Selsey
Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Selsey is at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounded to the west by Bracklesham Bay, to the north by Broad Rife (rife[1] being the local word for stream or creek), to the east by Pagham Harbour and ends in the south at Selsey Bill. There are significant rock formations beneath the sea off both of its coasts, named the Owers rocks and Mixon rocks. Coastal erosion has been an ever-present problem for Selsey.[2]
The B2145 is the only road in and out of the town crossing a bridge over the water inlet at Pagham Harbour at a point known as "the ferry". At one time Selsey was inaccessible at flood tide, and a boat was stationed at the ferry to take horses and passengers to and from Sidlesham.[3]
Climate
Selsey's climate is classified as warm and temperate.[4] Although Selsey is the sunniest place in the UK,[5] there is rainfall throughout the year and even the driest month still has rain.[6] Probably the most problematic climatic hazard is wind.[7] The town is in an area where tornadoes and waterspouts are common.[8] A tornado in 1986 damaged 200 houses and cut a swathe 70 metres wide. [9] Another tornado in 1998 left an estimated £10m of destruction and damaged Patrick Moore's observatory.[9]
The warmest recorded temperature in Selsey between 1981 and 2010 was 29.0°C on 10 July 1995 and the coldest was -8.6°C on 7 February 1991.
| Climate data for Selsey 0m amsl (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 13.4 (56.1) |
14.1 (57.4) |
18.5 (65.3) |
23.5 (74.3) |
24.6 (76.3) |
28.0 (82.4) |
29.0 (84.2) |
28.7 (83.7) |
25.8 (78.4) |
24.1 (75.4) |
17.5 (63.5) |
14.2 (57.6) |
29.0 (84.2) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 8.3 (46.9) |
8.1 (46.6) |
10.1 (50.2) |
12.4 (54.3) |
15.6 (60.1) |
18.3 (64.9) |
20.5 (68.9) |
20.8 (69.4) |
18.6 (65.5) |
15.2 (59.4) |
11.6 (52.9) |
9.0 (48.2) |
14.04 (57.28) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.1 (43) |
5.7 (42.3) |
7.5 (45.5) |
9.3 (48.7) |
12.5 (54.5) |
15.1 (59.2) |
17.3 (63.1) |
17.6 (63.7) |
15.6 (60.1) |
12.7 (54.9) |
9.2 (48.6) |
6.7 (44.1) |
11.28 (52.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3.9 (39) |
3.3 (37.9) |
4.8 (40.6) |
6.1 (43) |
9.3 (48.7) |
11.9 (53.4) |
14.1 (57.4) |
14.3 (57.7) |
12.5 (54.5) |
10.1 (50.2) |
6.8 (44.2) |
4.4 (39.9) |
8.46 (47.23) |
| Record low °C (°F) | -5.2 (22.6) |
-8.6 (16.5) |
-3.4 (25.9) |
0.4 (32.7) |
2.8 (37) |
6.2 (43.2) |
7.7 (45.9) |
7.8 (46) |
4.6 (40.3) |
1.9 (35.4) |
-4.5 (23.9) |
-5.0 (23) |
-17.8 |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 73.5 (2.894) |
48.1 (1.894) |
53.4 (2.102) |
44.3 (1.744) |
43.5 (1.713) |
38.6 (1.52) |
40.1 (1.579) |
45.3 (1.783) |
53.4 (2.102) |
86.7 (3.413) |
83.2 (3.276) |
77.7 (3.059) |
687.8 (27.079) |
| % Humidity | 85.8 | 83.2 | 83.1 | 80.4 | 81.2 | 81.2 | 81.0 | 79.7 | 80.4 | 82.5 | 84.0 | 86.4 | 82.41 |
| Avg. rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 12.0 | 8.8 | 9.5 | 8.6 | 7.5 | 6.9 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 7.9 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 11.7 | 109.1 |
| Sunshine hours | 77.5 | 98.3 | 136.4 | 208.5 | 245.2 | 249.0 | 262.6 | 246.1 | 180.0 | 135.2 | 90.6 | 68.5 | 1,997.9 |
| Source #1: Met Office[10] | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: Met Office[11] | |||||||||||||
Selsey Media
High Street, Selsey, West Sussex, England
Entry for Selsey in the Domesday Book
Blue plaque commemorating the hanging of two smugglers in Gibbet Field Selsey in 1749
Bracklesham Bay, West Sussex, England. I took this photo myself. It can also be found here.
Church Norton
The beach at Selsey Bill by Whistler 1865.
The old Selsey RNLI Lifeboat house
The new Selsey RNLI Lifeboat station
The plaque notes that Eric Coates was inspired to write Sleepy Lagoon, the signature tune for Desert Island Discs, whilst watching the sea from here
References
- ↑ Parish. A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect. pp. 96-97
- ↑ SCOPAC. Sedimentary Study from East Head to Pagham. Section 1.1. - The Standing Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline (SCOPAC) was established in 1986 and consists of local authorities, the Environment agency and others. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that the coastline was some 2 to 3km seawards of where it is now at about 5,000 years. Retrieved 5 February 2014
- ↑ Horsfield. History and Antiquities Vol II p.35.A man and horse paid twopence; a foot passenger one halfpenny. The farmers and renters paid annually a certain portion of corn..
- ↑ World Map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Retrieved 15 January 2018
- ↑ Average Maps Retrieved 15 January 2018
- ↑ Selsey Climate Retrieved: 15 January 2018.
- ↑ Gardiner and Matthews. The Changing Geography of the UK p. 362
- ↑ Doe. Extreme Weather. pp.73-74
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Town picks up the pieces after tornado BBC News 9 January 1998 retrieved 19 September 2010
- ↑ "Selsey Climate Period: 1981–2010". Met Office. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- ↑ "UKCP09 gridded observation datasets". Met Office.