Birdham is a village and

civil parish In England, 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, w ...

in the

Chichester District Chichester is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It is named after the city of Chichester, which is its largest settlement and where the council is based. The district includes the towns of Midhurst, Petworth and Selsey and s ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, England. It is located on the

Manhood Peninsula The Manhood Peninsula is in the southwest of West Sussex in England. It has the English Channel to its south and Chichester to the north. It is bordered to its west by Chichester Harbour and to its east by Pagham Harbour, its southern headland ...

, south-west of the city of

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

is dedicated to St James, although the dedication was to St. Leonard until . The village sits on the shores of

Chichester Harbour Chichester Harbour is a large natural harbour in West Sussex and Hampshire. It is situated to the south-west of the city of Chichester and to the north of the Solent. The harbour and surrounding land has been designated as an Area of Outstand ...

and is home to a locked marina on the site of a former tide millpond. The tide mill building itself still exists. In between it and Chichester marina are the lock gates to the disused

Chichester Canal The Chichester Canal is a ship canal in England. Partly navigable, its course is essentially intact and runs from the sea at Birdham on Chichester Harbour to Chichester through two Canal lock, locks. The canal (originally part of the Portsmout ...

opened in 1822. The local school is Birdham C of E Primary School. According to the 2011 census Birdham parish had a population of 1,483. HMS Birdham, a minesweeper, launched on 19 September 1955, was named after the village.

History

Birdham's name derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''bridd'' and ''hām'', and means a settlement frequented by young birds. The only evidence of prehistoric settlement is a Bronze Age settlement. Birdham is first mentioned in a series of Anglo-Saxon charters relating to land grants to the See of Selsey. Unfortunately, most of these are forgeries, Birdham was located in the ancient

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Wittering in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

according to 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086. The settlement comprised 16 households valued at three pounds five shillings. Birdham is an area of dispersed settlements with no defined centre with a single store and no pubs. The enclosure of Manhood Common led to the development of small farms but the rapid rise in population only began in the 1930s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the tide mill and associated boat yards became HMS Sea Serpent in 1942. The various holiday camps in the area were used as billets for troops training for amphibious landings, especially

D Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. In May 2019, a new community centre opened.

Governance

Birdham is governed at the parish level by Birdham Parish Council. Birdham is a part of the

, and as such is governed by

Chichester District Council Chichester is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It is named after the city of Chichester, which is its largest settlement and where the council is based. The district includes the towns of Midhurst, Petworth and Selsey and su ...

. Birdham is governed at the county level by

West Sussex County Council West Sussex County Council is the upper tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex in England. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county c ...

. For representation in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, Birdham is a part of the Chichester constituency. Since 8 June 2017, the Member of Parliament for the Chichester constituency is

Gillian Keegan Gillian Keegan (née Gibson; born 13 March 1968) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education from 2022 to 2024. She previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills from 2020 to ...

Geography

Demography

The 2011 census recorded a population of 1,483 for the parish of Birdham, forming 645 households. Birdham is a majority

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

parish with 981 (66.1%) residents identifying as such. 1,463 residents (98.7%) listed their ethnic group as White. The median age of Birdham parish was 50.

Landmarks

The parish church, St James' Church, is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Transport

The nearest railway station is some northeast of the village, at

Fishbourne Fishbourne may refer to: Places * Fishbourne, Isle of Wight, a village * Fishbourne, West Sussex, a village ** Fishbourne (UK electoral ward) * Fishbourne Roman Palace Fishbourne Roman Palace or Fishbourne Villa is in the village of Fishbourne ...

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in West Sussex Civil parishes in West Sussex Chichester District