Yapton is a village and

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 authorit ...

in the Arun District of

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 ...

, England. It is centred three miles (4.8 km) north east of

Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns i ...

at the intersection of the B2132 and B2233 roads. The parish of Yapton lies on the coastal plain south west of

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larg ...

, between the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

and the sea. St Mary the Virgin parish church, 13th century or earlier in origin, is in the centre of the village. It houses a twelfth-century font. Nearby,

Yapton Free Church Yapton Free Church (also known as Yapton Evangelical Free Church) is an Evangelicalism, Evangelical church in the village of Yapton in West Sussex, England. The "pretty flint building" dates from 1861, when it was built for a group of Congregati ...

was built in 1861 as a

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

chapel but is now

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

in character. Yapton C of E Primary School was founded in 1864. Other settlements in the parish include Bilsham and Flansham. The settlement of Bilsham 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 ...

of 1086 as having 14 households. Bilsham Chapel is a deconsecrated former

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

to St Mary the Virgin Church; it dates from the 13th–14th century but fell out of use in the mid-16th century. The building is now a house.

History

The disused

Portsmouth and Arundel Canal The Portsmouth and Arundel Canal was a canal in the south of England that ran between Portsmouth and Ford in the Arundel district, it was built in 1823 but was never a financial success and was abandoned in 1855; the company was wound up in 1888 ...

which linked nearby the

River Arun The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small strea ...

Chichester Harbour Chichester Harbour is a large natural harbour in West Sussex and Hampshire. It is situated to the south-west of the city of Chichester and to the north of the Solent. The harbour and surrounding land has been designated as an Area of Outstandin ...

, runs through the village. This was built primarily on the financial case it would be a safe inland shipping route between

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

avoiding the then risk of attack in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

by the French. Throughout its lifetime, 1823-1855 - a time when the Wey and Arun Canal was open (having opened 7 years earlier and having closed in 1871) - the route was used for transporting agricultural goods and munitions, for instance, from Chilworth and

Hanworth Hanworth is a district of West London, England. Historically in Middlesex, it has been part of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1965. Hanworth adjoins Feltham to the northwest, Twickenham to the northeast and Hampton to the southeast, with ...

gunpowder works and to/from the military docks on the lower

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

in the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Governance

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 ...

in the same name exists. This ward stretches South East to Climping with a total population of 5,926 at the 2011 Census.

Notable residents

Duncan Goodhew, the Olympic swimming maestro was brought up in Yapton. There is a residential road, Goodhew Close, named after him. Sculptor

Ginger Gilmour Ginger Gilmour (born Virginia Hasenbein; January 19, 1949) is an American artist, sculptor, and author. Between 1975 and 1990, she was married to Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Since their divorce, she has lived in England. Personal life ...

works from a 15th-century farmhouse near Yapton, where she has created several studios. The poet

Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian L ...

lived in Yapton after he retired in 1959.

References

External links

British History Online
{{authority control Villages in West Sussex Arun District