97-592: Selsey ( / ˈ s ɛ l s i / ) is a seaside town and civil parish , about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester , in the Chichester district, in West Sussex , England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula , almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounded to the west by Bracklesham Bay , to the north by Broad Rife, to the east by Pagham Harbour and terminates in
194-513: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
291-417: A civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in
388-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
485-649: A bombing raid, three people lost their lives. All the evacuees were re-evacuated shortly after. Large areas of the village were closed to the public, particularly as off shore at East Beach, there was secret(at the time) work on the Mulberry harbours . These were eventually towed to Normandy for D-Day. A private aerodrome, situated at Church Norton, was requisitioned by the RAF in 1942, then in 1943 after some construction work, became an advanced landing ground (ALG) known as RAF Selsey . The airfield 98 miles (158 km) from Normandy,
582-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
679-472: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
776-456: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
873-548: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
970-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
1067-486: A couple of Sites of Special Scientific Interest . Bracklesham Bay runs along the coastline of the parish. Medmerry Mill is a grade II listed tower windmill restored in the 1960s and currently in use as a gift shop. St Peter's Church , a grade II listed building, is the parish church and dates from the 13th century. The church building was originally situated at the location of St Wilfrid's first monastery and cathedral at Church Norton some 2 miles (3.2 km) north of
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#17328445749081164-565: A high street with a mix of shops and restaurants. There are many holiday cottages, bed and breakfasts as well as some very large static caravan parks that make Selsey a popular holiday destination. It also has a selection of light industries and a small fishing fleet. Selsey Football Club was formed in 1903 and moved to the High Street Ground in the late 1940s. The current Selsey F.C. is a semi-professional association football club and has been awarded Chartered Standard Community status. It
1261-723: A holiday/To Selsey Bill, or Bracklesham Bay." Selsey is also mentioned in Ben Jonson 's play Volpone in Act 2 Scene 1 with reference to 'Selsey cockles' In the opening scene of the Lerner and Loewe 1956 musical My Fair Lady , Professor Higgins correctly identifies one of the characters as coming from Selsey. Selsey is further referenced in the Madness song " Driving in My Car ": "I drive up to Muswell Hill, I've even been to Selsey Bill". Selsey's climate
1358-503: A narrative on the offence, capture, trial and execution of the smugglers involved. Seven were tried and condemned to death at Chichester assizes ; one died in gaol before sentence could be carried out and the other six were hanged at the Broyle north of Chichester. Subsequently, the bodies of two of the smugglers, John Cobby and John Hammond, were hung in gibbets at Selsey Bill so that they could be seen at great distance from east and west. At
1455-517: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
1552-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
1649-708: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Council of London (1075) The Council of London in 1075
1746-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
1843-431: A population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of
1940-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
2037-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
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#17328445749082134-431: A regular ferry service to France, travelling back and forth every five weeks, and other prominent Selsey figures made considerable fortunes just from part-time work in the free-trade. In 1749 fourteen smugglers, members of the notorious Hawkhurst Gang , were accused of the murder of William Galley, a custom-house officer, and Daniel Chater, a shoemaker. A contemporary book written under the pseudonym "A. Gentleman" provides
2231-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
2328-589: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
2425-938: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
2522-514: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
2619-726: Is affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association . It is known that cricket has been played, in Selsey at least since 1647, although the earliest record for the Selsey Cricket Club was on 9 July 1834 when the team played Kingley Vale . Selsey won by 3 runs. A former president was Hubert Doggart , OBE, MA. He was the son of the sportsman Graham Doggart who rose to chair the Football Association . Doggart represented England in two Test matches in 1950. He
2716-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
2813-497: Is classified as warm and temperate. Although Selsey is in one of the sunnier areas of the UK, there is rainfall throughout the year and even the driest month still has rain.Probably the most problematic climatic hazard is wind. The town is situated in an area where tornadoes and waterspouts are common. A tornado in 1986 damaged 200 houses and cut a swathe 70 metres wide. Another tornado in 1998 left an estimated £10m of destruction and damaged
2910-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
