Information about Worthing

Sunny Worthing>

Borough of Worthing
Worthing Shown within West Sussex
Geography
Status:	Borough
Region:	South East England
Historic County:	Sussex
Administrative County:	West Sussex
Area: - Total	Ranked 335th 32.48 km²
Admin. HQ:	Worthing
ONS code:	45UH
Demographics
Population: - Total (2005 est.) - Density	Ranked 227th 98,100 3020 / km²
Ethnicity: Aged 75 and over:	97.2% White 13.5%
Politics
Worthing Borough Council [1]
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:
Council Composition:	23 Conservative; 13 Liberal Democrat; 1 Independent Conservative
MPs:	Peter Bottomley, Tim Loughton
Other
Highest point:	Cissbury Ring (184m)

Map sources for Worthing at grid reference TQ1303

Worthing is a large town and a local government district in West Sussex, England.

Town

Worthing has a population of almost 100,000 and is situated between the English Channel and the South Downs, a proposed national park^[1]

Traditionally Worthing has an above average proportion of elderly people, although there has been a decrease in the 60+ population, along with an increase in the population aged 25-45 in recent years^[2].

At the same time, employment has increased at a faster rate than the national average.^[3]. Although the town is perceived as prosperous, and for three consecutive years was voted the most profitable town in Britain^[4], the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2004 found that Worthing residents' average pre-tax pay is only £413 a week, compared to £442 for West Sussex and £474 for South East England^[5].

Worthing has had an active underground culture for many years. Well known for smugglers right back to the 18th century ^{[6] [7]}, in the 19th century the Skeleton Army's opposition to the Salvation Army led to rioting, and in the 1960s The Worthing Workshop was a meeting place for musicians, actors and poets. Famous members included The Damned’s Brian James, Leo Sayer, Billy Idol, Martin Quittenton (who wrote Rod Stewart's Maggie May) and Track Records' supremo, Ian Grant.

More recently, the town was home to Jamie Hewlett (Designer of the Year 2006) and Alan Martin, creators of Tank Girl. The Ordinary Boys, with singer Preston, were formed in the town. It is also home to the Revolutionary Arts Group and, since 1997, an anarchic local newsletter called The Porkbolter. The newsletter takes its name from a belief that the inhabitants of Worthing were nicknamed "pork bolters", dating from the town's days as a fishing village when superstitious fishermen were afraid of pigs.

The town is often known as 'Sunny Worthing' following a popular advertising campaign in the 1890s promoting the town's agreeable climate between the sea and Downs.

Politics

Westminster

The town has two Members of Parliament (MPs): Tim Loughton (Conservative) for East Worthing and Shoreham, who is Shadow Children’s Minister and a Shadow Health Minister; and Peter Bottomley (Conservative) for Worthing West. At the 2005 general election, both seats were safe Conservative seats and have been held by the present MPs since the seats' creation in 1997.

From 1945 until 1997 Worthing returned one MP. Since 1945 Worthing has always returned Conservative MPs to parliament. Prior to 1945 Worthing was part of the Horsham and Worthing parliamentary constituency.

Borough Council

The town is divided into 13 wards, 11 of which return three councillors and two which return two; this totals 37 councillors. Elections are held by thirds, with the two 2-member wards only having elections in the first and third years of the cycle.

Currently, there are 23 Conservative councillors; 13 Liberal Democrat councillors; and one Independent Conservative (resigned from the Conservative group in 2006). The Conservatives thus have control of the council.

discuss – edit
Current makeup of Worthing Borough Council

Parties		Seats
	Conservative	23
	Liberal Democrats	13
	Independent Conservative	1
Total		37

The wards are:

Broadwater (3 councillors: 2 Liberal Democrat, 1 Conservative)

Castle (3 councillors: 2 Liberal Democrat, 1 Conservative)

Central (3 councillors: 3 Conservative)

Durrington (2 councillors: 2 Liberal Democrat)

Gaisford (3 councillors: 2 Conservative, 1 Liberal Democrat)

Goring (3 councillors: 3 Conservative)

Heene (3 councillors: 3 Conservative)

Marine (3 councillors: 3 Conservative)

Northbrook (2 councillors: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal Democrat)

Offington (3 councillors: 2 Conservative, 1 Independent Conservative)

Salvington (3 councillors: 3 Conservative)

Selden (3 councillors: 2 Liberal Democrat, 1 Conservative)

Tarring (3 councillors: 3 Liberal Democrat)

Geography

Lying on the south coast of England, Worthing lies on the fertile flat coastal plain between the South Downs and the English Channel, some 60 miles (100km) south of London and 80 miles (120km) from the coast of Normandy to the south and east.

The borough of Worthing is made up of many former villages, which in turn merge into neighbouring villages and towns, although there are some strategic gaps between settlements. Worthing is part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation, the 12th largest conurbation in the United Kingdom and England's 10th largest conurbation with a population of around 480,000.^[8].

