St Bartholomew's CCAC - WESTGATE CHICHESTER

St Bartholomew’s Church (updated)

THE ORIGINAL ST SEPULCHRE’S CHURCH

Colin Hicks writes:

Originally on the site of the graveyard at St Bartholomew’s on the corner of Mount Lane and Westgate, stood a church that was probably built in the 12th century. This was round with a circular apse over the altar, a shape associated with the Knights Templar, so that the church became known as the Temple even though it was never associated with those militant monks. New Fishbourne church was probably a chapelry to St Bartholomew at this time.

Pages: 12

Westgate Archaeology

This section is edited from articles published by Colin Hicks on the original Westgate Residents Association Website, which were adapted with their permission from an archaeological desk-based assessment prepared by SLR Consulting Ltd on behalf of Chichester College in 2013. Richard Brownfield has very usefully brought these all together, updated and developed them to create a fascinating tour of the history of the western/St Bartholomew’s suburb.

PREHISTORIC WESTGATE

Pages: 12

History of 48 Westgate

This house was for many years the head brewer or brewery manager’s house and called Brewery House to this day. The following fascinating and very valuable account by a resident of her life in this property, is quoted with permission from the CLHS magazine ‘Chichester History’, no. 23, p41

THE SLOE FAIR ‘SQUIRTERS’ by Ruth Bagnall (née Randell)

Pages: 12

History of 34 Westgate

This property is the former “Wagon and Lamb” public house.

A recent owner of the house believed that the original frontage of the house was one room back, with a yard in front of the house for waggons to park; or with the road running further to the north than its current course, thus allowing a yard in front of the farmhouse opposite. If this is correct the new front was added after 1642 and probably when the Georgian rebuilding took place.

Pages: 12

Hidden Westgate Histories 1: St Sepulchre Round Church

The current St Batholomew’s church in Mount Lane off Westgate is not the first church to have appeared on this site. The suburbs extra muros of St Pancras to the east and of St Sepulchre to the west date back to Roman times, both housing 3rd century cemeteries within their parishes, with the main one to the east (the Litton) in part where the modern Litten Gardens is on New Park Road. The remainder is under the New Park development and car park on the opposite (west) side of the road.

Pages: 12

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).

Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories 3: Five Good Sisters (updated)

The Road we call Westgate (updated)

Ceremonial Arch at the West Gate 1911, looking towards Westgate — Ceremonial Arch at the West Gate 1911, looking down Westgate from West St. No pictures exist of the original gate.

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.

Continue reading The Road we call Westgate (updated)

Hidden Westgate Histories 7: 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.

Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories 7: The Westgate War Memorial (updated)

Suburb of St Bartholomew’s: 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)

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Chichester & St Bart’s: the Architecture of the City

This text was originally the fourth in a monthly series of five about the suburb of St Bartholomew’s Without in the wider context of the development of the City of Chichester. It is drawn from an edited extract of a 1935 publication (details below). As such it has kept a centuries-old way of talking about Chichester where the city walls, gates, ditch and parishes defined our boundaries, untrammelled by the modern changes that not much more than five years later would come finally to disrupt the millennial harmonies of our cityscape.

Continue reading Chichester & St Bart’s: the Architecture of the City