3007-411: Is exposed at low tide and covered by the sea at high tide. Then in 2013 the 300 hectares (740 acres)scheme was completed. The Environment Agency says that "it will improve the standard of flood protection for over 300 homes, the water treatment works and the main road into Selsey. It will also create important new intertidal wildlife habitat and open up new footpaths, cycleways and bridleways." Selsey has
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3104-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
3201-666: Is that they had a runic inscription on them. The fragments were handed over to the British Museum. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle records the legendary foundation of Sussex by Ælle and his sons when they landed near Selsey. Stephen of Ripon and the Venerable Bede say that Wilfrid arrived in Selsey [about 680] and converted the Kingdom of the South Saxons to Christianity. Selsey Abbey stood at Selsey (probably where Church Norton
3298-671: Is today), and was the cathedra for the Sussex Diocese until the Council of London ordered the removal of the See to Chichester in 1075, during the reign of William the Conqueror . In all there had been twenty-two Bishops of Selsey over a period of 370 years. In the Domesday Book Selesie is mentioned under the hundred of Somerley : The Bishop(of Chichester) holds Selesie in domain. In
3395-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
3492-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
3589-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
3686-588: The lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
3783-403: The monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of a civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if
3880-463: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
3977-403: The 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with
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4074-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
4171-584: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
4268-505: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
4365-636: The Archdeacon of Canterbury. The original text was in Latin. The following is an English translation: Letter 11 Council of London 25 Dec. 1074-28 Aug. 1075 In the year of our Lord 1075, in the ninth year of the reign of William , glorious king of the English, a council of the whole land of England was assembled in the church of St. Paul the Apostle in London, namely of bishops, abbots and many ecclesiastics. The council
4462-564: The Atrebates settlement was located at the Mixon rocks, now south of Selsey Bill. More recent hypotheses have suggested that the Chichester-Selsey oppidum was distributed across the region. There is evidence of possible Roman activity in Selsey. The archaeologist Barry Cunliffe wrote that in the middle of the first century, the area provided a good base for the transfer of sea-borne goods and
4559-474: The British children. Selsey had an RNLI lifeboat station and shop on Kingsway, east of Selsey Bill. The station was established in 1861. In 2014 Selsey had a Tyne-class lifeboat and a D Class Inshore Lifeboat which had its own boat house just off the beach. In 2011 Selsey Lifeboat Station celebrated 150 years during which period lifeboat crew have received 10 awards for gallantry. A new boathouse, to replace
4656-515: The English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007 the right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by
4753-724: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
4850-565: The beach at Selsey. The Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve, operated by the RSPB, is close to Selsey. It is possible to see a variety of bird species including Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Wigeon, Black-headed Gulls, Common, Sandwich and Little Terns. The B2145 Chichester road, is the only road in and out of the town crossing a bridge over the water inlet at Pagham Harbour at a point known as "the ferry". Civil parishes in England In England,
4947-503: The beginning of the 19th century, Selsey opened its first school. In 1818 premises were granted to the Rector and churchwardens of Selsey which were "on trust to permit the premises to be used for a schoolhouse or free school, for the gratuitous education of such poor children belonging to the Parish of Selsey as the said trustees or successors may think proper."The school was eventually taken over by
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#17328445749085044-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
5141-468: The constant battering from the sea, a lot of the defences needed remedial work. In 2011 the Environment Agency started to build new sea defences between Selsey and Bracklesham, the scheme was described as managed realignment in that it involved the building of new defences inland from the coast and allowing a new "intertidal area" to form seaward of the new defences. "Intertidal" means the land that
5238-529: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
5335-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
5432-514: The council survive, which derive from two earlier copies, one from Canterbury and one from Worcester . The following "Canons of the Council of London AD 1075", translated from the original Latin, are taken from the old register of the church at Worcester, the original document has a short historical preface followed by the nine canons and then a section with signatures of the two archbishops, twelve bishops, and twenty-one abbots, these were preceded by
5529-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
5626-511: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
5723-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
5820-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
