Chichester Harbour Villages Bosham Earnley Itchenor & Pagham Harbour West Sussex UK

Bosham Harbour Village & Bosham Walk Art & Craft Centre

Bosham is one of the most popular of the Chichester Harbour villages. Stunningly set on the edge of Chichester Harbour and within easy reach of Fishbourne Roman Palace and Chichester city centre, Bosham today offers a host of facilities including many tearooms, ample accommodation and a resident sailing club, the oldest and first sailing club to be set up in the Sussex area of Chichester Harbour.

Historic Bosham has many a story to tell. The village features on the Bayeaux Tapestry - this is King Harold's home village! Visit Holy Trinity Church in the village which is named and referenced on the tapestry. The story of King Canute trying to turn back the tide to demonstrate his mere mortality pertains to Bosham. Canute's daughter is said to have drowned in Bosham's mill stream and is believed to be buried in the church. With a fishing and boat building heritage, the village today is a hotspot for watersports, particularly yachts and dinghies. The National Trust owns Quay Meadow at Bosham which affords spectacular views across to Childham and is the perfect spot for a picnic. The village has a delightful choice of tearooms and character pubs including the famous ancient Anchor Bleu waterside pub.

Bosham Walk Art & Craft Centre situated in the old boathouse at Bosham is home to 19 charming arts and crafts shops all under one roof. Artists are usually at work here and craft courses are available in the on-site studio. Craft shops include jewellery and beads, textiles, the Bosham Gift Shop, ladies fashion and decorative glass paintings. Find out more via the Bosham Walk Centre's weblink right. The Captain's Table Tea Room is on-site.

Bosham Walk Art & Craft Centre, Bosham Lane, Bosham, PO18 8HX. Tel. 01243 572475. Open daily from 10am to 5pm. For more details on Bosham Village, including the historic Anchor Bleu Pub plus an extensive photo library of the village see the Bosham Village webguide.

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Chichester Harbour Ferries & Boat Trips

One of the best ways to take in the breathtaking scenery of Chichester Harbour AONB is on the water and there's plenty of opportunity to do so with a number of companies offering ferry and boat trip services. Solar Heritage operate a solar powered catamaran between Itchenor and Emsworth, Tel. 01243 513275 for details and booking. Schedule and personalised trips are available throughout the year and full details are listed on the Chichester Harbour webguide.

Novelty boat trips are also available like Terror, a Victorian boat departing regularly from Emsworth during the summer season and offering two hour sailing trips. Chichester Harbour Watertours (weblink right) run a regular boat trip service from Itchenor. Their trips last around an hour and a half. In addition a regular ferry service runs from the Itchenor Jetty to Smugglers Lane at Bosham and from Deep End to Birdham. Details are via the Itchenor Ferry webguide. For visitors with moored vessels, a ferry service also operates from Emsworth during weekends and bank holidays from the Easter period through to the end of September.

Details of all boat trips and ferry services around Chichester Harbour are listed in full on the Chichester Harbour webguide.

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Pagham Harbour & Nature Reserve

On the eastern side of the Selsey Peninsula more natural wonders await in the form of Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve, an internationally important site again for wildlife. This area begins to reveal the distinctive West Sussex shingle beach front with beautiful flowers including the Yellow Horned Poppy and the blue Vipers Bugloss. A similar shingle terrain is in evidence just west of Littlehampton in the Climping Beach area. (see the Sussex Wildlife Trust webguide for details). Pagham Harbour is thought to have been rather well used during both the Saxon period and the Middle Ages but by the 1870s waterbourne trade had pretty much disappeared. The harbour was dammed during this period and the area reclaimed for agriculture.

The Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve covers an area of 1500 acres and is mostly saltmarsh and mudflats as well as some farmland, lagoons, reedbeds and shingle beach area. For walking and birdwatching, Pagham Harbour is not to be missed. Waders and wildfowl are here aplenty in autumn and winter with migrants visiting in summer. A nature trail (The Sidlesham Ferry Nature Trail) starting from the visitor centre at Sidlesham guides you round the reserve which also boasts a further choice of footpaths and bridleways with some suitable for wheelchairs. A boardwalk has also recently been laid at Pagham Spit which now affords access to all onto Pagham Spit from the carpark situated at the end of Harbour Road Pagham.

The Visitor Centre, Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve, Selsey Road, Sidlesham, Chichester, West Sussex, PO20 7NE. Tel. 01243 641508.

Open Monday 10am-2.30pm, Tuesday 10am-12noon, Wednesday 10am-1pm, Thursday, Friday Saturday & Sunday 10am-4pm. A free car park is adjacent with gift shop, information displays, picnic tables and bird watching hides all on-site. Find the visitor centre clearly signposted off the Chichester to Selsey B2145 road.

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