Westgate is now a desirable place to live but this has not always been the case.
When it first started to form as a suburb outside the West Gate on the road to Fishbourne, St Bartholomew’s was a poor industrial area. The Fishbourne road developed into the main road along the coast to the west, known as the Portsmouth Road; and in 1762 the road became the Chichester to Cosham turnpike, which meant that it was a toll road and better maintained.