The Committee are keen for interested residents to attend the “Friends of Centurion Way” Exhibition which is taking place this Saturday 27th January 2018 from 11.00 am – 3 pm at The Scout Hut on Sherborne Road, Chichester PO19 3AA. The Friends will be displaying material from their dossier of research about the path including information… Continue reading The Future of Centurion Way
Author: Colin Hicks
Site Admin - Westgate street history, Chichester
Chichester Road Space Audit of 2017
The County Council’s consultation on their audit of the road space in Chichester has now closed; we hope you were able to find the time to send in your personal response. The Committee also considered its position and the Chairman has sent in the following letter to the County Council: Introduction The Westgate Resident’s Association… Continue reading Chichester Road Space Audit of 2017
The Brewery Field: Community Open Day 2017
After 105 years absence, it was an emotional moment to see a brewery dray enter the Brewery Field this Sunday as two magnificent shire horses, Pride and Griffin, were driven in by John Medhurst, their driver for the past 28 years. The Fullers Horse and Dray was the star attraction of the annual Community Open… Continue reading The Brewery Field: Community Open Day 2017
Hidden Westgate Histories 2: The Shippam Stables
By an amazing coincidence, the very week that the dray horses came back to the Brewery Field, if only for an afternoon, a resident was clearing the vegetation back in her garden when she discovered several items hanging on the wall. The first one was this strange item: If you look up at the buildings… Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories 2: The Shippam Stables
Inventory of the Brewery Field Trees
There was some disquiet recently to see that the rather sculptural but dead tree on the Western edge of the field had been felled. The Brewery Field is now in the Chichester Conservation Area and so all the trees are protected and none may be removed without planning permission. This particular tree was removed for… Continue reading Inventory of the Brewery Field Trees
Hubert’s Street Party Poem – July 2017
From May-Hem in Westminster to July Calm in Westgate Imagine my horror, one fine-seeming day, The 4th one in Feb., as the shorteners say, The Saturday when Jones’s England beat France – It continued old wars, fought with Sword and with Lance. Imagine, I say, in ‘The Apple and Crate’ (sic!), Brian Raincock’s… Continue reading Hubert’s Street Party Poem – July 2017
Hidden Westgate Histories 3: Five Good Sisters (updated)
This article first appeared on 30 July 2016 as part of an occasional series of historical items that relate to Westgate and have been somehow Hidden from History. We are grateful to Westgate resident Rachel Moriarty for a host of new material which has resulted in this much expanded version (May 2017). I doubt that many on… Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories 3: Five Good Sisters (updated)
Within One Mile of Westgate (updated)
New to Westgate? Here is a list of places of interest within one mile of Westgate, kindly supplied by Lois and the late Brian Cope at no 64. Go exploring! NORTH-WEST QUADRANT Baptist Church, Sherborne Road Betting shop, Parklands Bishop Luffa School (secondary), Westgate railway end Brewery Field, behind the Record Office: nearest for dog-walkers Butcher,… Continue reading Within One Mile of Westgate (updated)
Hidden Westgate Histories 4: The Westgate Lavant
Most residents are familiar with our winterbourne, the River Lavant. Winterbourne because it is a seasonal stream that comes down from the Downs, filtered out of the chalk after the Winter rains. Most of us are familiar with its current course on the West side: emerging from the City from underneath the Fountain public house… Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories 4: The Westgate Lavant
The Brewery Field in 2017
The History This field was part of the Westgate Brewery which produced beer for many inns and pubs across Sussex and East Hampshire from 1751 until it closed in 1954. In 1827 it was taken over by the Henty family who went into partnership with George Constable in 1921. The brewery had been rebuilt in… Continue reading The Brewery Field in 2017