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… Continue reading Hidden Westgate Histories: St Sepulchre Round Church
Tag: Streetscape
Hidden Westgate Histories: The Westgate Cannon (updated)
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)
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 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
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
