Selsey Bill is a headland into the
English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
on the south coast of
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in the county of
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 ...
.
The southernmost town in Sussex is
Selsey which is at the end of the
Manhood Peninsula and ''Selsey Bill'' is situated on the town's southern
coastline. It is the easternmost point of
Bracklesham Bay and the westernmost point of the
Sussex Coast.
Toponymy
Although the place name ''Selsey'' has existed since
Saxon times, and is derived 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 ...
meaning ''Seal's Island'', there is no evidence to suggest that the place name ''Selsey Bill'' is particularly old. A 1698 survey of the area included in a report for the Royal Navy, by
Dummer and Wiltshaw mentioned Selsey Island but not Selsey Bill.
The place name does not appear to have been used before the early 18th century when it started appearing on maps; for example Philip Overton's 1740 map of Sussex and Richard Budgen's map of 1724. It is possible that the idea was taken from
Portland Bill, another headland, on the western side of the
Solent
The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...
.
Thomas Pennant
Thomas Pennant (16 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall, near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales.
As a naturalist he had ...
described the location of Selsey Bill, or "Selsey-bill" as he writes it in his book, "A Journey between London and the Isle of Wight" published in 1801.
The place name Selsey Bill has become synonymous with the town of Selsey, for example
Edward Heron-Allen wrote about ''The Parish Church of St Peter on Selsey Bill Sussex'' even though the
church is situated in Selsey High Street.
Popular references to Selsey Bill include the song "Saturday's Kids" by
The Jam
The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...
(from the 1979 album ''
Setting Sons''), along with "
Bracklesham Bay": "Save up their money for a holiday/To Selsey Bill, or Bracklesham Bay," and the
Madness song "
Driving in My Car": "I drive up to Muswell Hill, I've even been to Selsey Bill." The references are to Selsey Bill although most of the holiday facilities are the other side of Selsey.
There were
Pontin's holiday camps at Selsey and Bracklesham Bay, although they are now both closed. The Pontin's at ''Broadreeds'', Selsey, has been redeveloped, and was the only site that was near to ''the Bill''. However both the ''modern''
Admiralty Chart and also the
Ordnance Survey
The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
map of the area confirm that Selsey Bill is a headland (mostly covered by sea at high tide) whereas Selsey is part of the mainland.
History
Although the name ''Selsey Bill'' is not particularly old, the area has been well known to sailors from the earliest times.
There have been many wrecks off Selsey Bill over the years; probably one of the first recorded was Saint
Wilfrid who when appointed
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...
went to
Compiègne
Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' ().
Administration
Compiègne is t ...
in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, to be consecrated. On his journey back home, in 666, he was shipwrecked off Selsey Bill and was nearly killed by the heathen inhabitants.
The
annals
Annals (, from , "year") are a concise history, historical record in which events are arranged chronology, chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction betw ...
record a sea and beach battle, involving a fleet of Viking ships against those of
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great ( ; – 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 both died when Alfr ...
's newly founded navy. Three of the Danish vessels tried to escape, but two were grounded on, it is believed, Selsey Bill. The crews were captured and sent to Winchester where they were hanged by orders of Alfred.
Henry VI granted that lands of Chichester Cathedral should be exempt from the
''Court of the Admiralty'' in the manner of wrecks, which meant in effect that any wrecks off Selsey Bill would be the bishop's property.
In the 18th century, members of a notorious
smuggling gang were captured and tried for the brutal murder of a supposed informant and a customs official, Chater and Galley. Seven were condemned to death at the assizes held at Chichester in 1749 and, after they had been executed at the Broyle, Chichester, two of them were subsequently
hung in chains at Selsey Bill, a ''Yeakel and Gardner'' map has a ''Gibbet Field'' marked on it where it is believed the smugglers hung.
Since 1861, there have been
lifeboat stations to the east of Selsey Bill, and also a system of beacons that warns sailors of the treacherous
Owers and
Mixon rocks that are south of Selsey Bill.The Mixon rock was formerly quarried, initially during the Roman occupation and then was to become an important building stone in the late Saxon period. Its quarrying continued after the Norman conquest and was still being used until the early 19th century. The quarrying finally ceased after an Admiralty prohibition order in 1827.
In 1926 the
Southern Railway Company named one of their steam locomotives "Selsey Bill". The locomotive had been inherited from its predecessor, the
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway(LB&SCR). It was designed by the engineer
D. E. Marsh in 1905 and its original identifier was
H1 No 37 4-4-2. The locomotive was eventually scrapped by
British Railways in the 1950s.
In 1944, during World War II, components for the
Mulberry harbours were built at many different locations in Britain and transferred to assembly points on the south coast, before being towed to France. There was an assembly point near Selsey Bill.
Seaside
The
Meteorological Office (Met Office) issues
Shipping Forecasts and they are read out on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
, four times a day.
It gives a summary of
gale warning
A ''gale warning'' is an alert issued by national weather forecasting agencies around the world in an event that maritime locations currently or imminently experiencing winds of gale force on the Beaufort scale. Gale warnings (and gale watch ...
s in force, a general synopsis and area forecasts for specified
sea areas around the UK. In addition, some bulletins include a forecast for all
UK inshore waters, as distinct from the coastal waters. Selsey Bill is a boundary for two areas of the Met Office's ''inshore water forecast.'' The area to the west extends to
Lyme Regis and to the East to
North Foreland. Selsey Bill is in sea area ''
Wight
A wight is a being or thing. This general meaning is shared by cognate terms in Germanic languages, however the usage of the term varies greatly over time and between regions. In Old English, it could refer to anything in existence, with more s ...
''.
In the 19th and early 20th century the local fishermen jointly owned a longboat, operated by 22 oarsmen. If any vessel was stranded off the Bill, after any rescue work had been completed, the pilot of the longboat would then negotiate with the skipper of the damaged vessel a price to assist them to safe harbour. In modern times the ''"Channel Pilot for the South Coast of England and the North Coast of France"'' cautions sailors that ''Selsey Bill'' is difficult to locate in poor visibility. However, in clear weather, when the wind is moderate, a shortcut can be afforded by using the Looe Channel that passes through the rocks and ledges south of ''the Bill'', which is marked by buoys. The pilot requires a large-scale chart, and proceeding with caution is recommended.
Marine Conservation Zone
The sea area around Selsey Bill was designated the "Selsey Bill and Hounds"
Marine Conservation Zone(MCZ) in 2019. Marine Conservation Zones are a type of marine nature reserve established under the
Marine and Coastal Access Act (2009) with the aim of protecting nationally important, rare or threatened habitats and species.
Dolphin Head Highly Protected Marine Area
The area known as Dolphin Head, which is 55 km offshore from Selsey Bill was designated a
Highly Protected Marine Area in July 2023.
Maps
See also
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Hawkhurst Gang
Notes
Citations
References
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External links
Selsey Lifeboat StationShipping forecast special, broadcast on BBC 4 and BBC Radio 4The latest shipping forecast from the BBCChimetweather reports derived from the West Pole Beacon, ( ) about {{convert, 1, mile out to sea.
Manhood Archaeology
Landforms of West Sussex
Headlands of England
History of West Sussex
English Channel
History of Sussex
Marine reserves of the United Kingdom
Selsey