About Selsey
Any description of Selsey past can do no better than start with a quote from the Venerable Bede. Bede was a historian and Doctor of the Church who was born in AD 672 or 673 and died in AD 735. In AD 681 he wrote in his Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People):
"...King Ethelwalch gave to the most reverent prelate, Wilfrid, land... to maintain his company who were in banishment, which place is called Selsey, that is, the Island of the Sea-Calf. That place is encompassed by the sea on all sides, except the west, where is an entrance about the cast of a sling in width; which sort of place is by the Latins called a peninsula, by the Greeks, a Chersonesus. Bishop Wilfrid, having this place given him, founded therein a monastery..."
In 1630, Selseys hospitality was questioned by John Taylor. John Taylor, also called the Water Poet, was a Thames waterman who wrote many pamphlets and who achieved notoriety by a series of eccentric journeys. He wrote:
"By the Almighties mercy and his might we rowed to Selsey where we stayed the night. There our necessities could have no law. For the want of a bed we made good use of straw."
As he and a companion are reported to have journeyed from London to Queenborough, Kent, in a paper boat, with two stockfish tied to canes for oars, perhaps his comment should be treated with some scepticism.
200 years later, things were not 'on the Up', for ornithologist A E Knox wrote in 1855:
"The considerable peninsular which extends to the southwest of Bognor, terminating in the headland of Selsey Bill, is perhaps as little known to the world as any portion of Great Britain, lying as it does, far to the south of the more frequented highways;..."
But what has Selsey got to offer today?
Selsey is situated at the southern tip of the Manhood Peninsular and is widely known as Selsey Bill. Until 1809 it remained an island, access only being gained by the Ferry or over the Wade Way at low tide. It was then that the Ferry Bank was built which joined us to the rest of England.
Selsey benefits from the protection of the South Downs and the Isle of Wight and is well known for its mild micro-climate. It is a place where snow is an event and frost is usually kept at bay by the prevailing southwest wind.
The High Street and East Beach Parade contain a wide variety of independent retailers including 3 butchers, 2 greengrocers and a bakery (the aroma of fresh bread is wonderful and we can still enjoy a thick slice from a warm loaf) but the familiar names of Co-op and Budgens are also present.
Selsey is blessed with a strong community spirit which is probably strengthened by the 8-mile single access road. This was demonstrated when the town was swept by a hurricane and, the following year, a tornado. People offered homes, clothes and beds and the service given by the insurance companies was second to none.
Selsey is still a place where neighbourliness abounds and the support of friends is commonplace. If you walk down the High Street it is certain that someone will bid you 'Good Morning' or 'Good Afternoon' even if you don't know them.
Everyone is welcome to come and experience the individual character so valued by its residents.
Did you know?
