Manhood Peninsula

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Fields near Selsey
The Manhood Peninsula

The Manhood Peninsula is the southernmost part of Sussex, a triangular peninsula with the English Channel to its south and Chichester to the north. This is flat land, kin to the sea beyond it, of farms and villages. Though close to the great towns of the south coast to east and to west, the Manhood Peninsula remains a land of farmland and blessed calm.

It also constitutes one of Sussex's 59 hundreds; the Hundred of Manhood in the Rape of Chichester[1] (a Rape being a division peculiar to Sussex).[2]

The peninsula is bordered to its west by Chichester Harbour and to its east by Pagham Harbour. Its southern headland is Selsey Bill.[1]

Name

The name Manhood has had various spellings over the years including Manwed" on the Armada map of 1587, Manhode on a map of 1663 and Manhope on Mordens map of 1695.[3]

The name is probably derived from the Old English mæne-wudu meaning "general wood" or "common wood", in other words common land.[4] This woodland ceased to be used in common until 1793 when 693 acres were enclosed by Acts of Parliament.[4]

History

Mordens map of Sussex, 1695, with The manhope

In AD681 St Wilfrid landed in the land of the South Saxons and spent five years there evangelising them.[5] King Cædwalla of the West Saxons granted Wilfrid 87 hides of land in 683 AD, to build a monastery.[6]

After the Norman Conquest the area became a barony, by which tenure the Bishop of Chichester sat as a peer in the king's council.[7]

At the time of the Domesday Book the Hundred was known as the Hundred of Westeringes and Somerley and Earl Roger Montgomery held the whole Hundred of 'Westeringes' (Wittering), containing Birdham (3½ hides), Itchenor (1 hide), Somerley in East Wittering (1 hide) and East Wittering (1 hide).[8] Roger Montgomery was one of the kingdom's most powerful lords, at the time, with extensive landholdings around the country including nearly all of the western half of Sussex.[9] The Bishop of Chichester (formerly of Selsey) held the Hundred of Somerley with 10 hides in Selsey, 12 in Sidlesham, and 14 in West Wittering.[8]

By the 12th century the two Hundreds of Westeringas and Somerley became united in the one Hundred of Manhood, which was a liberty of the Bishop of Chichester, consisting of the land originally given to St Wilfrid by Cædwalla.[6][8][10] The manor house for the Hundred of Manhood was situated just north of Sidlesham church.[11]

In the year 1525, a claim was made for part of the Manhood by William FitzAlan, 18th Earl of Arundel, based on his ownership of the manor of Almodington.[7] To settle the dispute a meeting was held at the Hundred court-house between Robert Sherborne, Bishop of Chichester and John Stilman, the Earl's counsel. The court found in the Bishops favour and Henry VIII's charter confirmed the boundary of the land, which coincided with those in St Wilfrid's original charter.[7][12][13]

As lord of the hundred the Bishop of Chichester was expected to hold a court-leet annually, that all residents were bound to attend.[7] This continued till about 1835, and would have been held at the hundred-moot which is believed to have been at Hundredsteddle Farm, Somerley near Birdham.[8] According to The Placenames of Sussex, Somerley is the Old English for a clearing used in summer and an earlier version of steddle was probably staddle, the name Hundredsteddle would be a reference to the floor on which the Hundred court would have sat.[14][15]

In 1561 Elizabeth I passed an act that removed some of the Manhood parishes from the ownership of the Bishops of Chichester.[16][17] These parishes were eventually sold to lay proprietors and included Selsey, that a Sir William Morley purchased from the crown for £4100 in 1635.[16]

Parishes in the Hundred of Manhood

Map of the Manhood Peninsula

In addition to the seven parishes listed above, the Hundred originally contained three others: East Itchenor, annexed to Birdham in 1441; Almodington, annexed to Earnley in 1526; and Bracklesham, largely washed away by the sea and finally united to East Wittering in 1518. For purposes of taxation the hundred was divided into four vills: Sidlesham, Selsey, Wittering, and Birdham.[8]

The Manhood today

The Manhood Peninsula is stil a quiet land, flat against the sea, unencumbered by the great coastal town development that has filled much of the rest of the Channel coast, as the uncertain ground is unsuitable for development and the roads pass it by. There is but one town on the peninsula, Selsey, and several villages with their own identities.

