As many residents will know, Westgate, along with St Pancras, was part of the Parliamentary encampment during the brief siege of Chichester by Colonel William Waller at Christmastide in December 1642, the first year of the Civil War. Christmas 2022 will mark the 380th anniversary of this event. A Divided City In those revolutionary times,… Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories: The Westgate Cannon (updated)
Author: Colin Hicks
Site Admin - Westgate street history, Chichester
Westfield House
Article originally researched and compiled by Paula Chatfield of Parklands RA for her excellent Easter Trail series and published here by permission. Westfield House is one of our older local buildings, built in the 1700s and extended in the early 1800s. The first Ordnance Survey map (1813) shows it clearly – extract below. Its postal… Continue reading Westfield House
Hidden Westgate Histories: The Powell & Moya Bungalows
The eastern end of Westgate seems such a perfect Georgian enclave, yet who would have thought standing in the street today, that Mount Lane has contained iconic 20th century buildings and still has an interior by Eric Gill’s brother? Powell & Moya architects The year 2014 saw the Chichester Festival Theatre celebrate Renew, the stunning… Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories: The Powell & Moya Bungalows
The Westgate Planters – a History
From early times, Westgate was on the main road from Portsmouth to Chichester. There had been a suburb of Westgate outside the city gate since the Middle Ages, with a mixture of terraced houses and some larger ones dominated by the brewery and the tannery. With increasing traffic, the Chichester bypass to the south was… Continue reading The Westgate Planters – a History
The Westgate Brewery part 2
This article appears as a complement to the one published earlier this year From Brewing to Business Services The Westgate Brewery (now home to Mercers, a pensions firm) was founded in 1751 probably by John Dearling and from 1793, taken on by William and Edward Humphrey. The brewery’s association with the Henty family seems to date… Continue reading The Westgate Brewery part 2
The Road we call Westgate (updated)
Westgate is so named as it is the road that left Chichester by the West Gate, an encumbrance to traffic which was demolished in 1773 except for the south pillar which is still standing, complete with hinge, to the left of the Indian Restaurant. This road has been the main road out to Winchester from Chichester… Continue reading The Road we call Westgate (updated)
Westgate’s K6 Telephone Box
Did you know that the red telephone box on the corner of Parklands Road and Westgate is protected, and listed grade II? It was listed in July 1995 by Historic England, sixty years after it had been erected. To look at the state of it, you wouldn’t know it would you? The citation reads: CHICHESTER WESTGATE (north side),… Continue reading Westgate’s K6 Telephone Box
Hidden Westgate Histories: The Westgate War Memorial (updated)
I doubt that many people living on/by Westgate, or walking up and down the street, know that we have our very own War Memorial commemorating the Fallen of the Parish of St Bartholomew. Between 2014 and 2018 the nation remembered the First World War and commemorated the sacrifice of so many young men’s lives. Several… Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories: The Westgate War Memorial (updated)
The Chichester and Midhurst Railway: Level Crossing
Article adapted from one originally researched and compiled by Paula Chatfield of Parklands RA for her excellent Easter Trail series and re-published here by permission. Before the railway arrived (see 1813 map below), the Westgate/Fishbourne Road was the main road (for foot and horse traffic) between Chichester and Portsmouth. In 1846/7 a level crossing opened… Continue reading The Chichester and Midhurst Railway: Level Crossing
The Suburb of St Bartholomew’s: the C19th population
This text is the last in our series about the Suburb of St Bartholomew, through which Westgate runs. It consists of edited data selected from the 19th century censuses for the historic suburb of St Bartholomew (1801 to 1891) The 19th century population of the St Bartholomew’s Civil Parish was the same in 1891 as it was in… Continue reading The Suburb of St Bartholomew’s: the C19th population