5917-521: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
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#17328445749086014-544: The former residence of the music hall entertainer Bransby Williams next to the Selsey Hotel. The owner/headmaster from the early 1950s until the school's closure in 1969 was William Percy Higgs (died Bristol 1986), a former Cambridge University organ scholar and music master at Eton . Higgs made Broombank a music and arts school attracting the children of well known actors, artists and musicians as well as temporary pupils from France, whose numbers occasionally matched those of
6111-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
6208-573: The intention of attacking Portsmouth . The wind changed direction to the south-west. Men from the Manhood Peninsula serving under Francis Drake conceived a plan to lure the Spanish fleet onto the Owers rocks (off Selsey). However the Spanish Admiral, recognising the danger, decided to head for Calais . In 1647, a fatality was recorded following a cricket match at Selsey when a fielder called Henry Brand
6305-471: The late Patrick Moore 's observatory. A study published by Princeton University and McGill University , in 2020, concluded that the Manhood Peninsula is at particularly high risk of flooding as its topography is less than 5 metres (16 ft) above the current mean sea level and that by 2100 Selsey will be subject to permanent inundation. In 2015, around 50 smooth-hound sharks were observed near
6402-570: The late 1930s the Broadreeds Holiday camp, that was later to be run by Pontins , was used as a transit camp for girls coming on the Kindertransport . The woman appointed as second in command, Sophie Friedlaender describes in her memoir how she first arrived at the camp: On a crisp January morning in the New Year, I headed to Paddington station, where I soon recognised the other helpers. There
6499-471: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
6596-549: The local authority in 1937. Selsey was connected to Chichester from 1897 to 1935 by a rail link initially called the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway and later the West Sussex Railway . The light railway rolling stock was all second hand and not very reliable and the journey times lengthy. Various nicknames such as the "Selsey Snail" were attributed to the tram and comic postcards were issued reflecting its poor service. In
6693-453: The mainland and that was covered at high tide. The approach of the local riding officer would have been conspicuous in the extreme. One of the enterprises was smuggling with many local people being involved in the lucrative trade. The Rectors of Selsey reputedly claimed a tithe on all kegs landed there, and stories also tell of a passageway leading from the Old Rectory (at Church Norton) to
6790-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
6887-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
6984-522: The old off shore boathouse, was constructed on shore. The final launch from the old boathouse was made on 1 April 2017 and the old boathouse itself was demolished during the Summer of 2017. The new boathouse accommodates both the inshore lifeboat and the new Shannon-class lifeboat , which has been allocated to Selsey, to replace the Tyne class. The RNLI shop has also been transferred to the new building. The parish has
7081-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
7178-448: The parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under a common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in
7275-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
7372-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
7469-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
7566-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
7663-614: The place that we now know today as "Selsey". A selection of versions as identified by Heron-Allen are: The earliest evidence of human habitation in the Selsey area goes back to the Stone Age. Various stone implements have been found which date to the Palaeolithic period. People have been living in the area ever since. Towards the end of the first century B.C. the Atrebates possessed three large urban centres (known as oppida ) that served as
7760-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
7857-495: The present centre of population. It was moved from there in the 19th century and is now situated at the entrance to Selsey High Street.When the removed church was re-consecrated in April 1866, due to an oversight it was not consecrated properly to carry out marriages. The omission was not discovered until 1904, by which time 196 marriage services had taken place. These services although canonically correct were not strictly legal. To rectify
7954-473: The remains of a Mound , thought to have been built by the Normans. The course of the tunnel was marked by a depression on the surface of the ground as late as 1911. The legal export of wool trade had been established for centuries with Chichester being granted staple port status. However the Selsey area was notorious for the illegal export of wool, in a custom known as owling . During the 1720s one Selsey man ran
8051-415: The situation an Act of Parliament was required. In 1906 an order was made to finally validate all the marriages celebrated between 12 April 1866 and 25 February 1904. Selsey Bill is referenced in the song "Saturday's Kids" by The Jam (from the 1979 album Setting Sons ), along with Bracklesham Bay , as a place where these working-class children take holiday with their families; "Save up their money for
8148-417: The south at Selsey Bill . There are significant rock formations beneath the sea off both of its coasts, named the Owers rocks and Mixon rocks . Coastal erosion has been an ever-present problem for Selsey. In 2011 the parish had a population of 10,737. The B2145 is the only road in and out of the town crossing a bridge over the water inlet at Pagham Harbour at a point known as "the ferry". At one time Selsey