Many organisations both commercial and non-commercial, that are based on the Manhood Peninsula have the name Manhood in their title.[18] Some organisations exist to deal with common issues and problems encountered by all on the Manhood, for example the Manhood Peninsula Partnership, which is a resident-inspired partnership of local communities, local and national government agencies, and other bodies involved in the Manhood whose purpose is to create a wider understanding of the issues facing the area and has forged a new way of working together for the benefit of the peninsula and its people.[19] Thus although the Manhood is not a political entity, today's parishes that make up the Manhood Peninsula still have a lot of common issues that bind them together.[19]

Outside links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Peninsular Partnersip. Archaeology in the peninsula.
  2. ↑ Salzman. The History of the County of Sussex. The Rape of Chichester. Introduction. pp. 1-2 .
  3. ↑ Heron-Allen. Selsey. p.11.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brandon. South Saxons. pp.6-8
  5. ↑ Mee. A History of Selsey p.10
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kelly. Charters of Selsey. pp.85 - 91.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Horsfield.History of the County of Sussex. pp.32-33
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Salzmann. The hundred of Manhood: Introduction: A History of the County of Sussex. Vol 4. p.198
  9. ↑ Horsfield. History of Sussex. pp.76 - 77
  10. ↑ Free Dictionary Online. Liberty - In the English law, by liberty is meant a privilege held by grant or prescription, by which some men enjoy greater benefits than ordinary subjects. A liberty is also a territory, with some extraordinary privilege.
  11. ↑ Mee. A History of Selsey p.16
  12. ↑ Mee. History of Selsey. pp.3-4.The (boundary) ran from the entrance of Selsey Harbour (now called Pagham Harbour), round the coast to "Hormouth" at the entrance to Chichester Harbour (now West Wittering); then up the estuary to "Brimesdik" (683) or "Bremerdytch"(1525), (the stream dividing Birdham from Appledram); then eastwards to Wayflete, and from thens in circuit into Made-up-lane (now Jury Lane) and so eastward to Dammer-gate; and so along the dytch unto the said Unredisdytch, (now Bremere Rife, which runs south into Selsey Harbour).
  13. ↑ Heron-Allen. Selsey. p.11. the lybertyes of the Manwode belonging to the Byshop of Chichester, beginneth at Uredisdytch and extendeth southward, to the havyn of Wyddering, now called Selsey Haven, extending westward as the course of the sea, to Hormouth Haven, now called West Widdering; and from thence northward it extendeth along to Viales-flete, now called Bosham-dytch; and so from thens upwarde the havyn, to Brunesdyke, now called Bremers-dytch; and from thens extendinge eastwarde to Wayflete, and thens in circuit into Made-up-lane, and so eastwarde to Dammer-gate; and so along the ditch unto the said Unredisdytch.
  14. ↑ Stenton. Placenames of Sussex. p.79
  15. ↑ Parish. A Dictionary of Sussex Dialect. The word steddle was quite common in Sussex various examples being: p.17. Bedsteddle - Bedstead; p.64. Jointsteddle - a stool framed by joinery work; p.83. Oxsteddle - Stabling or stalls for oxen; p.114. Steddle - a small side table or a temporary arrangement of boards and trestles.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Horsfied. History and Antiquities Vol II P.35
  17. ↑ Mee. History of Selsey. p.19
  18. ↑ BT. Portsmouth Phone Book 2009/2010
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Manhood Peninsula Partnership Website
  • Armstrong, J.R. (1961). A History of Sussex. Chichester, Sussex: Philimore. 
  • Bartlett, Robert (2000). J.M.Roberts. ed. England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075 -1225. London: OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-925101-8. 
  • Brandon, Peter (1978). The South Saxons. Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0-85033-240-0. 
  • Heron-Allen, Edward (1911). Selsey Historic and Prehistoric. Duckworth. 
  • Horsfield, Thomas Walker (1835 Facsimile Ed 2009). The History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex Vol II. Country Books. ISBN 978-1-906789-16-9. 
  • Kelly, S.E (1998). Anglo-Saxon Charters VI, Charters of Selsey. OUP for the British Academy}. ISBN 0-19-726175-2. 
  • Mee, Frances (1988). A History of Selsey. Chichester, Sussex: Philimore. ISBN 0-85033-672-4. 
  • Parish, William Douglas (1875). A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect and Collection of Provincialisms in use in the County of Sussex. Lewes: Farncombe & Co.. 
  • [1] A History of the County of - Volume : {{{2}}} (Victoria County History)
  • Stenton, Frank (1930). The Placenames of Sussex Vol. 6. London: University Press. 
  • Legal Dictionary (The Free Dictionary)
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