Facts about Selsey
General Info
Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounded to the west by Bracklesham Bay, to the north by Broad Rife (rife[3] being the local word for stream or creek), to the east by Pagham Harbour and terminates in the south at Selsey Bill. There are significant rock formations beneath the sea off both of its coasts, named the Owers rocks and Mixon rocks. Coastal erosion has been an ever-present problem for Selsey.
History
The earliest evidence of human habitation in the Selsey area goes back to the stone age.[8] Various stone implements have been found which date to the Palaeolithic period.[9] People have been living in the area ever since.
It is believed that, in the Late Iron Age, the Atrebates (one of the Belgae tribes) built a city at Selsey, similar in status to the pre-Roman urban centre ( oppidum) at Hengistbury Head near Christchurch.[11][15][16][17] So far there is no archaeological evidence to confirm this, although some have speculated that the old city that Camden refers to is, indeed the old Belgae settlement and was located at the Mixon rocks, now south of Selsey Bill.