Districts

The borough of Worthing comprises the following areas (not necessarily directly corresponding to administrative wards or former parishes):

Broadwater

Durrington

East Worthing

Findon Valley

Goring

Heene

High Salvington

Offington

Salvington

Tarring (also known as West Tarring)

West Worthing

Physical geography

The town of Worthing is dominated by the Downs, in particular Highdown Hill (81m high), to the west, West Hill (128m), to the north-west, Cissbury Ring (184m) to the north and Steep Down (149m) to the north-east. At 184 metres, Cissbury Ring is the highest point in the borough.

The culverted Teville Stream runs along Tarring Road and Teville Road north of the town centre, passing to the east through Homefield Park and Davison High School before meeting the sea at Brooklands where the Broadwater Brook (Sompting Brook) meets the sea. To the west and also in parts culverted, Ferring Rife rises in Durrington near Littlehampton Road, passing through Maybridge, then west of Ferring into the sea. In previous centuries, the hamlet of Worthing extended out further into the sea, but rising sea levels have submerged this area.

The west of the borough contains some ancient woodland at Titnore Woods, which is some of the last remaining ancient woodland on the Sussex coastal plain. The woods border Clapham Woods on the Downs, said to be the site of various UFO sightings. The south-west of the borough contains the Goring Gap, a protected area of fields and woodland between Goring and Ferring. To the east of Worthing lies the Sompting Gap, a protected area that lies between Worthing and Sompting. This area was formerly an inlet of the sea and it is here that the Broadwater Brook (also known as Sompting Brook) flows into Brooklands Park and on into the sea. Some of the reedbeds in the Sompting Gap at Lower Cokeham have been designated a Site of Nature Conservation Importance.^[9] The borough of Worthing contains no nature reserves, the nearest being Widewater, Lancing Ring (both in Lancing) and West Beach (in Littlehampton).

People

For a list of notable people from Worthing, see List of notable Worthing inhabitants

Year	Population
1086	22
1296	23
1327	11
1524	34
1801	2,151
1821	4,922
1851	7,615
1881	14,002
1901	24,479
1921	37,906
1941	55,584
1961	77,155
1981	90,686
2001	97,540

People from Worthing are known as Worthingites. In Sussex dialect they were known as pork bolters, after the local fishermen's extreme avoidance of pigs.

Worthing underwent dramatic population growth both in the early 1800s as the hamlet had newly become a town, and again in the 1880s. The town experienced further growth in the 1930s, and again when new estates were built, using Prisoner of War labourers, to the west of the town from 1948.

Etymology

Worthing means "(place of) Worth/Worō's people, from the Old English personal name Worth/Worō (the name means "valiant one, one who is noble), and the first element of the name is almost certainly not worth/worō, "enclosure" (which it causes confusion with for toponymists) and -ingas "people of (reduced to -ing in the modern name). The name was recorded as Wuroininege in 1183.

Older local people sometimes claim that the name of Worthing is derived from a natural annual phenomenon. Seaweed beds off nearby Bognor Regis are ripped up by summer storms and prevailing Atlantic currents deposit it on the beach. A rich source of nitrates, it makes good fertilizer. The decaying weed was sought by farmers from the surrounding area. Thus the town would have become known as Wort (weed) inge (people). However, this looks suspiciously like the kind of punning joke on place-names which is common in England, especially since the stench of the rotting weed could be very unpleasant. An alternative explanation, undoubtedly jocular, is that it is so called because everyone there is worthy and respectable. The explanation given by place-name scholars is that the name Worthing (Ordinges) is derived from Worth (an Old English given name) + ingas (people).

History

Stone age

In the neolithic period, the South Downs above Worthing was one of Britain's most important flint mining centres, containing the greatest concentration of flint mines in Britain.^[10] For much of the neolithic period of the stone age, it is likely that the Worthing area was at the borders of territory of two tribes, one based at Whitehawk Camp (in modern Brighton) and one centred on the Trundle (near modern Chichester).

Within a 7-mile radius of Worthing's town centre lie four of Britain's major neolithic flint mines: Harrow Hill in Patching (mined from 4250 BC to 3500 BC)^[11] Blackpatch Hill in Clapham (4350 BC to 3500 BC)^[12], Church Hill in Findon (4500 BC to 3750 BC)^[13] and Cissbury, within the modern borough of Worthing. The flints would have been used to make tools such as axes, scrapers and arrow heads. At Harrow Hill, dozens of ox skulls have been found, suggesting ritual slaughter, possibly each autumn, as many animals would not have survived the winter. In the mine shafts, drawings of an Earth Spirit and phalluses seem to have been used to protect the fertility of the mines^[14]. At Blackpatch, remains of what appear to be miners' huts have been found. Cissbury in neolithic times was probably Britain's second largest flint mine, after Grimes Graves in Norfolk. Over 270 pits have been found at Cissbury and there is evidence that flint from Cissbury was exported as far away as the eastern Mediterranean^[15]. Some shafts extend some 23 metres below the surface, with many galleries radiating from the base.^[16]. Four engravings, of a bull and deer, have been found in a shaft of one of the Cissbury flint mines. This is significant as few pieces of representational art survive from the British neolithic period.^[17]

Henges may have existed on the Downs near Worthing at Blackpatch, Church Hill, Cissbury and also midway between the neolithic mining areas of Harrow Hill and Blackpatch.^[18] Various round barrows have been found on the Downs near Worthing close to Blackpatch and Church Hill.^[19].

