Lancing, West Sussex
Encyclopedia
Lancing is a town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 and civil parish in the Adur district of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

, England, on the western edge of the Adur Valley. It lies on the coastal plain between Sompting
Sompting
Sompting is a village and civil parish in the Adur District of West Sussex, England, located between Lancing and Worthing, at the foot of the southern slope of the South Downs. Twentieth century development has linked it to Lancing. The civil parish covers an area of 10.35 square kilometres and has...

 to the west, Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...

 to the east and the parish of Coombes
Coombes
Coombes is a hamlet and civil parish in the Adur District of West Sussex, England. The village is in the Adur Valley northwest of Shoreham-by-Sea....

 to the north. It is sometimes credited as being the largest village in England
Largest village in England
Several places claim to be the largest village in England. This title is disputed as there is no standard definition of a village and size might be determined by population or area....

, covering an area of 3.65 miles² (946.4 hectares).

It is a mix of coastal urban dwelling and rural chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....

 downland
Downland
A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....

 landscape. The oldest non-religious buildings date to around 1500 CE. The 2002 population was around 19,000.

The village was a popular seaside resort in the mid-19th century, gaining favour from the gentry of the time for its secluded atmosphere. Lancing today no longer has a notable tourist trade although there are a number of small guest houses, most of them on the A259
A259 road
The A259 is a busy road on the south coast of England passing through Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and part of Kent. Part of the road was named "the most dangerous road in South East England" in 2008.-Description:...

 coast road.

Location

There is a shingle
Pebble
A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of 4 to 64 millimetres based on the Krumbein phi scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered to be larger than granules and smaller than cobbles . A rock made predominantly of pebbles is termed a conglomerate...

 beach with good stretches of clean sand at low water. South of the coast road is Widewater, an internationally rare brackish
Brackish water
Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...

 lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

, and the only known location of the probably extinct Ivell's sea anemone
Ivell's sea anemone
Ivell's sea anemone is a species of invertebrate in the Edwardsiidae family.- Distribution :It is endemic to the United Kingdom.Ivell...

. Immediately north of the developed area is Lancing Ring, a Nature Reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

, part of the former Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the newly established South Downs National Park
South Downs National Park
The South Downs National Park is England's newest National Park, having become fully operational on 1 April 2011. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex...

. To the north of that is farmed agricultural downland connected to Lancing College
Lancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...

 Farm. On its eastern side is Shoreham Airport
Shoreham Airport
- Sussex Police Air Operations Unit :The Sussex Police Air Operations Unit is headquartered at Shoreham Airport. The unit has been equipped since February 2000 with a MD Explorer, registered as "G-SUSX". The unit is headed by a Police Inspector, assisted by a Police Sergeant and two Police...

, the world's oldest continually-operational airport which also served as an RAF base during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

The village's boundary with Sompting to the west has historically been along Boundstone Lane, named after the boundstone or boundary stone that marked the boundary. The stone is now kept at Boundstone Nursery School, Upper Boundstone Lane, having previously been kept at Boundstone Community College
Boundstone Community College
Boundstone Community College was a co-educational comprehensive school for pupils aged 11 to 18, with around 1000 students, including over 100 in the Sixth Form, which served the communities of Lancing and Sompting...

. Much of Lancing's northern boundary with the village of Coombes
Coombes
Coombes is a hamlet and civil parish in the Adur District of West Sussex, England. The village is in the Adur Valley northwest of Shoreham-by-Sea....

 runs along the Ladywell Stream, a tributary of the River Adur
River Adur
The Adur is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river was formerly navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large port, but over time the river valley became silted up and the port moved down to the deeper waters nearer...

 which runs from the South Downs near to Lancing College
Lancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...

. The source of the Ladywell Stream, the Ladywell Spring, is believed to be an ancient holy well
Holy well
A holy well, or sacred spring, is a small body of water emerging from underground and revered either in a Pagan or Christian context, often both. Holy wells were frequently pagan sacred sites that later became Christianized. The term 'holy well' is commonly employed to refer to any water source of...

 or sacred stream with pre-Christian
Pre-Christian
Pre-Christian may mean:*before Christianization**historical polytheism *BC**Classical Antiquity**Iron Age...

 significance.

