Maritime history of Worthing

Worthing is situated on a small ridge next to the English Channel coast. The geology and physical geography of the coastline encourage erosion and longshore drift, which have had major effects on the hinterland.^[1] The coastline is almost entirely built up, but there are some gaps such as Goring Gap and the grounds of Beach House.^[2]

Worthing developed in the pre-medieval era as a small southern outpost of the parish and larger village of Broadwater, based on farming and fishing. Teville Stream and its estuary, upon which a harbour was situated by the 14th century,^[3] separated the hamlet from Broadwater. The early farmers reclaimed land from the sea, but it was lost again to flooding during the Middle Ages. Soon after this, a bar of shingle began to form in the sea, affecting the current and also the tidal flow of the stream. This protected the coastline and allowed salt marshes to form.^[1] Usually called the "saltgreen", "Worthing Common" or, most often, the "saltgrass",^[1][4][5] this fertile soil contained large amounts of salt—the most important preservative agent of the pre-refrigeration era. Salt and other minerals were extracted, and the land was used for farming.^[5] Instead of being enclosed, as much land was at the time, it was left as common land; Worthing's inhabitants were granted leases to graze their animals on it.^[6] Some buildings also stood there: an early courthouse, and some buildings called "shops" which were likely to be fishing-related.^[4][7] The first of these was documented in the early 17th century, and several others were known about later that century.^[8]

Storms in the 17th century and in 1703 started to damage this exposed land, and it was completely undermined in the 18th century. An inn on the saltgrass was destroyed by the sea in 1772: its remains were washed on to the beach during a winter storm.^[9] The 50 acres (20 ha) of saltgrass remaining in the middle of the 18th century had disappeared by the early 19th century, and a beach of fine golden sand appeared in its place.^{[1][4][7][10]} The shingle bar, which wind and wave action had gradually moved towards the shore, had also contributed to these changes, and its undesirable effect on the flow of water around the estuary resulted in the town commissioners breaking it up at the start of the 19th century.^[1][11] At the same time, groynes were constructed to attempt to save the land on which the growing town was built from erosion. This was only partly successful—floods affected the town centre several times during the 19th century, particularly on New Year's Day 1877^[12] when water reached a long way inland—and accumulations of stones and shingle started to affect the quality of the beach.^[1][11] Storms in 1866 forced the esplanade (originally built in 1819) to be repaired.^[11] By the 20th century, the beach was composed entirely of large, coarse stones called Coombe Rock.^[13] The esplanade was extended to the east and west during the 1930s,^[11] and sea defences were improved further from 1990 onwards when blocks of stone were built into the beach at three points.^[14] Long-term trends suggest that shingle will continue to accumulate on the beach and make it shelve more steeply, and the land will continue to erode (especially if sea levels rise) and be carried off to the east on sea currents.^[15]

There are three capstans on Worthing beach. All survive from the 19th century, when they were used by boat crews.^[16]

The Worthing Lumps are a range of underwater chalk cliffs about 5 miles (8 km) off the Worthing coast.^[17] They face north, rise as high as 10 feet (3 m) and have areas of small rocks and sand at their base.^[18] They have been designated a Marine Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI),^[15][17] and are an important breeding and visiting ground for sea creatures such as lesser spotted dogfish, tompot blenny, gobies, triggerfish and piddocks, and for birds such as the red-breasted merganser.^[18][19][20] There are few undersea chalk cliffs in the waters around Britain: Sussex has several, and the Lumps have been described as the best example.^[18]

A large "seaweed zone" also exists on the seabed off Worthing.^[14] Seaweed has been washed up on Worthing beach throughout the town's history, but it began to cause problems at the start of the 19th century when the town was growing and trying to present itself as a fashionable seaside resort. The decaying matter was unsightly, smelt offensive and attracted flies, especially when sewage from the town's primitive drainage system mixed with it.^[14][21][22] When Worthing was an agricultural and fishing village, farmers took the seaweed away and used it as fertiliser;^[1][21] the town commissioners allowed this at first, but later discouraged it. By the mid-20th century, the Borough Council demanded payment from people wishing to remove seaweed from the beach; when it piled up, it was mechanically pushed out to sea, but this damaged the beach.^[23] Confirmation that the source was local came in 1956, when a specialist team analysed the West Sussex seabed; this disproved a longstanding theory that rocks on the seabed at Bognor Regis were to blame.^[14]

Fishing was important to Worthing's economy from the 16th century or earlier, when it was a modest village, until the early 20th century, but the numbers of boats and men employed were small.^[24][25] Early fishermen supplemented their income by working the land for part of the year as well, and some inhabitants who farmed for most of the year also fished occasionally.^[26] Fishing tended to run in families for many generations.^[27] As well as being sold locally, fish was being exported to towns in Sussex and Surrey by the late 18th century. The main catches were mackerel and herring, supplemented by various crustaceans.^[24][25] A large oyster bed was found in 1823,^[24] and it yielded 50 million oysters within the first year; but overfishing led to its exhaustion within a decade.^[27]

In the 1830s, Worthing's fishermen were affected by economic decline, overfishing and competition from unlicensed French fishermen (English laws required fishermen to hold licences). French boats would sail into English territory, sabotage nets and take as many fish as they could. Worthing's fishermen united in 1838 to present a petition to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom demanding action, and the intervention of Sir George Richard Brooke-Pechell, 4th Baronet (MP for Brighton and the owner of Castle Goring) resulted in the French and British governments signing a trade agreement which improved fishing rights for the English.^[28]

The industry was most successful in the second half of the 19th century. The local fishing fleet trebled in size to 110 boats between 1855 and 1887, and the 1892 season's yield was valued at a record £2,526.^[25] Decline in yield, boats used and men employed set in quickly after that: about ten fishermen were still active in 1950 and five by the 1990s.^[24][25]

Boatbuilding was less important in Worthing than in nearby towns such as Shoreham-by-Sea and Littlehampton, but a small industry existed for about 60 years from the mid-19th century: a fishing boat built in 1856 was the town's first,^[29] and boats were sold outside the town.^[24] J. Belton's building firm, active from the 1880s until 1916, was the most prominent company in the area.^[29]