North of Ford, South of Arundel 2008
Between Arundel and Amberley: 2009
Mouth of the Arun 2008
Ships at Littlehampton Approaching Arundel Docks The Bury Ferry Sheep Washing Near Burpham
As early as 150 AD, the Arun was recorded as the Trisantonis in Ptolemy's Geography, with later records substantiating the connection. Trisantonis is thought to be a old celtic word for 'the trespasser', indicating the river's tendency to flood land near to it. Historically, the Arun was known as the Tarrant, but was renamed after Arundel by antiquarians.
The Arun drains over 376 square miles of land, nearly all of which is in the county of West Sussex. This is believed to be the largest catchment area of any river between the Medway and the Tamar along the south coast. Its source is a series of small streams (known locally as ghylls or gills) in St Leonard's
The Arun drains over 376 square miles of land, nearly all of which is in the county of West Sussex. This is believed to be the largest catchment area of any river between the Medway and the Tamar along the south coast. Its source is a series of small streams (known locally as ghylls or gills) in St Leonard's
Forest and, having run westward through Horsham to Bucks Green, turns in a southerly direction towards Newbridge and Pallingham. Running under Stopham Bridge near Pulborough it receives the Western Rother and turns east and flows past the bluff that Pulborough stands on. It then turns south again and heads for the sea, running through the Wildbrooks near Amberley and forces a passage through the South Downs at Houghton. From there it runs to Arundel, past the castle and on for a further 7 miles before pouring into the English Channel at Littlehampton.
There is some disagreement over the actual length of the river.Some say that it is approximately 41 km (25 miles) from source to the sea, but P.A.L. Vine who is an authority on the rivers and canals in this region puts it at 47 miles and I am more inclined to go with his figure. The River Arun is one of the fastest flowing rivers in England. The river, nowadays, is tidal as far inland as Pallingham Quay, 30 km (18.25 miles) upstream from Littlehampton.
The mouth of the river has not always been at Littlehampton. Until the later fifteenth century it’s estuary was about ten miles east at Lancing where it shared the estuary with the River Adur. This estuary became blocked with shingle and the eastward drift of the tides pushed the Adur towards Shoreham-by-Sea, while the Arun broke out at Worthing, Goring and Ferring at various times until it formed its estuary about half a mile east from its present position at Littlehampton between 1500 and 1530.
There is some disagreement over the actual length of the river.Some say that it is approximately 41 km (25 miles) from source to the sea, but P.A.L. Vine who is an authority on the rivers and canals in this region puts it at 47 miles and I am more inclined to go with his figure. The River Arun is one of the fastest flowing rivers in England. The river, nowadays, is tidal as far inland as Pallingham Quay, 30 km (18.25 miles) upstream from Littlehampton.
The mouth of the river has not always been at Littlehampton. Until the later fifteenth century it’s estuary was about ten miles east at Lancing where it shared the estuary with the River Adur. This estuary became blocked with shingle and the eastward drift of the tides pushed the Adur towards Shoreham-by-Sea, while the Arun broke out at Worthing, Goring and Ferring at various times until it formed its estuary about half a mile east from its present position at Littlehampton between 1500 and 1530.
Improvements to the Arun
The Arun has always had a problem with silting, as records show, and in the last half of the 16th century Henry Fitzalan, who had succeeded as the Earl of Arundel in 1644, set about, over the next 30 years, to make Arundel a port for sea-going vessels and reduce the widespread flooding.He made efforts to improve the navigability of the river and had the channel cleared, widened and embanked as far up as North Stoke by 1547. He also altered the course of the river at Arundel so that it flowed to the edge of the town rather than half a mile away from it. He even had a new entrance for the river made at Littlehampton. After the improvements to the entrance of the Arun attempts to improve the navigation of the upper reaches of the
Arundel
The river has been used for centuries and there is evidence of ships sailing up the river as early as AD 871. It seems apparent the the Arun has been navigable to Arundel since at least the time of the Norman Conquest and Arundel is mentioned as a port in the Doomesday Book. Also in 1070 the then Earl of Arundel, Roger de Montgomery, imported 10 tons of Caen stone blocks to reface the castle keep with. There is some debate as to where Arundel port was at this time. Some put up a good case for it being at Ford, just down the river. There was a ford at the river there for crossing and would have been difficult for heavy vessels to pass. Also it is likely that, at this time in it’s history, the tide reached no further than Ford. Also the river passed Arundel at a distance of half a mile with marshy ground in between..