Neolithic axes from the mines have been found away from the Downs in various locations across the modern town of Worthing including at Homefield Park, Heene Road, Broadwater, Pond Lane and Seldens Way. A site near the summit of West Hill in High Salvington, between Honeysuckle Lane and the covered reservoir, has been identified as the possible location of a neolithic village, possibly used by flint miners.^[20]

Bronze age

Several Bronze Age barrows have been found within the modern borough of Worthing, close to Cissbury on the Downs. The enclosures at Highdown Hill are believed to have been built at this time. Various artefacts, including tools, metal and pottery have been found in the Worthing area. In 1877 a large collection of Bronze Age cakes, palstaves and axes was found in a Bronze Age pot near Ham Road in East Worthing.

Iron age

The hill fort at Cissbury Ring dates from this period. Covering an extensive 60 acres (24 ha)^[21], this is one of the largest iron age hill forts in Britain and indeed Europe.

In 1842 a boat made from a hollowed-out oak tree was found at low tide in the sand near to Heene Road. It was believed that the boat dated from the iron age.

Roman times

Roman coins, tiles and pottery have been discovered in several parts of the town. Several roads in the Worthing area date from the Roman era or earlier, including the Roman road from Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) to Brighton which ran through Durrington and Broadwater.

It is likely that several of Worthing's roads were laid out during this period in a grid form marking out a field system known as 'centuriation'. ^[22] Worthing's High Street lies at the south of a long straight trackway that stretches from high on the South Downs to the sea and northwards into the Weald. The track would have been used as a droveway (for transhumance) and can still be walked today along much of its length. Coming off the Downs it is now known as Charmandean Lane, which turns into a footpath known as the Quashetts, which becomes High Street and finally the Steyne before reaching the sea. The track would have touched the western shoreline of the 'broad water' that is the sea inlet from which Broadwater gets its name.^[23] The inlet would have existed for centuries but disappeared in the 18th century. It is likely that Worthing's grid system would have been based on this ancient track.^[24] The grid system would have been used to demarcate plots of land for fields and development.

The modern South Farm Road was once a track running north-south, parallel to the Quashetts path.^[25] It lies exactly 20 actus (about 710 metres) from the Quashetts path. 100 actus (about 3,550 metres) to the west of the Quashetts track lies the remains of a track that is probably Celtic in origin, also running north-south, by Stanhope Lodge, now on Poplar Road in Durrington.^[26] The track once marked the border between the parishes of Goring and Durrington. Today the line of this track marks the boundary between Clapham and Worthing. Another modern road that appears to be on the Roman grid system is Tarring Road (east-west)^[27], the ancient boundary between Heene and Tarring. South of Tarring Road (and the Teville stream is would have run alongside), the boundaries in the grid seem to be 24 actus apart from each other^[28]. The ancient boundary between Heene (later West Worthing) and Broadwater (later Worthing) lies 24 actus west of the Quashetts track. George V Avenue (north-south), the ancient boundary between Tarring (later West Worthing) and Goring lies 72 actus from the Quashetts track.

There is evidence of several buildings from the Roman era in Worthing. The town's Museum and Art Gallery is built on the site of a Roman farmhouse. A Roman settlement existed along the modern Brighton Road between Merton Road and Navarino Road. Remains of a Roman villa and bath house have been found on the site of Northbrook College's main Goring campus. A Roman milepost was found in modern Grand Avenue in West Worthing, possibly indicating another Roman road. A Roman cemetery existed between Chesswood Road and the railway line and burials dating from the early 4th century have also been found near Park Crescent. Roman pottery and coins have been found at Stonehurst Road, at land south of Ringmer Road in Tarring and on the Upper Brighton Road. Some Romano-British houses have been excavated in the Titnore Woods area of Durrington. Several small houses at the hill fort of Cissbury Ring on the Downs north of the town would have been in use during the Roman period.

Just beyond the boundaries of the modern town of Worthing, a Romano-British shrine existed at Muntham Court (now by the site of Worthing Crematorium). A Roman villa and bath-house also existed at Highdown and at nearby Angmering. The nationally-important Patching hoard of Roman coins that was found in 1997 is the latest find of Roman coins found in Britain, probably deposited after 475 AD.^[29] The hoard can be found in the town's Museum and Art Gallery.

Saxon times

The Saxons settled nearby Goring and Sompting and by the 13th Century the settlement, then known as Wortinge, was populated primarily by farmers and mackerel fishermen. The hamlet of Worthing was originally part of the larger parish of Broadwater. Other nearby villages to later become part of Worthing include Tarring, Salvington, Goring, Heene and Durrington, as well as small parts of the parishes of Findon and Sompting.

Droveways (transhumance trackways) that extend from Tarring, Broadwater and nearby Sompting to grazing areas in the Weald via Cissbury Ring and Buncton near Wiston are believed to date from this period or earlier^[30].