8245-588: The storing and distributing of supplies to support their conquest of south west Britain. When this objective had been achieved the Romans moved their base to Chichester. The Mixon would have been part of the mainland, at the time of the Roman occupation and it is evident that they used its stone for building material. Some Anglo-Saxon gold fragments were found on the beach between Selsey and Bognor, these were dated as late 6th/ 8th century and what made them particularly interesting
8342-551: The time of King Edward it was rated at ten hides , and so it continues. The arable is seven plough lands. There are two ploughs in the demesne , and fourteen villains with eleven bondsmen have five ploughs. The manor of Selsey remained in the Bishop of Chichesters hands until 1561, when it was taken over by the crown. In July 1588 the Spanish Armada arrived off the Isle of Wight with
8439-528: The tribal mints and possibly the king's court. These were located near modern Silchester , Winchester and the Chichester-Selsey area. So far, in the Chichester-Selsey area, there is no archaeological evidence to confirm this, although various coins from the Atrebates rulers named Commius , Tincommius , Verica , Eppillus , and Cunobelin were found on Selsey beach in 1877, and it is thought that these coins would have been minted locally. The 17th century antiquarian William Camden , and others have posited that
8536-644: The way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe
8633-585: The west side of the town is the Seal Bay holiday park. Selsey has a secondary school called the Selsey Academy (formerly known as Manhood Community College up till September 2011) and two primary schools, Seal Primary School (now known as Seal Academy) and Medmerry Primary School. Before and after the Second World War there were several private preparatory schools in Selsey including Broombank School housed in
8730-850: Was President of the M.C.C. (1981–1982), the Cricket Council (1981–1982) and the Cricket Society (1983–1998), and he chaired the Friends of Arundel Castle Cricket Club (1993–2003). In the 1970s he played occasionally for Selsey C.C. Selsey are a Clubmark Club running two men's League sides, one Ladies League side, several Junior sides and Sunday and Midweek Friendly sides. The wide landscapes, exposed coastal location and diverse birdlife lure artists to Selsey, many of whom belong to Arts Dream Selsey Artists. The society holds regular exhibitions and events. The list of artists, who have featured Selsey in their work, include Whistler and J. M. W. Turner . On
8827-448: Was a council of the Catholic Church in England held by the new Norman archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranc five years after his installation. Other attendees included Gisa, Bishop of Wells and William the Norman (Bishop of London). The Council of London produced several decrees, these were known as the " Canons of the Council of London AD 1075". A number of copies of the acts of
8924-581: Was a doctor from Berlin, a bilingual secretary from London, a perfume manufacturer from Vienna, a young German couple travelling through Australia, two young English girls who had worked in Jewish clubs. The train went to Selsey Bill, a dreary coastal landscape in winter. We ended up in a holiday camp that was empty in winter. During World War II Selsey suffered more air raids than anywhere else in Sussex.The Broadreeds camp continued to contain evacuees until 1940 when during
9021-414: Was built to support D-Day. It was decommissioned as an ALG shortly after D-Day, it then became a satellite of RAF Tangmere for a while and finally a reserve airfield for the remainder of the war. Erosion by the sea and flooding has been a constant problem for Selsey. In the 1950s there was major work, to improve the sea walls and groynes, to protect against the winter storms. By the end of the 1980s, with
9118-491: Was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were the gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of
9215-418: Was hit on the head by the batsman Thomas Latter, who was trying to hit the ball a second time . The incident repeated one at Horsted Keynes in 1624. Over the centuries Selsey has derived an income from the sea, not all of it strictly legal. In the eighteenth century Selsey Bill was very much more isolated than it is today, and the sand spit extended farther out to sea. There was only the causeway connected to
9312-521: Was inaccessible at flood tide, and a boat was stationed at the ferry to take horses and passengers to and from Sidlesham. There are suggestions that the name "Selsey" originally meant "Holy Island" because of its connection with Saint Wilfrid. The Venerable Bede in his writings described the name "Selsey" as "the Isle of Sea Calves" (sea calves are better known as seals) hence "Seal Island". Edward Heron-Allen identified at least twenty different spellings of
9409-614: Was summoned and presided over by Lanfranc, archbishop of the holy church of Canterbury and primate of the whole island of Britain; the venerable men sitting with him were Thomas, archbishop of York, William, bishop of London, Geoffrey of Coutances, who though an overseas bishop was sitting with the others in the council because he had a great deal of property in England, Walchelin of Winchester, Hermann of Sherborne, Wulfstan of Worcester, Walter of Hereford, Giso of Wells, Remigius of Dorchester or Lincoln, Herfast of Elmham or Norwich, Stigand of Selsey, Osbern of Exeter, Peter of Lichfield. At that time
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