Selham is a small

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

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 south of the A272 road 3 miles (4.8 km) east of

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

. It is mainly 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 ...

Graffham Graffham is a village and civil parish in West Sussex, England, situated on the northern escarpment of the South Downs. The civil parish is made up of the village of Graffham, part of the Hamlet (place), hamlet of Selham, and South Ambersham. It ...

, but partly in that of

Lodsworth Lodsworth is a small village and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It is situated between Midhurst and Petworth, half a mile north of the A272 road. It lies within the South Downs National Park, just to the north o ...

to the north.

History

Selham was 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) 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 ...

Easebourne Easebourne () is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is half a mile (0.8 km) north of Midhurst, across the River Rother on the A272 and A286 roads. The parish includes the ham ...

as having six households: two villagers, two smallholders and two slaves; resources included ploughing land, woodland and meadows, and a value to the lord of the manor of just over £3. In 1861, Selham was still a separate parish covering with a population of 123. In February 2010,

James Packer James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...

won approval from

District Council for a 327-acre

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

complex to be built at Manor Farm on land owned by Lord Cowdray, not far from Great House Farm, the 38-hectare polo complex at Stedham, owned by his father

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

during the 1980s. Packer withdrew after the 2012 season, with the facilities being taken over by Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

Buildings

Selham' pub is ''The Three Moles'', one of the smallest

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. The church of St James is largely 11th century, having never undergone any major rebuilding, but it was restored in the 19th century. From 192227

Frank Buttle Frank Buttle (19 October 1878 – 11 February 1953), was a priest of the Church of England and the founder of Buttle UK. Early life William Francis Buttle was born in Brixton on 19 October 1878. He was a son of William Buttle, a solicitor, ...

was rector of Selham with South Ambersham. Nearby the remains of Lodsworth Castle, a large 13th Century

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

near Selham at Lodsbridge beside the River Rother. Lodsbridge was a

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

on the

Rother Navigation The River Rother flows from Empshott in Hampshire, England, to Stopham in West Sussex, where it joins the River Arun. At long, most of the river lies within West Sussex except for the first which lie in Hampshire. The upper river, from it ...

waterway. There was formerly a railway station on the

Pulborough Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north–south ...

Petersfield, Hampshire Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

line. Selham Railway Station is now a private house.

References

External links

Further historical information and sources on GENUKI
{{authority control Villages in West Sussex