Littlehampton | |
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Littlehampton Harbour |
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Littlehampton shown within West Sussex | |
Area | 10.06 km2 (3.88 sq mi) |
Population | 27,795 (Civil Parish.2011) |
• Density | 2,763/km2 (7,160/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | TQ029020 |
• London | 51 miles (82 km) NNE |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LITTLEHAMPTON |
Postcode district | BN17 |
Dialling code | 01903 |
Police | Sussex |
Fire | West Sussex |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
EU Parliament | South East England |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Littlehampton Town Council |
Littlehampton is a seaside resort and pleasure harbour, and the most populous civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is 51.5 miles (83 km) south south-west of London, 19 miles (31 km) west of Brighton and 10 miles (16 km) east of the county town of Chichester.
The parish covers an area of 11.35 km2 (4 sq mi). The suburban area of the town has a population of approximately 55,000. The conurbation includes other settlements: Wick in the north west; Lyminster to the north; and Rustington to the east. Wick and Toddington, which has a large business park, became part of the town in 1901. Nearby towns include Bognor Regis (WSW) and Worthing to the east. The town is also the westernmost settlement of the 12th largest urban area in England and Wales, the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation, a region encompassing 474,485 people (2011 census). The South Downs National Park commences 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the town: Littlehampton links to Amberley and Arundel by footpaths and railway as well as by roads.
A human settlement at Littlehampton can be traced back to prehistoric and Roman times, while it appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the small hamlet of 'Hantone'. The settlement is believed to have been a fishing community around this time, appearing on a French map in around 1100 as 'Hanton'. The settlement is then believed to have been given to the Abbey of St Martin de Seez in Normandy, who owned Littlehampton until around 1400. The area then passed back to the ownership of successive Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk, whose successors still reside in Arundel today.