Emsworth

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This article is about the town in Hampshire. For the town in the U.S., see Emsworth, Pennsylvania. For the P.G. Wodehouse character, see Lord Emsworth.
Coordinates: 50°50′56″N 0°56′17″W / 50.849°N 0.938°W / 50.849; -0.938
Emsworth

Emsworth village centre
Emsworth

 Emsworth shown within Hampshire
Population 9,737 (2001)
OS grid reference SU748060
Civil parish Emsworth
District Havant
Shire county Hampshire
Region South East
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town EMSWORTH
Postcode district PO10
Dialling code 01243
Police Hampshire
Fire Hampshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament Havant
List of places
UK
England
Hampshire

Emsworth is a small town on the south coast of England, situated on the Hampshire side of the border between Hampshire and West Sussex. The village lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large but shallow inlet of the English Channel.[1]

Emsworth has a population of approximately 10,000 people. In the 19th century Emsworth had as many as 30 pubs and beer houses, probably to do with the fact that Emsworth was a fishing village. In some places the old oyster-beds can still be seen at low tide. The village has a basin for small yachts and a few fishing boats opposite the millpond, an artificial lake which fills at high tide can be emptied through a sluice at low tide. The River Ems, which is named after the village (not, as often believed, the town named after the river) also flows into the Slipper millpond, and although the mill is no longer in use it now houses a number of offices.

Adjacent to Emsworth is Thorney Island, formerly in Hampshire but now in West Sussex.

History

Early Emsworth

Emsworth began as a small Saxon village. At first it was linked to the more important settlement of Warblington nearby. People from Emsworth worshipped at St Peter's Chapel or in the church at Warblington. Emsworth was not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was probably too small to be mentioned on its own and was included with Warblington.

Emsworth's name came from Anglo Saxon Æmeles worþ = "a man called Æmele's enclosure". A worth was an enclosure like a farm or hamlet surrounded by a palisade.

Although Emsworth started as a small settlement it soon grew to be larger and more important. In 1239 Emsworth was granted the right to hold a market (in those days there were few shops and if you wanted to buy or sell anything you had to go to a market). Emsworth was also allowed an annual fair, in the Middle Ages fairs were like markets but they were held only once a year and people travelled long distances to Emsworth to buy and sell at them.

In the Middle Ages Emsworth was a busy little port. Large quantities of wine (the drink of the upper class) were imported from Europe through Emsworth.

In the 18th century and the 19th century Emsworth was known for shipbuilding, boat building and rope making. King Street is named after a man named John King who settled there in the late 18th century and started a ship building business.

18th–19th centuries

During the 18th and 19th centuries Emsworth was still a busy little port. In Emsworth grain from the area was ground into flour by tidal mills. When the tide came in water was allowed to flow in behind a barrier. When the tide turned the water was trapped and it was only allowed to flow out under a mill turning its 'wheel'. Flour from Emsworth was transported by ship to places like London and Portsmouth. Timber from the area was also exported from Emsworth in the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the 19th century Emsworth had as many as 30 pubs and beer houses, probably to do with the fact that Emsworth was a fishing village. Today, only nine remain, and this number may have decreased due to the Emsworth fishing and oyster trade dying down, or to the consolidation of the pub trade in the 1990s and 2000s. Emsworth's once famous oyster industry went into decline in the early years of the 20th century. Recently, Emsworth's last remaining oyster boat The Terror was restored and is now sailing again.

At the beginning of the 19th century Emsworth had a population of less than 1,200, this made Emsworth a large village at the time. At the end of the 18th century it became fashionable for wealthy people to spend the Summer by the sea. People believed that bathing in seawater was good for the health. In 1805 a bathing house was built where people could have a bath in seawater. Bath Road is named after it. However, Emsworth failed to take off as a seaside resort.

The Church of St James was built in 1840. Two years later Queen Victoria visited Emsworth in 1842. Queen Street and Victoria Road are named after her. In 1847 the railway came to Emsworth with the construction of the West Coastway Line, Emsworth railway station was built to serve the town. The arrival of the railway led to the rapid growth of Emsworth.

