Felpham
| Felpham | |
|---|---|
 The A259/B2132 junction |
|
 Felpham
|
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| Felpham shown within West Sussex | |
| Area | 4.26 km2 (1.64 sq mi) |
| Population | 9,746 (2011) |
| • Density | 2,255/km2 (5,840/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SZ949998 |
| • London | 54 miles (87 km) NNE |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BOGNOR REGIS |
| Postcode district | PO22 |
| Dialling code | 01243 |
| Police | Sussex |
| Fire | West Sussex |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | http://www.felphampc.gov.uk/ |
Felpham (sometimes pronounced locally as Felf-fm) is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Although sometimes considered part of the urban area of greater Bognor Regis, it is a village and civil parish in its own right, having an area of 4.26 km² with a population of 9611 people that is still growing (2001 census). The population at the 2011 Census was 9,746.
Felpham lies on the A259 coastal road that runs from Havant in Hampshire to Folkestone in Kent.
The 12th century Anglican parish church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. There is also a Methodist church close to the three-way junction of Felpham Way, Flansham Lane and Middleton Road, in the east of the village.
Felpham was in existence long before Bognor Regis, having been mentioned in the Domesday Book of the 11th century, under the hundred of Binstead: "St Edward's Abbey [Shaftesbury] holds and held Felpham before 1066..." Its value before 1066 was said to be £10.
William Blake, introduced to the village by his friend William Hayley, lived in Felpham for three years while writing his Milton: A Poem in Two Books. The poem contains his famous words about "England's green and pleasant land", today known as the anthem "Jerusalem", which were inspired by Blake's "evident pleasure" in the Felpham countryside. The cottage where he lived is depicted in the illustrations for the poem. It lies within the original village, close to the Fox public house. Of the village he wrote:
Away to sweet Felpham for heaven is there:
The Ladder of Angels descends through the air
On the turrett its spiral does softly descend
Through the village it winds, at my cot it does end.
...
Wikipedia