History

In 1828, remains of what may be an iron age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....

 and to its west a later Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...

 temple were found just west of Lancing Ring. The Romano-British temple was located within an oval temenos
Temenos
Temenos is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, especially to kings and chiefs, or a piece of land marked off from common uses and dedicated to a god, a sanctuary, holy grove or holy precinct: The Pythian race-course is called a temenos, the sacred valley of the Nile is the ...

 and seems to have been built in the 1st century AD. A track has existed since Celtic British times which ran from Chanctonbury Ring
Chanctonbury Ring
Chanctonbury Ring is a hill fort based ring of trees atop Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs, on the border of the civil parishes of Washington and Wiston in the English county of West Sussex. A ridgeway, now part of the South Downs Way, runs along the hill...

 via Cissbury Ring
Cissbury Ring
Cissbury Ring is a hill fort on the South Downs, in the borough of Worthing, and about from its town centre, in the English county of West Sussex.-Hill fort:...

 to Lancing Ring and from then on to a probable ford
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...

 across the River Adur
River Adur
The Adur is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river was formerly navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large port, but over time the river valley became silted up and the port moved down to the deeper waters nearer...

 by the modern Sussex Pad, close to the Old Tollbridge at Old Shoreham
Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...

. The Roman road from Noviomagus Reginorum
Noviomagus Reginorum
Noviomagus Reginorum was the Roman town which is today called Chichester, situated in the modern English county of West Sussex. Alternative versions of the name include Noviomagus Regnorum, Regnentium and Regentium..-Development:...

(Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...

) to Novus Portus (probably Portslade
Portslade
Portslade is the name of an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Portslade Village, the original settlement a mile inland to the north, was built up in the 16th century...

 near Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

) also ran through modern North Lancing (along the Street) down to the ford.

Much of the land now covered with housing was formerly taken by a number of family-run market gardening
Market gardening
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...

 businesses growing fruit or flowers for the Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

 Market or Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

 in London. Sparks Nursery was growing fruit such as tomatoes and Young's produced carnations. Chrysanthemums were grown by Frank Lisher on his land south of The Finches, the house he built. The Nash family were fruit growers, producing grapes under huge glass cloches that could be rolled into place on a rail track. 'Mr Marshall's Nursery' was also notable.

Lancing railway station
Lancing railway station
Lancing railway station is in Lancing in the county of West Sussex, England. The station is operated by Southern.The station has short platforms; passengers are required to listen to on-train announcements when alighting and must alight from the front four coaches of the train.Platform 1 is for...

 opened with what is now known as the West Coastway Line
West Coastway Line
The West Coastway Line is a railway line in England, along the south coast of West Sussex and Hampshire, between Brighton and Southampton, plus the short branches to Littlehampton and Bognor Regis....

 in 1849. Between 1908 and 1912 the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its apex, practically the whole coastline of Sussex as its base, and a large part of Surrey...

 developed its railway wagon and carriage works
Lancing Carriage Works
Lancing carriage and wagon works was a railway carriage and wagon building and maintenance facility in the village of Lancing in the county of West Sussex in England from 1911 until 1965.-History under the LB&SCR:...

 in the area that is now the Lancing Business Park at the western edge of the village. The railway works were closed on 25 June 1965.

Following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 the population of Lancing increased dramatically. The village is largely suburban in character and forms part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton
Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton
The Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation has a population of 461,181 , making it the 12th largest conurbation in the United Kingdom, after Greater Belfast and ahead of Edinburgh. It is England's 10th largest conurbation. Named the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation by the Office...

 conurbation.

Etymology

Lancing probably means the people of Wlanc or people of Hlanc. Like many places throughout this part of Sussex, Lancing has an -ing ending, meaning people of. Wlanc seems to mean proud or imperious, while Hlanc seems to mean lank or lean. The suggestion that Lancing takes its name from the Wlencing or Wlenca, the son of the South Saxon king Ælle, has been discounted.

Landmarks

Shoreham Tollbridge
Shoreham Tollbridge
Shoreham Tollbridge is a bridge crossing the River Adur in West Sussex, England. It is the last of its kind in Sussex and one of the last of its kind anywhere in the world.-Old Shoreham Tollbridge:...

 is a Grade II* listed building which was the last tollbridge in use within Sussex. The bridge is located in the east of the parish, crossing the River Adur
River Adur
The Adur is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river was formerly navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large port, but over time the river valley became silted up and the port moved down to the deeper waters nearer...

 into Shoreham.

Shoreham Airport
Shoreham Airport
- Sussex Police Air Operations Unit :The Sussex Police Air Operations Unit is headquartered at Shoreham Airport. The unit has been equipped since February 2000 with a MD Explorer, registered as "G-SUSX". The unit is headed by a Police Inspector, assisted by a Police Sergeant and two Police...

