LITTLEHAMPTON

'Littlehampton' is a seaside resort town in the Arun District of West Sussex, England.The parish covers an area of 11.35 km² and has a population of 25,593 persons (2001 census). It is located on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun.
As with other larger communities along the West Sussex coast, the conurbation includes other settlements: Wick in the north west; Lyminster to the north; East Preston, Rustington and Angmering to the east. Wick and Toddington became part of the town in 1901.

Contents

History

Churches and Cemeteries

Economic activity

Political

East Beach Cafe

Culture

Twinning

External links

History

The town began as the Anglo-Saxon village of Hampton, in the kingdom of Sussex, and Roman remains have been found here. The name Little Hampton was given to it in the fourteenth century by sailors in order to differentiate it from the larger Southampton.
The forces of Empress Matilda landed at Littlehampton in 1139 when she began the civil war with King Stephen.
The manor was given by Henry V to Syon Abbey in Middlesex in whose hands it remained until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s. The port was a royal dockyard of Henry VIII; a quay was built here in the 1670s. The manor passed through various hands until it became part of the estate of Arundel Castle in 1610: the Duke of Norfolk continued to own much of Littlehampton until the 1930s.
Littlehampton Redoubt was built to guard the town in the 1750s. Littlehampton used to be a resort of artists and writers, attracted by its peaceful atmosphere compared to larger towns such as Brighton. In particular Percy Bysshe Shelley and Samuel Taylor Coleridge spent a lot of time there, as well as Lord Byron who often swam in the river.
In the 1820s Littlehampton overtook Arundel, the oldest port on the Arun as the river's main harbour. Littlehampton officially became a town in 1853, under the Littlehampton Board of Health. The motto "Progress" was chosen.

The arrival of the railway in 1863, by a branch line from today's main West Coastway Line at Arundel Junction (now Ford railway station) changed the character of the town making the harbour less important but beginning the holiday trade. A cross-channel ferry was run from the port from the opening of the railway until 1882 when it was lost to Newhaven.
The town's first lifeboat was captained by Charles Pelham (1885-1940). In 1967 the RNLI station was opened having been funded by an appeal by the television programme Blue Peter. This was the first Blue Peter lifeboat.
The manufacturing arm of The Body Shop was based in Littlehampton until February 2000, when it was sold to Creative Outsourcing Solutions International. The popular tourist attraction - the Factory Tour, was shut down at this time.

Churches and Cemeteries

St Mary's is the Anglican parish church while St Catherine's is the principal Catholic church. In the cemetery, which is on the northern side of the town, lies the grave of Katherine O'Shea ("Kitty O'Shea") (1845-1921), the wife of Charles Stewart Parnell.
Littlehampton is also home to many other churches, including St. James the great and All Saints in Wick. These churches have a medium sized congegration.

Economic activity

The headquarters of The Body Shop is located in Littlehampton. Local company, Dando Drilling International Ltd. has been exporting drilling rigs from Littlehampton since 1867. Van Heyningen Brothers (VHB) salad growers were a major employer in the town from 1964-2003. Much of the local economy comprises smaller companies with fewer than ten employees, however, recently Sainsbury's has moved into the town centre and the local authority is actively seeking to promote and expand business opportunities to create a framework for growing the area's smaller businesses. There has been a trend towards more self employment in the area including those [1]working online from home.

Political

Littlehampton lies within the constituency of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, the MP for which is Nick Gibb (Conservative).
The principal local authority being Arun District Council has been Conservative since its creation in 1973.
Littlehampton Town Council is the parish authority for the town and has always been politically controlled since its creation in 1974;- Conservative 1974-1991, Hung 1991-5, Labour 1995-2007, Hung 2007-

East Beach Cafe

Littlehampton has received a great deal of publicity of late [2] as the home of the East Beach Cafe, [3] a new building on the seafront designed by Heatherwick Studio [4].
The building is a fully welded monocoque structure which Heatherwick describes as being like a piece of driftwood swept up onto the beach.
It was built in Littlehampton, with steelwork by Littlehampton Welding Ltd [5] and site work by Langridge Developments, another local firm. It was commissioned and is owned by Littlehampton residents Jane Wood and Sophie Murray.

The restaurant serves local food with an accent on fish and enjoys spectacular views out to sea.
The building has been met with mixed opinion by local residents.
Many love the design and see the development as a positive move to increase employment opportunities and tourism. Others feel the development is an eyesore, with food priced too high for local customers. Overall it has been, so far, a great success bringing many visitors to the town who would not otherwise have visited.

Culture

The comedy Open All Hours was based on a shop in Norfolk Road near to where Ronnie Barker lived. The video production company Swosholly are based in Littlehampton and videos have been previously filmed in the area.
Recent months have seen an influx of house buyers from outside the area, aware that the town is about to receive a funding injection that will cause a 'Brighton effect' on property prices.

The town newspaper is the Littlehampton Gazette. An important annual event is the parade organised by the Bonfire Society. Littlehampton supports a wide range of performance groups including the Musical Comedy Society and Players Operatic Society who perform regularly throughout the year. It also holds a very popular 'Last Night of the Proms' concert performed annually by the Littlehampton Concert Band who also play regularly in the town throughout the year.
Littlehampton is also host to Littlehampton Rugby Club who train every Wednesday at the community school. The club is renowned for its involvement within the town including the carnival, Bonfire night, Dragon Boat racing and other charitable events.

Littlehampton is the home of Littlehampton, Clapham and Patching Cricket Club.
The Christian rock band Delirious? are from Littlehampton.
Other notable alumni include writer Stuart Millard.
The webcomic ''Poisoned Minds'' aka ''SSDD'', is partially set in Littlehampton.
The town recently appeared on ITV1 with Roy Shepherd (of Littlehampton) presenting the geology of the local area with Charlie Dimmock.

Twinning

Littlehampton is currently twinned with:

★ Durmersheim, Germany

★ Chennevières-sur-Marne, France

External links

★ The portal to Littlehampton online

★ Arun District Council

★ Littlehampton Town Council website

★ Littlehampton Gazette

★ Littlehampton Bonfire Society Web Site

★ Littlehampton Concert Band

★ East Preston Dance Circle

★ Littlehampton geology

★ Littlehampton Beach

★ Littlehampton, Clapham and Patching Cricket Club

★ East Beach Cafe

★ Heatherwick Studio