Over the centuries trade slowly grew and by the fourteenth century its markets and fairs were well established. However, it wasn’t until the arrival of Henry Fitzalan as mentioned above that Arundel’s status as a port grew. It was his efforts in improving the navigability of the river as well as building wharves for exporting timber that saw Arundel’s fortunes increase.
Little shipbuilding took place at Arundel until late in the sixteenth century. In 1572 only four coasting vessels were registered there and only one of those was over 100 tons. But ,as a result of the improvements made by the Earl, the end of the sixteenth century saw a large increase in trade and a flourishing shipbuilding industry was operating before 1630. Imports included playing cards, glass, wrought iron, millstones, Purbeck paving stones, tombstones and French and Spanish wine. A thriving oyster fishery based on shellfish beds in the English Channel also brought great prosperity. Things seemed to have declined over the next hundred years as Defoe reports in 1722 that the town was decayed but that large quantities of timber were being shipped from there to the King’s shipyards. Also considerable quantities were shipped, via Lewes and Rye, for burning in the Wealden iron furnaces. This trade eventually ceased when the final furnace closed in 1810.
Throughout most of the seventeenth century the Arun still suffered from silting and shoaling which made it difficult, if not impossible for craft above 15 tons to get far upstream and, thus, stifled Arundel’s further development. But due to pressure from local petitioners to Parliament the Arun Navigation Act was passed in May 1785 authorizing the improvement of the existing navigation and the construction of two canals, one between Coldwaltham and Hardham (Thus reducing the distance to travel by three miles) and the other between Pallingham and Newbridge Wharf. As mentioned previously this was opened in 1787. The work certainly improved trade and by 1791 ships of 200 tons could reach Arundel, where goods were transferred to sailing barges which could use wind and tide to travel upriver, as there were no towpaths on this part of the river. However, Littlehampton had been growing as well and was slowly catching up Arundel as the main port for goods and also had its own thriving shipbuilding industry. Arundel was overtaken by Littlehampton as the principal port in the 1820’s.
For a while trade still flourished but the coming of the railways spelt the end of trade on the river and from the 1840’s onwards, there was a of slow decline rather than a rapid one, with a shrinking market, canal systems becoming un-navigable and the river silting up. By the end of the Nineteenth century the canals connecting up the river had all closed and most trade had ceased. A little trade did continue into the twentieth century on the lower reaches of the river above Littlehampton but any hopes of a revival came to an end when it was agreed to replace the railway swing bridge across the Arun at Ford with a fixed bridge instead, on the grounds that it was expensive to maintain and little used (having not been opened for water traffic between Sept 1919 and May 1928). The bridge opened one last time 5th April 1936 and became a fixed structure in April 1938 thus preventing any large vessels or masted barges from getting further upstream.
Most signs of Arundel’s time as a major port have disappeared and the town is now a tourist attraction with many fine antique shops and the castle of the Dukes of Norfolk. The rivers working vessels have been replaced by pleasure craft but you can still feel echoes of its past and is a very pleasant place to stroll along.
Littlehampton also eventually declined as a port and centre for shipbuilding and has long since resorted to tourism and leisure boating as a major source of income. As of 2009 there is still an aggregate wharf which receives regular visits from ships with sand and gravel dredged from The Channel but that also could be under threat. Like Arundel little of this past remains.
Littlehampton
Iwhen considering Littlehampton’s history as a port and centre of shipbuilding it must be remembered that it wasn’t until between 1500 and 1530 that the mouth of the river actually ‘broke out’ at Littlehampton, as mentioned above. Before then Littlehampton was more farming orientated with maybe a little local fishing. So there was a lot of catching up to do if Littlehampton wanted to compete with Arundel. Also having Arundel as the major port would have suited the Earls of Norfolk more.