Around 450, Highdown was being used as a cemetery by the South Saxons. Almost 100 hundred graves were found, possibly of Saxon warriors who died in the Saxon invasion of the area. [2] Highdown continued to be used for some time for burials and cremations of Saxons. It is significant that Highdown was being used as a cemetery by pagan Saxons at the same time that Romano-British villa at nearby Northbrook, less than a mile away was still in use by local Celtic Christians. This suggests that Celtic Britons and Saxons were able to live side-by-side in relative harmony.<citation needed>

Medieval times

Following the Norman conquest, William de Braose gave the manor of Worthing (then known as Ordinges) to Robert le Sauvage, whose descendants held Worthing for around 200 hundred years. Worthing is first mentioned in the Domesday Book as two separate hamlets, Ordinges and Mordinges, when it had a population of just 22. By 1218 the Ordinges had become known as Wordding.

In the 13th century, the manor of Worthing was owned by Margaret de Gaddesden, a descendant of Robert le Sauvage. Margaret de Gaddesden later left her husband, John de Camoys, to live with Sir William Paynel, who she later married.^[31] It is likely that as a consequence of leaving her first husband for another man she then gave the manor of Worthing to Easebourne Priory near Midhurst, while in 1332 Sir William gave the nearby manor of Cokeham to Hardham Priory near Pulborough^[32]. By giving away their property to the church it is likely that Margaret and Sir William were acting in fear of their souls as the medieval church taught damnation was likely^[33].

In 1300 and again in 1493, Worthing is recorded as having a harbour, possibly in the estuary of the Teville stream.^[34] Worthing harbour was a member of Shoreham Port in 1324.^[35]

Worthing was owned by the Easebourne Priory until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. It then became the property of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, whose family held the manor of Worthing for over 200 years.

18th and 19th centuries

In the late 18th Century that Worthing began to attract visitors. John Luther, from London, started the trend, building a large lodging house. In 1789, George Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick, bought the house (renaming it Warwick House) and the town began to become fashionable^[36]. With a warm climate and calm seas, it benefited from the Edwardian fashion for sea cures. Over the course of the next century Worthing became a fashionable resort on the circuit along with the towns of Bath, Brighton, Bognor Regis, Cheltenham and Margate.

Royal visits from Princess Amelia in 1798, Princess Charlotte in 1807 and Princess Augusta in 1829 did much to make the town popular. The Prince of Wales visited his youngest sister Princess Amelia in Worthing from nearby Brighton. In 1814, Queen Caroline visited Worthing on her way back to live in Brunswick in northern Germany. ^[37] In addition, Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV stayed in the town in 1849 and in 1861 Queen Marie Amelie of France, wife of King Louis-Philippe of France stayed in the town when exiled from France.

Notable visitors to the fashionable town of Worthing in the 19th century included the Duke of Northumberland in 1802, Henry Dundas in 1804, the Duke of Cumberland in 1817, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Oscar Wilde, who wrote The Importance of Being Earnest while staying in the town in 1894, and the future Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.

In 1803 Worthing's population was approximately 2,500 and the hamlet was given town status. Cross Lane was renamed Montague Street and went on to become one of the new town's key thoroughfares. A turnpike road was built around this time linking Worthing directly to Horsham and London for the first time ^[38].

In the early 1800s, a wall was built separating the fashionable town of Worthing from Heene just to the west. The wall was built from the sea to the banks of the Teville stream, which could only easily be crossed at one point - the bridge at the top of the High Street, close to the Anchor public house (today's Jack Horner). Since the Teville stream flows east and south to the sea, this effectively gave the town just one point of entry and exit, allowing 'undesirables' to be kept out.

In 1815, two infants' schools opened, mainly through the efforts of the Revd. W. Davison. ^[39]

In 1832, a major local smuggling foray took place at beach opposite the Steyne. Excise officers chased a group of smugglers up the town's High Street towards Broadwater. As the group slowed down to climb the gate guarding the bridge over the Teville stream, excise officers opened fire at point-blank range on the crowd, who were armed only with wooden staves. They shot dead William Cowerson of Steyning. Civil unrest was feared and the military were brought into the town for two years to ensure peace was kept. As with many towns and villages in Sussex and Kent, close proximity to the Continent made the trade of smuggling a lucrative and popular business.

In 1845 the railway was extended from Shoreham to Worthing, linking the town by rail with London and the railway network.

On November 25, 1850 eleven local fishermen were drowned as they set out from the town's beach to save the crew of the barque the Lalla Rookh, a trading vessel of around 700 tons. The boat was in distress in a storm three miles off the coast, and eleven fishermen set out onbaord a small ferry, Britannia. The Britannia capsized, and a second boat was lauched, returning with the news that the Britannia was lost with all lives. Soon afterwards the town's inhabitants subscribed for the town's first lifeboat^[40].

In 1890 the town received its Royal Charter and became the borough of Worthing. Worthing absorbed the neighbouring town of West Worthing and parish of Heene. The first meeting of the new Borough Council (replacing the Worthing Local Board and the West Worthing Commissioners) took place on 10th November 1890, when Worthing elected its first mayor, Alfred Cortis.

