The Rape of Chichester (also known as Chichester Rape) is one of the

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

s, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The most westerly of the Sussex rapes, the rape of Chichester is a former

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

, originally centred on

Chichester Castle Chichester Castle stood in the city of the same name in West Sussex (). Shortly after the Norman Conquest of England, Roger de Montgomery ordered the construction of a castle at Chichester. The castle at Chichester was one of 11 fortified sites ...

in the city of

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

History

The rape is not mentioned independently of 'the rape of Earl Roger' in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

and passed by inheritance as a single unit, out of all proportion to the other rapes in size, until the 13th century. First mentioned as the '

Bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...

(Balliua) of Chichester' in 1264, it first appeared by name as the rape of Chichester in the

Hundred Rolls The Hundred Rolls are a census of England and parts of what is now Wales taken in the late thirteenth century. Often considered an attempt to produce a second Domesday Book, they are named after the hundreds by which most returns were recorded. Th ...

of 1275. It was referred to as the Rape de ''Cycestre'' in 1279, ''le rape de Cicestre'' in 1376 and of ''Chichestre'' in 1495. The rape of Chichester was created out of the larger rape of Arundel. It would seem likely that the creation of this new division was connected with the partition of the estates of Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel, the last Earl of Arundel of his line, between his co-heirs after his death in 1243. While John FitzAlan acquired Arundel, Robert de Mohaut obtained the overlordship of the twelve fees constituting the honor of

Halnaker Halnaker is a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A285 road 3.5 miles (5.6 km) northeast of Chichester, where it follows the line of the Roman road to London called Stane Street. There is a pub, ''The A ...

, and certain other estates in the vicinity. The unity of overlordship being thus lost, it may have appeared convenient to divide this district into two separate rapes, which would be of a similar size and nature to those in the rest of Sussex. No trace of any orders given or measures taken to create the division of the old rape of Arundel has been found. It is possible that the rape of Chichester may have existed before the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

. The rapes in general pre-date the Norman conquest and many rapes are based on

King Alfred Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who ...

's fortifications in the

Burghal Hidage The Burghal Hidage () is an Anglo-Saxon document providing a list of over thirty fortified places (burhs), the majority being in the ancient Kingdom of Wessex, and the taxes (recorded as numbers of hides) assigned for their maintenance.Hill/ Rumb ...

. As Chichester was also a fortification in the Burghal Hidage, it is quite possible that it existed as a separate administrative unit in the Saxon era and was merged with neighbouring Arundel rape by William the Conqueror and given to Earl Roger of Montgomery. William might of course have created five rapes only, one of which, out of all proportion to the others in size, was afterwards divided, but for this there is no evidence. The population of the rape of Chichester was 21,608 in 1801, rising to 24,200 in 1811 and 38,929 in 1831.

Location

The most westerly of all the Sussex rapes, the rape of Chichester borders the rape of Arundel to the east, with the county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

lying to the west and the county of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

to the north. The boundary between the Rapes of Chichester and Arundel started on the coast at the small stream dividing the parish of

Pagham Pagham is a coastal village and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, England, with a population of around 6,100. It lies about two miles to the west of Bognor Regis. Governance Pagham is part of the electoral ward called Pagham a ...

from that of Felpham. The boundary ran roughly due north, except for a divagation eastwards to include the parish of Slindon, which was a peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury and so was attached to the archbishop's hundred of Pagham. Once established it remained unaltered, the only change in the contents of the Rape being in 1844, when under the

Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61), which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. ...

the long narrow strip constituting North and

South Ambersham South Ambersham is a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies 0.7 miles (1.2 km) south of the A272 road and 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Midhurst. Until 1844 South Ambersham was a detached A stand-alone ...

was annexed to Sussex. Until that time it had been a detached part of the county of Hampshire, part of the parish of Steep. The rape of Chichester includes the city of Chichester and the towns of

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns i ...

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

and

Selsey Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester 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 bounde ...

. Its highest point is Blackdown, which at 280 metres (919 feet) is the highest point in all of Sussex.

Historical population

Sub-divisions

The rape is traditionally divided into the following hundreds: * Aldwick *

Bosham Bosham is a coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, centred about west of Chichester with its clustered developed part west of this. Its land forms a broad peninsula projecting into natural Chic ...

* Box (

Boxgrove Boxgrove is a village, ecclesiastical parish and civil parish in the Chichester District of the English county of West Sussex, about north east of the city of Chichester. The village is just south of the A285 road which follows the line of the ...

) and Stockbridge (which included

) * Dumpford *

Easebourne Easebourne () is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is half a mile (0.8 km) north of Midhurst, across the River Rother on the A272 and A286 roads. The parish includes the ...

Manhood A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

* Westbourne (or Westbourne and Singleton)

References

External links