Westbourne is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located north east of Emsworth. The parish includes the hamlets of Woodmancote and Aldsworth, and once included the settlements of Southbourne and Prinsted to the south.
Geography The village stands on the River Ems, a small river flowing into Chichester Harbour at Emsworth. The River Ems was originally known as the Bourne with West Bourne traditionally marking the westernmost boundary of Sussex. The river was renamed by the 16th century chronicler Raphael Holinshed.About Westbourne – Westbourne Village Website
The parish covers an area of . The population of the village in 2011 is 2,309, 1,656 of whom are economically active, and who live in 1,000 households.content Place name Westbourne was noted as Borne and Burne in the Domesday book. By the 14th century it started to be called Westbourne to differentiate it from other ~bournes in the county. History Westbourne contains 66 listed buildings some dating back to the 16th Century, though written evidence of habitation can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086.National Archives Record from the Domesday Book The medieval Church of St John the Baptist is notable for its fine yew avenue, which is apparently the oldest in England, and walled graveyard. Nicholas Levett, a native of Petworth and fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, was longtime minister of St John the Baptist. He was buried in Beckley, Oxfordshire, in 1687.Alumni Oxoniensis: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1500–1714 : Their Parentage, Birthplace, and Year of Birth, with a Record of Their Degrees: Being the Matriculation Register of the University, University of Oxford, Joseph Foster, University of Oxford, Published by Parker, 1891
Today Commonside forms the northern edge of the village of Westbourne. This area is centred on a village pub called the Cricketers which is located near the village cricket pitch. There are two other public houses, the White Horse and the Stag's Head, both in The Square, at the centre of the oldest part of the village. Until 2010, a third pub called the Good Intent was open in North Street, but this has now closed and has been converted to a private home.
As of April 2011, the north-eastern and eastern edges of the village now form boundaries with the South Downs National Park.
Governance Westbourne is part of the Chichester constituency, a Liberal Democrat seat since 2024. The District Councillor is Roy Briscoe and the County Councillor is Andrew Kerry-Bedell.
Notable residents On 16 May 1785, James Byden married Anne Silverlock at Westbourne, both parishioners, two of the sixteen great-great-grandparents of 46th US President Joe Biden; their second child, William Biden, great-grandfather of President Biden, was christened in Westbourne in 1789, became a stonemason, died aged 60 in 1849, buried at Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore, where the Bidens lived for several generations. George Sparkes (1845–1908), cricketer John Henry Mee (1852-1918), at The Chantry, Foxbury Lane. Mee was an Oxford composer, author and clergyman who was appointed Precentor of Chichester Cathedral in 1899. Tim Peake (1972–present), test pilot and astronaut (though not currently living in Westbourne)
References
Further reading Roch, Lucinda and Toms, Matthew (2005) The Westbourne Story, Emsworth: Kenneth Mason Publications, p. 192, Mee, John Henry (1913) Bourne in the Past: Being a history of the Parish of Westbourne
External links
Further historical information and sources on GENUKI