Modern Emsworth

By 1901 the population of Emsworth was about 2,000. It grew rapidly during the 20th century to about 5,000 by the middle of the century. (The 1,000th house in Emsworth was built in 1953). Today the population is about 10,000. In 1906 construction began on the post office, with local cricketer George Wilder laying an inscribed brick. The renamed Emsworth Recreation Ground dates from 1909 and is the current home of Emsworth Cricket Club, which was founded in 1811 and celebrated its Bicentennial in 2011. It was marked with a Grand Match against the MCC. Cricket in Emsworth has been played at the same ground, Cold Harbour Lawn since 1761.

In the 20th century Emsworth became a resort for pleasure boats. The oyster industry declined after 1902 when sewage polluted the oysters, which resulted in some people dying after eating oysters from Emsworth.[citation needed] Fishing oysters at Emsworth ended until new sewers were dug but the industry never completely recovered. The harbour is now used almost exclusively for recreational sailing with two main sailing clubs.

During the Second World War nearby Thorney Island was used as a Royal Air Force station, playing a role in the Battle of Britain. The north of Emsworth at this time was used for growing flowers and further north was woodland (today Hollybank Woods). In the run up to D-Day the Canadian Army used these woods as one of their pre-invasion assembly points. Today the foundations of their barracks can still be seen, as well as the remains of pillboxes. In the 1960s large parts of this area were developed with a mix of bungalows and terraced housing.

In March 2008, Emsworth was hit by a large storm which resulted in numerous trees being uprooted and, combined with a high tide, led to large parts of the town being flooded. Both mill ponds were flooded, along with the lower part of Queen Street, including the Lord Raglan pub. Numerous other roads were flooded, making access to some parts of the town impossible.[2]

Politics

The town is part of the Havant constituency, which has for many years been a safe Conservative seat. The current Member of Parliament is David Willetts MP. The town is represented at Havant Borough Council by Councillors David Gillett, Brendan Gibb-Gray and Richard Galloway. The local County Councillor is Ray Bolton. The town has active branches of the Conservative Party, Liberal Democratsthe Labour Party and United Kingdom Independence Party.

Community events

From 2001 to 2007, Emsworth held its annual Emsworth Food Festival in September. Run entirely by unpaid volunteers this was the largest event of its type in the UK with 55,000 visitors in 2007. The Emsworth Food Festival was a community event involving local schools, businesses and community organisations. It was usually held in the town centre. However, in 2008 the festival was cancelled due to numerous complaints of disruption to residents and some businesses in the immediate proximity; it has been replaced by a series of smaller events, spread out over the year.

Transport

Emsworth railway station is on the West Coastway Line and was opened in 1847. It has services that run to Portsmouth, Southampton, Brighton and London Victoria.

Stagecoach operate the number 700 bus which operates between Brighton and Southsea. Local bus services are provided by Emsworth & District, which operate services to Havant and Chichester.

Landmarks

  • The Quay
  • The Mill Pond
  • The Slipper Mill Pond
  • The Gasometer
  • St James' Church

Twinning

Emsworth is twinned with Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer in Normandy, France France[3]

Famous residents

Gallery

  • Emsworth town square

  • The mill pond

  • Emsworth from the mill pond wall

  • The old tidal mill

  • Emsworth Channel, Chichester Harbour from Emsworth

  • Reed beds along Emsworth Channel

  • Mouth of the River Ems from Slipper Mill Pond

  • Emsworth Quay flooded at high water on 10 March 2008

  • The slip at Emsworth

  • South Street

  • Emsworth station entrance

  • Emsworth railway station platform

  • Emsworth Cricket Club

  • Hollybank Cricket Club

  • Emsworth fire station and museum

  • The Crown Hotel

References

  1. ↑ Whitfield, Robert. Emsworth: A History. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 2005, p. xiii. ISBN 1-86077-346-X
  2. ↑ Emsworth Flooding, March 2008
  3. ↑ St Aubin – Emsworth Twinning Association
  4. ↑ Denbigh, K.G. (December 1986). "Peter Victor Danckwerts". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 32: 99. 

Further reading

  • Whitfield, Robert. Emsworth: A History. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-86077-346-X

External links

Neighbouring places.
Leigh Park (Suburb) Rowland's Castle (Village) Westbourne (Village)
Havant (Town) Southbourne (Village)
   Emsworth  
Hayling Island (Island) Chichester Harbour (Harbour) Thorney Island (Village + Military Base)
Towns and villages in the Borough of Havant
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