Blake's Green And Pleasant Land?

On his quest to find the hidden stories of Sussex Clive Agran heads to the coastal villages of Felpham and Middleton-on-Sea.

- Clive Agran

Although no one could ever accuse me of engaging in too much painstaking research, I did skim through an article on the history of Felpham and Middleton-on-Sea before visiting the pretty pair of villages just east of Bognor Regis and wondered whether I should wear Wellington boots for the trip. To summarise, it’s mostly a tale of sluices, groynes, sea-walls, barriers, floods, erosion and more floods.

Of the two, Felpham would appear to have fared better in its efforts to stay afloat and maybe Middleton-under-Sea should be listed as the third but missing settlement. At least there is no uncertainty as to how to pronounce Middleton on-Sea whereas Felpham is less straightforward. My three guides for the day are split as to whether you embrace the ‘p’ and ignore the ‘h’ or pronounce the ‘ph’; so, sort of phonetically, it’s either ‘Felp’m’ or ‘Felf’m’.

Glenn Powell, Jane Barnes, and Roger Brooks are active members of societies and groups concerned with the area’s history and conservation. Between them they know pretty well all there is to know about Felpham and Middleton including the fact that Queen Elizabeth II was an occasional visitor here quite a few years ago to visit a friend of hers who lived on the Beach Estate.

In estate agents’ parlance, there are a number of ‘much sought-after’ estates in both villages. As was the case with a number of settlements along the south coast that expanded around the middle of the 20th century, these took the form of smart gated estates with neat streets, well-kempt gardens and distinctive detached houses. Upmarket and desirable, the crude rule of thumb is the closest to the sea, the more expensive they were and still are.