This famous Emsworth Inn dates right back to the 16th Century. The Crown is Grade II listed and is the earliest known inn in Emsworth, opening as the Three Crowns Country Inn prior to 1665. In 1724 it had expanded with a stable for coaching horses, its own brewhouse and an alehouse adjoining it. The …
Tag archives: History
Cross Kitchen
This famous Emsworth landmark actually started its life as a church. In the 18th century most Emsworth residents went to church but, with a growing population, there wasn’t much room and only the rich could afford to buy or rent their own church pew. If you were poorer you weren’t allowed in these pews, so …
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 …
Honor Wayte
Honor Wayte was born in Wymering in nearby Cosham in 1550 to William Wayte and Anne Mompesson. Wayte Cottages (above) off Chidham Lane is named after her as she left money to the poor of the local area in a generous bequest in her will when she died. Despite being born near Cosham Hampshire, about …
Thorney Island
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 …
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 …