In 1893 an outbreak of typhoid fever caused 200 fatalities in the town, after 1416 people caught the disease. The relatively young council took swift action, and by 1895 the town had a new drainage system.

20th century

The 20th century saw a continual expansion of the town, as it expanded to include local villages. In 1902 the borough of Worthing expanded to include parts of Broadwater and West Tarring. In 1929 the borough of Worthing expanded to include Goring and Durrington. And in 1933 the borough of Worthing expanded again to include the west of Sompting and the south of Findon.

Between 1908 and 1910, King Edward VII visited Worthing several times to stay at Beach House with the Loder family.

Following Italy's invasion of Abyssinia in 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie and his family were forced out of Ethiopia to the United Kingdom. They spent their first six weeks in the UK at the Warnes Hotel, one of the town's top hotels at the time.

During World War II, a hole was blown through Worthing Pier to prevent it being used as a landing stage in the event of an invasion. Barbed wire was spread across the beach, which was also mined. Canadian soldiers stayed in several parts of the town, including the former site of the town's rugby club in Tarring ^[41] and at Park Crescent in the town centre. Courtlands, an impressive country house in the Goring area of the town was used as headquarters of the First Canadian Army ^[42]. In February 1944, the British Army's 4th Armoured Brigade set up headquarters in the Eardley Hotel by Splash Point. 200 tanks arrived and troops were billeted in and around Steyne Gardens. Historic Beach House was used by the Air Training Corps. During World War II, food supplies were scarce and rationed. The people of Timaru in New Zealand donated food parcels to the people of Worthing. After the war, the people of Worthing donated a stained glass window to the people of Timaru in thanks for their efforts.

Immediately post-war, Worthing expanded with the Maybridge estate, planned by Charles Cowles-Voysey. The redbrick housing estate used Prisoner of War labour, and was built between 1948 and 1956.

In the late 20th century many of the town's historic buildings were demolished by planners eager to 'modernise' the town. Notable losses included the town's Theatre Royal, the Old Town Hall, dating from 1834, medieval Offington Hall, the mansion at Charmandean, a medieval fig garden in Tarring and dozens of Victorian villas throughout the town.

21st century

• The town's council approved Worthing Evolution, a Masterplan for the town's regeneration, in 2006 after extensive public consultation.
• Since May 2006, environmentalist protesters have been tree sitting at Titnore Woods, in the Durrington area of the town. The action is in protest at plans to build houses and a road-widening scheme through ancient woodland on the edge of the town.

Landmarks, buildings & places of interest

• Worthing Pier, opened April 1862.
• The Dome was built in 1911 as the Kursaal. Responding to anti-German sentiment during World War One, the building was renamed The Dome in 1915. In 1921 the downstairs Coronation Hall was converted into the Dome Cinema, which is preserved today.^[43]
• Castle Goring, built in the 1790s, is Worthing's most important building in terms of its architecture and is one of the town's two Grade I listed buildings.
• The Archbishop's Palace in Tarring dates from the 13th century and is Worthing's oldest secular building. It is one of the town's two Grade I listed buildings.
• High Salvington windmill.
• Cissbury Ring, an ancient hill fort located on the South Downs.
• St Paul's Church, formerly the Chapel of Ease, opened in 1812, designed by John Rebecca.
• Beach House, built in 1820 by John Rebecca.
• Park Crescent, built in 1829 by Amos Henry Wilds.
• Worthing Museum and Art Gallery built in 1908 as the town's museum and library by Alfred Cortis, the first mayor of Worthing, and Andrew Carnegie. West Sussex County Council built a new library in 1974 and the museum has had a chequered history ever since, fighting off closure in 2003 with the support of local residents.

Open spaces

The town contains a considerable number of parks and gardens, many laid out in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

• Beach House Park - named after nearby Beach House the park is home to one of the world's most well-known venues for the sport of bowls. The park is also home to a possibly unique memorial to homing pigeons that served in the Second World War.
• Broadwater Green - Broadwater's 'village green'.
• Brooklands Park
• Denton Gardens
• Goring Green
• Highdown Gardens - a beautiful garden at the foot of the South Downs, deemed to be of national importance.
• Homefield Park - formerly known as the 'People's Park' it was once home to Worthing F.C.
• Liverpool Gardens - overlooking the graceful Georgian Liverpool Terrace, the gardens and terrace are named after Lord Liverpool. Overlooking the park from the east are four bronze heads known as Desert Quartet, sculptured by Dame Elisabeth Frink.
• Marine Gardens
• Palatine Park
• Promenade Waterwise Garden
• Steyne Gardens - which includes a sunken garden re-landscaped in 2007 with a fountain of the Ancient Greek sea god, Triton, by sculptor William Bloye.
• West Park - has a running track and basketball court and lies next to Worthing Leisure Centre.

