Did you know that eighteen non-designated post medieval assets and 47 Grade II listed buildings are situated within 500m of Westgate? The Civil War A key event in the post-medieval development of the city was the Civil War siege of 1642. The city had declared itself loyal to the Royalist cause in August 1642, and by… Continue reading Westgate in the 17th to 19th Centuries
Category: History
Chichester & St Bart’s: The Early Settlement
The extent of Chichester has altered at various times. The settlement was first established as a winter fort for the Second Augustan Legion under Vespasian (the future emperor) shortly after the Roman invasion in AD 43. Like all Roman walled towns, Noviomagus Reginorum was divided into four quarters by two main roads or streets crossing… Continue reading Chichester & St Bart’s: The Early Settlement
Medieval Westgate
Image courtesy of Chichester Web. This article forms part of a series on the archaeology of Westgate and is adapted with their permission from an archaeological desk-based assessment prepared by SLR Consulting Ltd on behalf of Chichester College in 2013. The numbers on the map refer to objects mentioned in the text below that have been found and registered… Continue reading Medieval Westgate
The Gates
Some controversy rages about what Chichester’s West Gate actually looked like. It was our view initially that this was the gate itself, taken from an 18th century watercolour, but this is disputed by the team at the West Sussex county archives who, in spite of the title at the bottom, believe it must be of… Continue reading The Gates
The Romans and Westgate
This article forms part of a series on the archaeology of Westgate and is adapted with their permission from an archaeological desk-based assessment prepared by SLR Consulting Ltd on behalf of Chichester College in 2013. The numbers on the map refer to objects mentioned in the text below that have been found and registered in the Historic Environment Record… Continue reading The Romans and Westgate
Prehistoric Westgate
This article forms the first in a series on the archaeology of Westgate and is adapted with their permission from an archaeological desk-based assessment prepared by SLR Consulting Ltd on behalf of Chichester College in 2013. The numbers on the above map refer to objects mentioned in the text below that have been found and registered in the Historic… Continue reading Prehistoric Westgate
Historical images
Click on each image for a closer look. The olde West Gate itself? According to the caption, looking down West Street in 1782 from outside the walls, or is it? Historians are of the view that this is in fact Eastgate with the City prison on top, demolished in 1783. The other gates were demolished… Continue reading Historical images
An Investigation into The Georgian Priory: 1-9 Westgate
This post forms part of an occasional series of contributions from guest authors. This building history by Dr Richard Brownfield was first published in the Chichester Society Newsletter and is here reproduced by permission. Georgian Priory is an entirely spurious name which was created in 1988 when the Abbey Building Society (later to become the… Continue reading An Investigation into The Georgian Priory: 1-9 Westgate
A brief archaeology of Westgate
This brief article introduces a monthly series of four on the archaeology of Westgate. The data has been adapted, with their permission, from the findings of an archaeological desk-based assessment prepared within a 500 metre radius of Chichester College by SLR Consulting Ltd in 2013. Hence the funny box on the maps. The available evidence for historic activity… Continue reading A brief archaeology of Westgate
St Bartholomew Without, Mount Lane (updated)
As its name suggests, and like the “green hill far away”, St Bartholomew is “without a city wall”, in this case ‘without’ Chichester’s West Gate. The Church is designated by Historic England (formerly English Heritage) at Grade II for the following principal reasons: A classical style church of 1832 with simple, yet elegant, proportions. The… Continue reading St Bartholomew Without, Mount Lane (updated)