, the oldest licensed airfield in the UK, lies within the parish.

Education

The local senior school, The Sir Robert Woodard Academy
The Sir Robert Woodard Academy
The Sir Robert Woodard Academy is a mixed gender academy, sponsored by Woodard Schools and West Sussex County Council, in Lancing, West Sussex which opened in September 2009. The academy, which serves the communities of Lancing and Sompting, replaced Boundstone Community College, which closed in...

, formerly Boundstone Community College
Boundstone Community College
Boundstone Community College was a co-educational comprehensive school for pupils aged 11 to 18, with around 1000 students, including over 100 in the Sixth Form, which served the communities of Lancing and Sompting...

, located just inside the neighbouring village of Sompting
Sompting
Sompting is a village and civil parish in the Adur District of West Sussex, England, located between Lancing and Worthing, at the foot of the southern slope of the South Downs. Twentieth century development has linked it to Lancing. The civil parish covers an area of 10.35 square kilometres and has...

, is a mixed comprehensive of around 1,100 students from ages 11–18.

In the north-east of the parish on the Downs lies Lancing College
Lancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...

, an independent school and major landmark.

There are also three primary schools, Seaside Primary(formerly known as Freshbrook First School and Thornberry Middle School) which is located on Freshbrook Road, The Globe Primary which is located on Irene Av. and North Lancing Primary which is located on Mill Road. All of these primary schools are only about 3 years old because each of the three middle schools mixed with the nearest of the three first schools in Lancing!

Literary connections

Lancing was visited by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...

 in the 1890s when he stayed at nearby Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...

. The working title for his masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...

was Lady Lancing. Wilde's friend and lover, the poet Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Douglas
Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas , nicknamed Bosie, was a British author, poet and translator, better known as the intimate friend and lover of the writer Oscar Wilde...

 lived in nearby Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

 and died while staying at Monk's Farmhouse in Lancing. Lancing was also visited by another poet, Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...

, who stayed at The Terrace in the 1880s.

Football

There are several teams in the village covering adult and junior games. Lancing F.C.
Lancing F.C.
Lancing F.C. is a football club based in Lancing, near Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England. The club was formed in 1941. They have reached the 3rd Round Qualifying of the FA Cup once in their history and the 2nd Round of the FA Vase twice. For the 2011-12 season, they are members of the Sussex...

 are based at the Culver Road ground while Lancing United play at Monks Recreation ground (Crabtree Lane) and Croshaw Recreation Ground (Boundstone Lane). The junior's Lancing Rangers Football Club successfully achieved The FA Charter Standard in 2004. The Sussex County Football Association is based at Culver Road in the village.
There also some fairly big teams located nearby including Brighton and Hove Albion, whos reserves play at Culver Road and Worthing FC who play in the Ryman League Division 1 South.

Cricket

Lancing Manor Cricket Club play at the cricket ground at the junction of the A27 and Grinstead Lane.
There is also the newly formed cricket club Lancing Lads Official.

People

The writer Ted Walker
Ted Walker
Edward Joseph Walker was a prize-winning English poet, short story writer, travel writer, TV and radio dramatist and broadcaster.-Early life:...

 was born in Lancing in 1934 and grew up at 186, Brighton Road, by the Widewater. His autobiographical work, The High Path takes its name from the footpath that ran between Brighton road and the Widewater, and which was formerly a public right of way.

As a child, heavyweight boxer Sir Henry Cooper
Henry Cooper (boxer)
Sir Henry Cooper OBE KSG was an English heavyweight boxer known for the effectiveness of his left hook, "Enry's 'Ammer", and his knockdown of the young Muhammad Ali...

 was evacuated from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to Lancing, along with identical twin brother George.

Many well-known figures have attended Lancing College
Lancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...

, including novelists Tom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe is an English satirical author, best known for his Wilt series of novels.Sharpe was born in London and moved to South Africa in 1951, where he worked as a social worker and a teacher, before being deported for sedition in 1961...

 and Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...

 and lyricist Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...

.

Twin towns

Lancing, (along with the other urban districts of Adur) is twinned with Żywiec
Zywiec
Żywiec is a town in south-central Poland with 32,242 inhabitants . Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship....

, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 Riom
Riom
Riom is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-History:Until the French Revolution, Riom was the capital of the province of Auvergne, and the seat of the dukes of Auvergne. The city was of Gaulish origin, the Roman Ricomagus...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...


External links

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