Annual events

• The Worthing Festival is held each July with open-air concerts in the town centre and a fairground along the town's promenade.
• Each March a fruit-flinging contest is held on the beach to mark the sinking of the 1000-ton SS Indiana off the coast of Worthing in 1901. The ship was sailing to London from Venice via Valencia and crashed into another ship off Worthing. The ship's cargo of oranges and lemons was washed up on the beach to the delight of the town's inhabitants.
• In May, the Three Forts Marathon starts and finishes at the Norwich Union building on the outskirts of Worthing before taking in the ancient hill forts of Cissbury Ring, Devil's Dyke and Chanctonbury Ring over the rough and steep terrain of the South Downs. ^[44]
• The Artists & Makers Festival, organised by the Revolutionary Arts Groop (sic) takes place every July, and includes artists' open houses, studios and gardens.
• Pier Day takes place on Worthing Pier and the nearby promenade every September.

Cannabis culture

Worthing, home of Chris Baldwin (a Legalise Cannabis Alliance activist), was one of the few towns in the UK to experience cannabis cafés for the first time. Chris first opened a café in a back room of his shop, "Bongchuffa", on Rowlands Road. The café was named "The Quantum Leaf". The café was so successful that he opened his second, on the other side of Worthing. He named his second creation "Buddies", and simultaneously set up "The Herb Connection" - a source of cannabis for those with alledged "medical need". Both cafés were subject to continuous police raids. The first café eventually came to a close when the landlord withdrew the lease for the property - shortly followed by "Buddies" closing due to police, who were intercepting customers on their way out of the property.

Another cannabis cafe, operating in a less obvious, but still public, manner was also opened and operating freely in Worthing for over two years, by a group not associated with the LCA. It survived a great deal of police attention and a few raids but no longer exists. The site of this cafe was reduced to rubble within months of the last raid, and is currently a building site with flats planned later in the year.

Crime

While the borough of Worthing is obviously not crime free, it does boast a lower crime rate than the national average. Not only that but it is also showing a downward trend in recorded crime that is falling faster than the rest of the country - a trend that is in keeping with Sussex and the south-east of England as a whole. [3] [4]

Transport

Rail

Worthing is served by five railway stations on the West Coastway Line:

• East Worthing
• Worthing
• West Worthing
• Durrington-on-Sea
• Goring

Rail connections include services to Brighton, London (Victoria), Gatwick Airport, Lewes, Portsmouth, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff and Reading.

Road

Worthing lies 60 miles (100km) south of London and 11 miles (16km) west of Brighton. It is served by the following main roads:

• A27 road to Brighton and Portsmouth
• A24 road to London
• A259 road to Chichester, Brighton, Hastings and Folkestone

Since 2005, the Megabus has run between Worthing and London, via Brighton.

Cycle

To the east of Worthing, the National Cycle Network Route 2 runs off-road along the sea-front from Splash Point to Shoreham and is then signed on quiet roads to Hove Lagoon where an off-road route runs to Brighton.

To the west of Worthing the South Coast Cycle Route is on-road and is not designed to the standards of the National Cycle Network. Cycling on the seafront promenade in Worthing has became a highly contentious issue. Worthing remains one of the few towns in the country with a large seafront promenade that has failed to accommodate an off-road cycle route, although this is expected to be developed as part of the Worthing Evolution masterplan.

Literary and artistic connections

Architecture

• Renowned architect Anthony Salvin, who designed Harlaxton Manor, parts of Windsor Castle and Durham Castle Keep was born in Worthing in 1799 and died in Worthing in 1881.

Comedy

• Comedian Bob Monkhouse moved to Worthing in 1939, attending school at Goring Hall in Goring.
• Harry Hill was a locum at Worthing Hospital before becoming a comedian.

Film and broadcast media

• David Leland's 1987 film Wish You Were Here was filmed along Worthing's seafront, and in various locations around the town most notably the town's historic Dome Cinema.
• The 1985 film Dance with a Stranger by Mike Newell, which starred Miranda Richardson and Rupert Everett was partly filmed at Worthing beach.
• Birthplace of actress Paddy Croft.
• Nicollette Sheridan, American television actress, was born in the town in 1963.
• Actor and star of Coronation Street in the 1960s and 1970s, Reginald Marsh, grew up in Worthing.
• Several early films were made in Worthing in 1898 including Water Polo ^[45], Launch of the Worthing Life-Boat: Coming Ashore ^[46] and Worthing Life-Saving Station ^[47].
• The 1968 film version of Harold Pinter's play The Birthday Party was filmed opposite Heene Terrace on the seafront in West Worthing. ^[48]
• Television producer Britt Allcroft, best known for producing Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, grew up in Worthing.
• Actor Jonathan Cake was born in Worthing in 1967 and grew up in the town.
• The 1973 television play Secrets by Michael Palin and Terry Jones, starring Warren Mitchell, involves three men falling into a vat of chocolate, the produce of which is shipped off to Worthing.
• Richard Vobes podcasts to the world from his studios in Worthing. His 30-minute daily show features a mix of entertainment, comedy and news.
• Home to Dave Benson-Phillips, children's television presenter.
• An episode of UK sitcom Men Behaving Badly was partially filmed and set in Worthing.
• Actor Noah Huntley went to school at Our Lady of Sion School in Worthing and attended the West Sussex Theatre Studios in the town.

