Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England.
The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the English Channel. The town lies in the middle of the ribbon of urban development along the English south coast, approximately equidistant from the city of Brighton and Hove to the east and the town of Worthing to the west. Shoreham covers an area of 2,430 acres (980 ha) and has a population of 20,547 (2011 census).
Old Shoreham dates back to pre-Roman times.[2] St Nicolas’ Church, inland by the River Adur, is partly Anglo-Saxon[3] The name of the town has an Old English origin.[4] The town and port of New Shoreham was established by the Norman conquerors towards the end of the 11th century.
St Mary de Haura Church (St Mary of the Haven) was built in the decade following 1103 (the Domesday Book was dated 1086), and around this time the town was laid out on a grid pattern that, in essence, still survives in the town centre. The present church is approximately half the size of the original structure – the former nave was already in ruins by the time of the civil war although sizeable remnants of the original west façade survive in the churchyard to this day.
Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Idrisi, writing c.1153, described Shoreham as “a fine and cultivated city containing buildings and flourishing activity”.
The rapid growth of the neighbouring towns of Brighton, Hove and Worthing – and in particular the arrival of the railway in 1840 – prepared the way for Shoreham’s rise as a Victorian sea port, with several shipyards and an active coasting trade. Shoreham Harbour remains in commercial operation today. The area became an urban district, with Shoreham Town Hall as its headquarters, in 1910.
