Old Fishbourne
Old Fishbourne is a historic settlement on the edge of Chichester Harbour in West Sussex, England. The manor has been documented since 1086, but people have lived here for thousands of years before that.
Archaeological evidence from the area dates human presence here to the Mesolithic period, around 5000 BC.
The Manor of Old Fishbourne first appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, when a man named Engeler held two hides of land here from the great manor of Bosham, under Earl Roger de Montgomery. In the twelfth century, Engeler's son Turstin granted these lands to Southwick Priory, which held them until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1540, the manor was granted to Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII, as part of her annulment settlement.
Fishbourne Roman Palace, discovered in nearby fields in 1960, is the largest known Roman residential building north of the Alps. Its mosaics, including the Cupid on a Dolphin, are some of the best-preserved examples of Roman decorative art in Britain.
Key Facts
- First recorded Domesday Book, 1086
- Notable holder Anne of Cleves (1540)
- Nearby Fishbourne Roman Palace
- Earliest evidence c. 5000 BC (Mesolithic flints)
- Current holder Morgan Sheldon