Literature

• John Selden, jurist, legal antiquary and oriental scholar was born in Salvington in Worthing in 1584. The area around Farncombe Road in Worthing was once known as Seldenville, in his honour.
• Percy Bysshe Shelley's first two works were printed in a building in Warwick Street. These were Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire in 1810 and The Necessity of Atheism in 1811. Had Shelley not died prematurely aged 29, it is likely he would have lived at Castle Goring in Worthing, which had been built for him by his grandfather. He would also have received the title 3rd Baronet of Castle Goring.
• In the 1830s, Edward William Lane translated The Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) from Arabic, whilst living at 4 Union Place in the town.
• Oscar Wilde wrote The Importance of Being Earnest in Worthing in 1884, and used the name Worthing as his character Jack's surname.
• Richard Jefferies, author and naturalist spent the last 10 months of his life living in Goring and was buried in Broadwater Cemetery in 1887.
• Author and naturalist William Henry Hudson lived in the town and is also buried in Broadwater cemetery.
• Poet William Ernest Henley lived in Chesswood Road between 1899 and 1901. He wrote Hawthorn and Lavender (1901) while living in Worthing.
• US-born playwright and author Edward Knoblock, author of Kismet (1911) bought and lived in Beach House from 1917. His visitors whilst living in Worthing included J. B. Priestley, Arnold Bennett and Sir Compton Mackenzie.
• Children's author Vivien Alcock was born in Worthing in 1924, living in the town until she was ten years old http://www.peters-books.co.uk/VAlcock.htm.
• Novelist, poet and journalist John Oxenham (real name William Arthur Dunkerley) lived in Farncombe Road in the town.
• Children's author Elsie J. Oxenham (real name Elsie J. Dunkerley), daughter of John Oxenham also lived at Farncombe Road, and later in The Glen in the town.
• Playwright and poet Vera Arlett lived at Park Crescent in the town.
• Novelist and comic author Alan Martin, co-creator of the film and comic character Tank Girl, was born in Worthing in 1966. He studied at The West Sussex College of Art and Design where he met future comic partner Jamie Hewlett.
• Mystery author Freeman Wills Crofts died in Worthing in 1957.
• Mystery/detective author Michael Underwood (real name John Michael Evelyn) was born in Worthing in 1916.
• Nobel Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter Harold Pinter wrote the script for the film The Pumpkin Eater and the play The Homecoming while living in Ambrose Place in 1963.
• Poet, playwright and novelist Maureen Duffy was born in Worthing in 1933.
• Novelist and one-time writer of the New Musical Express, Mick Farren is from Worthing.

Music

• Jazz musician Norrie Cox was born in Worthing in 1931.^[49]
• Alma Cogan, 1950s recording artist, lived with her parents above their shop in Warwick Street, then moved to a large house on the corner of Lansdowne Road and Downview Road.
• Keyboard virtuoso and rockstar Keith Emerson grew up in Worthing.
• Rock band Steamhammer were formed in the town in 1968.
• Venue for Phun City Festival in 1970.
• Manager of the record company Track Records, and former manager of Big Country, The Stranglers and The Cult, Ian Grant is from Worthing.
• Leo Sayer was part of the 'Worthing Workshop' scene of the 1960s and attended West Sussex College of Art & Design (known coloquially as Worthing Art College, and now part of Northbrook College).
• Billy Idol grew up on the Goring Hall estate housing area in Goring, near Falmer Avenue.
• In 1974, Egg recorded the album The Civil Surface at Saturn Studios in the town. Later in 1974 Thin Lizzy recorded their album Nightlife at the same studios.
• In 1976, Motörhead recorded a single, White Line Fever at the Pebble Beach Studios in Warwick Street (now Ask restaurant).
• Charles Williams, composer lived in the Findon Valley area of Worthing until his death in 1978.
• In the early 1990s, Sterns Nightclub on the outskirts of Worthing, in Highdown House, was one of Europe's best known nightclubs for rave and techno music, drawing clubbers from across the UK and some of the best known rave and techno acts of the time.
• The Ordinary Boys were formed in the town in 2003 and attended the town's Sixth Form college.
• Luke Pritchard, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of indie band The Kooks was born in Coventry in 1983. His sister Emily Pritchard was born in Worthing.
• 2004 BBC Young Choirgirl of the Year, Rose Setten was born in Worthing and went to school in the town.
• DJ Krafty Kuts lived in Worthing and had a record shop in the town.
• Psychedelic Rock artist Paul Steel originates from Worthing, and is currently based in Brighton.
• Musician Charles "Chuck" Stanley lives in Worthing.
• Trance producer and DJ John Fleming (or John "00" Fleming) is from Worthing.