Although King Henry VIII had his Royal Dockyard located here Littlehampton remained a small place with only about 100 to 150 people. However it had its own quay by the 1670’s which is now known as Old Quay Wharf although no signs of the any wharf now remain.
Although Littlehampton was never a large port by the mid 19th Century it was handling large quantities of timber (56,000 tons in 1867) mainly from the Baltic but also from Norway, Sweden and Russia. Another wharf for this trade was in use by 1824 and known as the Baltic Wharf. Until recently a wooden warehouse with slated sides to allow air circulation still stood on the site of the old wharf in River Road. Wood was not the only thing being unloaded at Littlehampton’s wharfs, coal came from the North East, as well as china clay and slate, all of which were carried up river by barge from Littlehampton and on to London via the canal network. Other produce was also unloaded and at its height in the mid 1800,s as much as 14,000 tons of fruit, vegetables, eggs, oil and butter were passing through the port each year, not to mention, horses and poultry as well. However Littlehampton’s trade remained primarily timber and coal.
The work was hard and dangerous and between 1863 and 1904 forty Littlehampton ships were wrecked. It was not until 1884 that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) opened a lifeboat station here. Manned by local sailors and fishermen using oars and sails, the boats were launched a total of 26 times before the original station was closed in 1921.
The arrival of the the railway meant trucks could be directly loaded onto waiting ships and the Railway Wharf developed not just for the handling of goods but also for the embarkation of passengers using the steam-packet to France. The wharf still exists today and is where ships carrying sand and shingle dredged from the seabed berth, although the network of railway lines has long since disappeared. Sadly the closure of the ferry service and the decline of shipbuilding in the 1880’s had a serious effect on the port which slowly declined and now only the aggregate industry remains.
Shipbuilding
As mentioned shipyards have existed since at least Henry VIII’s royal dockyards and by the late 1700’s there were several. The heyday for shipbuilding came in the mid 19th century when many large wooden deep sea merchant vessels were being built. One of the major builders of this time was the Harvey family who built many large sailing ships in their yard on the west bank of the Arun between 1846 and 1880. As demand declined the company concentrated more on barge building and boat repair until its closure in 1921.
There were shipbuilding yards on the east bank as well in the 19th Century and the range of brick and pebble buildings that can still be seen in River Road were used by firms such as the Corney, Carver and Isemonger companies and a T Isemonger plaque dated 1830 can still be seen on the rear wall of one of these buildings.
Boat building developed into a major industry in the 20th century with, yachts, motor cruisers, speedboats being built and even small naval craft during the 2 World Wars when Littlehampton was an ammunition port.
Once again the industry has declined but the modern day yards that still exist on the west bank tend mainly to build and repair yachts.
So there is a little of the History of the river Arun and the effect it has had on the growth of both Arundel and Littlehampton. If you want to read a little more on the history of Littlehampton you can go to the History Section.
In the subsequent sections you will find more information relating to Towns, Villages
river started. By the beginning of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign in 1533 the river had been made navigable for the movement of timber by barge, by the same Henry Fitzalan, from Arundel to Pallingham Quay, which is a little north of Pulborough.
From 1623 onwards efforts were made to extend the navigation of the Arun further north, even far as Newbridge near Wisborough and Billinghurst but none succeeded. It was not until 1787 when the Arun Canal was opened to Newbridge that this aim achieved. Finally, in 1816, the Wey and Arun Junction Canal connected with the Arun Canal at Newbridge and a navigable route from Littlehampton all the way to London was achieved. This part of the Arun’s history is covered more extensively in the Canals Section.
The problem with the Arun silting at the harbour mouth continued and records show that the channel was cut anew in 1628 and 1657.But the problem persisted and in 1730 the main channel was only 5 feet deep! It was not until 1735 that a new channel was cut and two piers were built at the mouth of the Arun to finally fix its position. The West Pier caught the sand and silt which would have clogged up the river and allowed the formation of shallow sand flats and sand dunes on the West Beach. The successors to those original piers can still be seen today.
