Thorney Island peninsula juts into Chichester Harbour and is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel called Great Deep. West Thorney village is on the island’s East coast and Thorney Island south of Great Deep has been a military base since 1938, when an RAF airfield was built as a fighter station for Coastal …
Tag archives: environment
Wade Way Cottage
Wade Way Cottage is a Grade II listed building just south of the Catchpond in Chidham Lane. It bears a date plaque for 1732 and for some time was known as Crooked Chimney under which its Grade II listing was made in 1986. Did you know? The house’s other name is due to the odd …
The Poor Cottage
The Poor Cottage in Chidham Lane is a Grade II listed building and lies just south of the Catchpond. Dating from around 1600, although some parts may be earlier, the building has an interesting history as it was the parish poor house until 1838. The problem of poverty raised public concern throughout the early 19th …
Chidmere House
Chidmere House in Chidham Lane is a Grade II listed building and is the most southerly historic building in the parish. The house also features a large garden and Chidmere Pond to the South. The core of the main house is undoubtedly of 16th century origin with alterations in the 1930s. It was the home …
Middleton House
Middleton House in Steels Lane Chidham is a handsome, 5-bay Georgian farmhouse faced in grey headers with red brick around the windows. Middleton House is listed Grade II* with Historic England and was built in 1759 as a farmhouse to Middleton Farm, the yard and barns of which were located to its north. Did you know? …
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 …
Nutbourne Watercress
Watercress is popular in salads and grown on a wide scale. In the wild it grows in shallow, fast-flowing streams and is an indicator of clean water. Watercress is a hardy, perennial, European herb (Nasturtium officinale) which grows naturally in wet soil along and in spring brooks, ditches and pond margins and is cultivated for …
The Catchpond
Created in the early 19th century when the lane was constructed, the catchpond stores surface water runoff from the fields, discharging the water under Chidham Lane, through the tide bank at low tide. Before the construction of the road and tide bank, this area was a marshy inlet from Bosham Creek. As well as providing …
Quay Mill
Quay Mill was built in the 18th Century as a tidal mill to grind corn. The motive power came from the water trapped behind the mill pond wall at high tide, which was released at low water over a mill wheel. Later the mill was driven by a gas engine housed in the lean-to on …