Visual art

• Watercolour painter Anthony Copley Fielding lived at Park Crescent from 1847 until he died in 1855.
• Seascape artist Frederick Aldridge (1850-1933) was from Worthing.
• Jamie Hewlett, a British comic book artist and designer, lived in Worthing^[50]. He is best known for being the co-creator of the comic strip Tank Girl and co-creator of the band Gorillaz. Philip Bond and Alan Martin, also well-known comic book artists, lived in the town. All three artists attended Northbrook College and came to prominence with the self-published fanzine Atomtan in the late 1980s.
• Husband and wife artists Delaine Le Bas and Damian Le Bas both live in the town.
• Perhaps the best-known painting in the town is Bianca (1869), which was painted by the Pre-Raphaelite painter William Holman Hunt in Florence shortly after the death of his first wife, Fanny Waugh. Hunt named the painting after the character Bianca in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The painting is at the town's Museum & Art Gallery.
• Desert Quartet (1990) by Dame Elisabeth Frink is a bronze sculpture of four large heads in the style of the sculpted heads at Park Crescent in the town. The sculpture is at the Montague Centre in the town, opposite Liverpool Gardens.
• In 2001 Worthing hosted one of the world's first Stuckist art exhibitions. Another stuckist exhibition was held in the town in 2003.

Sport

Football

Nicknamed the Rebels, Worthing F.C. is the town's main football club. They play in the Isthmian League Division One South, having been relegated from the Premier Division at the end of the 2006/07 season.

Worthing United F.C. play in the First Division of the Sussex County League.

Eric "The Rabbit" Parsons played for West Ham United, Chelsea and Brentford in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Worthing and continues to live in the town.

Scott Harris, who plays for Portsmouth F.C. was born in Worthing in 1985.

Basketball

Worthing Thunder, formed after local team Worthing Bears moved to Brighton, play basketball in the English Basketball League and are the current league champions.

Bowling

Women's ten-pin bowling champion Lisa John lives in the town.

Bowls

Worthing is the home of the English Bowling Association (EBA). Beach House Park in Worthing is also one of the world's most famous bowls venues. Five international standard bowling greens play host to the annual EBA National Championships. These are held every summer (mid/late August) and are the highlight of the EBA calendar. Competitors come from all over England to compete in the various events which culminate in the inter-county Middleton Cup that takes place on the final day each year.

Various other representative and international Bowls fixtures take place at Beach House Park from time to time including British Isles Championships, Junior Internationals and indeed the World Bowls Championships in 1972 and 1992.

Cricket

Former Test cricketer Donald Smith was born in Broadwater in 1923.

Sussex cricketer Jason Lewry was born in the town in 1971 and was a member of Sussex's County Championship-winning sides of 2006 and 2007.

Worthing's oldest cricket club is Broadwater Cricket Club, which was founded in 1771. In 1837 the club hosted a match on Broadwater Green between a Sussex XI and an England XI. As the town of Worthing grew separately from Broadwater in the 1800s, Worthing Cricket Club was formed in 1855.

Chippingdale Cricket Club is Worthing's oldest cricket club (if we disregard those with a geographical base). The club was founded in 1897 by Frank Sandell for the employees of his building firm.

Golf

• Professional golfer Gary Evans is from Worthing and now lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
• Golf instructor David Leadbetter is originally from Worthing and now lives in Florida.

Ice hockey

Byron Dafoe, netminder for the Washington Capitals was born in the town in 1971.

Kitesurfing

Worthing is home to Lewis Crathern, British Kitesurfing Champion and Neil Hilder, another top UK kitesurfer.^[51] Kitesurfing takes place along the coast at Worthing and in particular at Goring Gap between the Goring area of the town and Ferring.

Rugby Union

Worthing RFC were formed at York House in the town in September, 1920 and play in the nearby village of Angmering. They are currently in London and South East Division One and have been Sussex county champions every year from 2001-present.

Swimming

Worthing Swimming Club was formed in 1890 in the YMCA Rooms in Warwick Street.

Tennis

Former Great Britain Davis Cup player Martin Lee is from Worthing and attended Worthing High School.

Twin towns and districts

• Le Pays des Olonnes (in the Vendee, France)
• The Elztal region (in the Black Forest, Baden Württemberg, Germany)

•  • [ e] Districts of South East England

Adur • Arun • Ashford • Aylesbury Vale • Basingstoke and Deane • Bracknell Forest • Brighton & Hove • Canterbury • Cherwell • Chichester • Chiltern • Crawley • Dartford • Dover • Eastbourne • East Hampshire • Eastleigh • Elmbridge • Epsom and Ewell • Fareham • Gosport • Gravesham • Guildford • Hart • Hastings • Havant • Horsham • Isle of Wight • Lewes • Maidstone • Medway • Mid Sussex • Milton Keynes • Mole Valley • New Forest • Oxford • Portsmouth • Reading • Reigate and Banstead • Rother • Runnymede • Rushmoor • Sevenoaks • Shepway • Slough • Southampton • South Bucks • South Oxfordshire • Spelthorne • Surrey Heath • Swale • Tandridge • Test Valley • Thanet • Tonbridge and Malling • Tunbridge Wells • Vale of White Horse • Waverley • Wealden • West Berkshire • West Oxfordshire • Winchester • Windsor and Maidenhead • Woking • Wokingham • Worthing • Wycombe Counties with multiple districts: Berkshire • Buckinghamshire • East Sussex • Hampshire • Kent • Oxfordshire • Surrey • West Sussex

External links

• Worthing Herald website
• Worthing Borough Council
• Northbrook College Sussex
• Worthing Community Website

References

Coordinates: