Runcton is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, England. It lies on the B2166 road 1.9 miles (3 km) southeast of

. In the 2011 census the population of the hamlet was included in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

North Mundham North Mundham is a village and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2166 road two miles (3.2 km) southeast of Chichester. Etymology The earliest known appearance of the name is ''se northra Munda ...

. The village includes local amenities including a farm shop, garden centre, pub, nearby North Mundham primary school and

Chichester Free School Chichester Free School is a mixed-sex free school located in Chichester, West Sussex, England. It opened in 2013 and caters for students aged 4–16 years. The school is located on the newly re-developed Carmelite convent site, which was damag ...

History

Runcton was in the ancient

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

Boxgrove Boxgrove is a village, ecclesiastical parish and civil parish in the Chichester District of the English county of West Sussex, about north east of the city of Chichester. The village is just south of the A285 road which follows the line of the R ...

and listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

(1086) as having 26 households (six villagers, five slaves and 15 cottagers). Resources included ploughing lands, two mills and a fishery. Prior to 1086, the Norman lord

Roger of Montgomery Roger de Montgomery (died 1094), also known as Roger the Great, was the first Earl of Shrewsbury, and Earl of Arundel, in Sussex. His father was Roger de Montgomery, seigneur of Montgomery, a member of the House of Montgomerie, and was probably ...

, Earl of Shrewsbury and Chichester, gave the manor of Runcton to the Norman abbey of

Troarn Troarn () is a commune in the Calvados in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Saline, but this merger was undone on 31 December 2019. Population Sights * The abbey founded by Roger ...

: in 1260,

Bruton Priory Bruton Abbey in Bruton, Somerset was founded as a house of Canons regular#Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, Augustinian canons in about 1127, and became an abbey in 1511, shortly before its dissolution in 1539. It was endowed with manors, chur ...

in Somerset took over all the English lands of Troarn abbey. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Thomas Bowyer bought the manor of Runcton and joined it with the manor of

. Runcton Manor is a Grade II-listed house on Runcton Lane: the main front part is a

Regency era The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between and 1837. George III of the United Kingdom, King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 18 ...

building, from the late 18th/early 19th century, with an older building to the rear. In 1848, the hamlet of Runcton had 98 inhabitants.

References

External links

Villages in West Sussex {{WestSussex-geo-stub