Chichester Harbour | Roland's Ragbag

*Bosham, West Sussex . . . Watercolour – WHB: 2000*

Bosham is a delightful village situated on an arm of Chichester Harbour (West Sussex). Bosham has a long history; it is thought that it was one of the first sites in Sussex were the Saxon St Wilfrid preached, around the year 681 AD. Three centuries later, it was at Bosham that King Canute, tongue in cheek, ordered the waves to cease their movement. Canute’s daughter is buried at Holy Trinity parish church, which features a superb 11th century chancel arch and a Saxon tower.

One of Canute’s successors, Harold, set sail from Bosham in 1064 on the voyage which was to eventually cost him his kingdom, after a storm cast him into the hands of William of Normandy.

Today, Bosham remains a popular boating centre, and it retains many charming 17th and 18th century buildings in the narrow, winding streets and alleys that lead to the harbour. The manor of Bosham House, which may stand on the site of a Saxon house built for Canute, was the home of Henry Hamblin, the popular writer and spiritualist known as the ‘Saint of Sussex’.

From: http://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=3123

*Two more watercolours of Bosham Harbour . . . WHB c.2000*

The village of Bosham (pronounced ‘Bozzam’) in West Sussex is said to be where King Canute, in the early 11th century, attempted to hold back the waves of the incoming sea. He did not succeed, as in fact was his purpose in order to demonstrate to his gullible subjects that kings were not all-powerful. No-one else, either before or after him (barring perhaps Moses) has succeeded either.

I first published an article on this small West Sussex coastal village on the 8th August. Here is a link to it . . . Bosham, Sussex, UK

In that blog, one of my very first, I included a number of my photographs of this charming and historic village. Perhaps the major feature of the village is its delightful waterside setting with the Church of The Holy Trinity dominating the skyline. I now add below 3 of my panoramic pen and wash sketches, in different styles, of this view from across the waters of the inlet of Chichester Harbour on which Bosham is situated.

bosham3