Wittering, East

WITTERING, EAST, a parish, in the union of West Hampnett, hundred of Manhood, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex, 6 miles (S. W. by S.) from Chichester; containing 261 inhabitants. This parish is bounded on the south by the English Channel, and comprises 1000 acres of land, mostly arable. From the mouth of Chichester Harbour to the extremity of Selsey Hill, a distance of nearly eight miles, the sea has absorbed a very considerable portion of the prebendal manor of Bracklesham; and the bay thus formed, called Bracklesham Bay, affords at low water a delightful ride upon the sands, which are particularly firm and level, occasionally interspersed with patches of soft clay, in which beautiful fossil shells are found. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 16. 8.; net income, £190; patron, the Bishop of Chichester. The church is an ancient structure, with a Norman font, and a fine south doorway in that style, highly enriched. There was an endowed chapel at Bracklesham, annexed to the vicarage by Bishop Shirborne, in 1518.