Westbourne, West Sussex

Westbourne - becoming like a small town

Westbourne sits right on the border between West Sussex and Hampshire, which follows the path of the River Ems in this south western corner of Sussex, not too far from the Emsworth Channel of Chichester Harbour and close to the South Downs too.

Although there has been a lot of house building in Westbourne in the last 20 years, the centre of the village remains very attractive, especially the area around the Square - which seems more like a miniature market town centre than a more typical Sussex village centre.

The village is proud of the large number of listed buildings in Westbourne parish and rightly so.

Westbourne Church

The main feature of note at the large church of St John the Baptist, Westbourne is not so much the church as the large churchyard.

Westbourne churchyard is full of interesting an unusual tombstones and monuments. The churchyard is graced by lovely yew trees and it's a place full of interest and surprise, if you invest the time in looking closely at what's around you.

The yew trees are reputed to have been planted in 1544 while most of the exterior of the church itself dates from the fourteenth century. The interior of Westbourne Church was restyled on a drastic scale in the 1860s under the guidance of the vicar - perhaps he should have stuck to writing his sermon.

The parish of Westbourne contains Woodmancote and Aldsworth hamlets.

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