Pagham is a coastal village and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, England, with a population of around 6,100. It lies about two miles to the west of Bognor Regis.

Governance

Pagham is part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

called Pagham and Rose Green. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 7,538.

Geography

The village can be divided into three contiguous neighbourhoods (merging seamlessly as one

clustered village A ''Haufendorf'' is an enclosed village with irregular plots of land and farms of greatly differing scale, usually surrounded by a stockade fence (German: ''Ortsetter''). They are typically found in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, whence the nam ...

): *Pagham Beach, coastal area, developed in the early 20th century, *Pagham, the original 13th-century village *Nyetimber, originally a separate village but has now been subsumed as part of a Local Authority rationalisation and the growth of the area.

Buildings and facilities

Many of the original Pagham Beach dwellings are bungalows constructed from old railway carriages - most of these have been later rebuilt using sturdier construction methods. The Church of St. Thomas a'Becket contains three 1911 windows by the leading painter and designer Edward Arthur Fellowes Prynne, which were restored in 2011. Pagham is home to ale and beer pubs 'The Lamb', 'The Lion' and 'The Bear' as well as the 'Inglenook Hotel'.

Landmarks

The

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

known as Pagham Harbour is to the southwest; almost one quarter of the area falls within the parish. The harbour and surrounding land is of national importance for both flora and fauna. The

shingle Shingle may refer to: Construction *Roof shingles or wall shingles, including: **Wood shingle ***Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle that is split from a bolt, with a more rustic appearance than a sawed shingle ***Quercus imbricaria, or shingle oak ...

spit is of geological interest. A Phoenix breakwater, a concrete caisson that was intended to be part of a World War II Mulberry Harbour, is visible in the bay at low tides.

Sport and leisure

Pagham has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club

Pagham F.C. Pagham Football Club is a football club based in Pagham, near Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Nyetimber Lane. History The club was formed in 1903, starting in the Bognor & Chichester Football ...

who play at Nyetimber Lane. The village has a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team, who play at the cricket ground at Nyetimber Lane.

Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The c ...

played two first-class matches there in the 1970s. Pagham is the home of the Pagham Pram Race which is the oldest pram race in the world. The race is run on Boxing day every year at 11am whatever the weather. Thousands of people line the streets of Pagham to watch the wacky contestants navigate the 3 mile course, drinking 3 pints of beer en route. All the money raised by the Pram Race is distributed to local good causes.

Notable people

James Biden, Joe Biden's paternal fourth great-grandfather was christened at the church of St Thomas à Becket in Pagham, on November 15, 1767. He was the son of Richard Biden, Biden's paternal fifth great-grandfather, and his wife Susan. The parish register notes that they were from

Wymering Wymering is a residential area of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Unlike the majority of Portsmouth, it is located on the mainland rather than Portsea Island. Wymering was one of the estates held by Hampshire's bigges ...

where Richard appears to have been buried in 1808. The motor racing drivers John Watson and Derek Bell lived in Pagham. Watson won five Formula One Grand Prix. Bell won the Le Mans 24 hour race five times.

References

External links

Pictures of PaghamPagham Parish Council web site.The Parish Church of St Thomas à Becket, Pagham
{{authority control Arun District Villages in West Sussex Populated coastal places in West Sussex Beaches of West Sussex