne School & Hall
The mixed year class of 1908 at Westbourne School Westbourne’s first school was established in 1819 in the poor house, started by St John’s church. In 1835 the church rector and churchwardens acquired land in the north of the village on the present School Lane, in order to build a National School for the education …
The River Ems
The much-sluiced river Ems runs for six miles (9.7 km) along the border of West Sussex before flowing into the large, coastal Chichester Harbour. According to research by David J Rudkin the River Ems has its source about one and a half miles (2.4 km) east of Stoughton. The Ems is not just a river …