Colin Hicks - WESTGATE CHICHESTER

Successful day for Centurion Way 2018

A very successful exhibition was held on Saturday 27th January 2018 in the Scouts Hut by the newly formed Friends of Centurion Way.

The exhibition coincided with the launch of a written dossier detailing all the community issues that need to be considered in relation to any proposed diversion of the path’s southern end. The new Southern Access Road needs to cross the Centurion Way, but proposed land deals and draft plans have been shared that seek to divert the path by up to 750m – which will hugely impact current users, those with limited mobility etc.

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The Future of Centurion Way 2018

The Committee are keen for interested residents to attend the “Friends of Centurion Way” Exhibition which is taking place this Saturday 27^th 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 on:

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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:

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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.

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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:

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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 safety reasons.

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Hubert’s Street Party Poem – July 2017

Every summer for the Street Party, famous resident, cricketer Hubert Doggart, would write a poem. Here is his offering at the 2017 event:

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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). Recently the church has been sold to a private owner who has respected the graves but removed the crosses and the trees (2024).

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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.

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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 1811 to become the largest in Chichester.

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