ChichesterHistory-Manhood &Medmerry

By local historian Andrew Berriman

Medmerry

West Sussex villages beginning with M At least two of the Four Apostles, Matthew and Mark, have names beginning with M, as do basic foods such as milk and meat. But as for West Sussex villages, south of the A27, which begin with that letter, decidedly not many. There’s Merston, which is little more than a twisty lane, a small pond, a very small church, and an abandoned canal. So instead I’ve chosen two places in the locality which aren’t villages, but are interesting: the Manhood, and Medmerry. History of Manhood Let’s start with the Manhood. It’s properly called the Hundred of Manhood, which is also the name given to the railway which ran uncertainly across it from 1897 until 1935: the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway. So what exactly was it? Originally it referred to the many pieces of land given to St Wilfrid in the late 7th century, to support the foundation of a Christian monastic community at what is now Church Norton, near Selsey. By the twelfth century this area was known as ‘la Manwode’ or ‘main wood’. Each hundred dispensed justice for its area at a twice-yearly meeting of the ‘court leet’, a court of law. It is widely believed that the Manhood’s court leet was held at Hundredsteddle, in the heart of this ‘common wood’. It is still possible to find Hundredsteddle Farm at Somerley, where the parish boundaries of the Witterings, Birdham and Earnley meet. Nearby are three dwellings called The Old Court House, Hundred Steddle House and The Hundred House, which confirm this location. As late as 1835 the bishop of Chichester, as lord of the manor, held a court leet ‘at Birdham’ to appoint constables in each of the Hundred’s seven parishes. History of Medmerry Next, Medmerry. A friend of mine used to be the Headteacher of Medmerry Primary School in Selsey, so I knew Medmerry was near Selsey. Medmerry Farm and Medmerry Marshes are both shown, just west of Selsey, on old maps, such as Yeakell and Gardner’s in 1788. But by 1905 Medmerry farmhouse had been abandoned to the eroding shoreline. In 2013 Medmerry became the location for a Coastal Realignment scheme, at a cost of £28m, paid for by the Environment Agency. It was the largest such scheme in Britain, indeed one of the largest in Europe, covering more than 300 football pitches. Prior to this there had been many attempts at coastal defence against flooding, with little success. As recently as 2008 the sea smashed through shingle banks, and 150 caravans became boats. The fear was that a catastrophic flood could submerge the main road out of Selsey, cutting it off from the mainland. This new scheme enables storms or high tides to enter Medmerry through the newly created 110-metre breach, at the lowest point on the beach, and spread the floodwater harmlessly over the lowlying salt-marsh. In this way Medmerry would absorb the energy of the waves and Selsey would be saved. At either end of the breach are revetments, piles of huge stones. A decade on from its construction, it is wholly a success story. Medmerry as a wildlife haven During its construction archaeologists found Bronze Age roundhouses and burial grounds from 1000BC, and a medieval V-shaped, 160metre long wooden ‘kettle’ to funnel and trap fish in a weir at low tide, using wickerwork fences across the tidal channel. Medmerry has become a superb saltmarsh and mudflat habitat, and wildlife haven, with numerous inter-tidal creeks and lagoons. All quite different to its use during WW2 when it was used as bombing range for practising RAF pilots. Its seven kilometre perimeter clay bank provides a splendid walk from Pagham Harbour westwards to Earnley, passing in the Stilt Pools those graceful avocets with their black and white plumage, and delicate curving bills. Once I walked along that bank, together with a silent barn owl flying along the ditch below and beside me. Quite magical.