The River Arun has always been prone to flooding as well and despite the embanking work carried out by Henry Fitzalan the river flooded regularly and it wasn’t until the late 1960’s when flood defences were built as far up as Greatham Bridge did this cease to be a regular occurance in winter. There were drawbacks for the flora and fauna though as these flood defences and drainage of water meadows by farmers in the 1970’s resulted in a loss of habitat for some rare species. Fortunately closer co-operation between conservation bodies and the local farming community is seeking to reverse this decline in some areas along the river.
From 1623 onwards efforts were made to extend the navigation of the Arun further north, even far as Newbridge near Wisborough and Billinghurst but none succeeded. It was not until 1787 when the Arun Canal was opened to Newbridge that this aim achieved. Finally, in 1816, the Wey and Arun Junction Canal connected with the Arun Canal at Newbridge and a navigable route from Littlehampton all the way to London was achieved. This part of the Arun’s history is covered more extensively in the Canals Section.
The problem with the Arun silting at the harbour mouth continued and records show that the channel was cut anew in 1628 and 1657.But the problem persisted and in 1730 the main channel was only 5 feet deep! It was not until 1735 that a new channel was cut and two piers were built at the mouth of the Arun to finally fix its position. The West Pier caught the sand and silt which would have clogged up the river and allowed the formation of shallow sand flats and sand dunes on the West Beach. The successors to those original piers can still be seen today.
The River Arun has always been prone to flooding as well and despite the embanking work carried out by Henry Fitzalan the river flooded regularly and it wasn’t until the late 1960’s when flood defences were built as far up as Greatham Bridge did this cease to be a regular occurance in winter. There were drawbacks for the flora and fauna though as these flood defences and drainage of water meadows by farmers in the 1970’s resulted in a loss of habitat for some rare species. Fortunately closer co-operation between conservation bodies and the local farming community is seeking to reverse this decline in some areas along the river.
At Arundel: 2009
Near Greatham Bridge: 2009
The Ports of Arundel and Littlehampton:
c1890: Looking Upstream, River Arun, Arundel. View from wharf including port and ships. Arundel timberyard is on the left. Man in boat. Bridge in the distance.
c1890: River Arun and the Port of Arundel. View over the port and town. Showing coal mound and wharf in the foreground. Sailing boat, brig 'Ebenezer' is on the river. 18thC. salt warehouse is behind the ship's mast. Cathedral is in the far distance.
Sailing Barge approaching Arundel: c1900
Old Arundel Bridge: c1900
Approaching Arundel from the South: 2009
Littlehampton Harbour: c1850
Harvey’s Shipyard: c1905
Littlehampton Harbour: 2009
Tugboat Towing Ship to Sea: c1910
Aggregate ship the ‘Mungo’ heading back to sea. Drawbridge footpath opened to allow exit, dock in background: 2009
Wharf near Houghton Bridge: c1920
Remains of New Bridge Wharfhouse
Amberley Rail Station and Chalk Pits: c1910
All that remains of the T Isemonger Shipyard: 2009
Site of Pallingham Quay: 2009
Industry on the River
The River Arun runs almost exclusively through countryside and does not pass through any large towns. As a result there has never been a vast amount of industry on the river. Wharfs and Quays did develop and handled a variety of goods from chalk and lime from the pits and kilns around Houghton Bridge as well as coal and agricultural produce. Also, as previously mentioned there was a complex of wharfs and quays at Pallingham from as early as 1575 and a large Wharfhouse at New Bridge near Wisborough Green was built when the Arun Navigation arrived there in 1787. In its heyday the river and associated canals carried a variety of goods. After New Bridge the water trade continued on up the Wey and Arun Junction Canal, eventually joining up with the Wey Navigation and finallly to London. The Arun meanders quietly away through the meadows heading for its source. Look for more information in the coming sections.
Most of the old pictures are from West Sussex Past Pictures, the official database of heritage photographs, prints, drawings and paintings provided by local museums and the County Library Service and its parent site West Sussex Past. Also some of the historical information is taken from P.A.L.Vine’s London’s Lost Route to the Sea.
A Brief History of the River Arun
New Bridge, Nr Billingshurst: 2009
