Worthing Borough of Worthing | |
|---|---|
      Clockwise, from top: Worthing seafront from Worthing Pier,Dome Cinema,Castle Goring,Cissbury Ring in theSouth Downs National Park,Connaught Theatre,Worthing Pier | |
 Coat of Arms of the Borough Council | |
| Etymology:Old EnglishWyrtingas | |
| Nickname: Sunny Worthing | |
| Motto: "Ex terra copiam e mari salutem" (Latin for "From the land plenty and from the sea health") | |
 Location withinWest Sussex | |
  Worthing Location within England Show map of England Worthing Location within the United Kingdom Show map of the United Kingdom Worthing Location within Europe Show map of Europe | |
| Coordinates:50°48′53″N0°22′17″W / 50.81472°N 0.37139°W /50.81472; -0.37139 | |
| Sovereign state |  United Kingdom |
| Country |  England |
| Region | South East England |
| Historic county |  Sussex |
| County | West Sussex |
| Borough | Worthing |
| Founded | In Antiquity |
| Town charter | 1803; 222 years ago (1803) |
| Borough status | 1890; 135 years ago (1890) |
| Administrative HQ | Worthing Town Hall |
| Government | |
| • Type | Borough |
| • Body | Worthing Borough Council |
| • Leadership | Leader and cabinet |
| • Executive | Labour |
| • Leader of Council | Cllr Sophie Cox(Lab) |
| • Chief Executive | Catherine Howe |
| • MPs | Beccy Cooper (Lab) Tom Rutland (Lab) |
| Area | |
• Borough | 12.54 sq mi (32.48 km2) |
| • Rank | 277th |
| Elevation | 23 ft (7 m) |
| Highest elevation | 604 ft (184 m) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Borough | 113,866 (ranked 218th) |
| • Density | 9,070/sq mi (3,501/km2) |
| • Urban | 474,485 |
| Demonym | Worthingite |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | GMT |
| • Summer (DST) | British Summer Time |
| Postcode | BN11–BN14 |
| Area code | 01903 |
| ONS code | 45UH |
| Highest point | Cissbury Ring (184m) |
| Grid reference | TQ147190 |
| Website | adur-worthing |
Worthing (/ˈwɜːrðɪŋ/WUR-dhing) is a seaside town and borough inWest Sussex, England, at the foot of theSouth Downs, 11 miles (18 km) west ofBrighton, and 18 miles (29 km) east ofChichester. With a population of 113,094[2] and an area of 12.5 square miles (32.4 km2), the borough is the second largest component of theBrighton and Hove built-up area, the15th most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Northern parts of the borough, including theWorthing Downland Estate, form part of theSouth Downs National Park. In 2019, theArt DecoWorthing Pier was dubbed the best in Britain.[3]
Dating from around 4000 BC, theflint mines atCissbury and nearbyChurch Hill,Blackpatch andHarrow Hill are amongst the earliestNeolithic monuments in Britain.[4] TheIron Agehill fort ofCissbury Ring is one of Britain's largest. The recordedhistory of Worthing began with theDomesday Book. Worthing ishistorically part ofSussex, mostly in therape of Bramber;Goring, which forms part of therape of Arundel, was incorporated in 1929. Worthing was a smallmackerel fishing hamlet for many centuries until, in the late 18th century, it developed into an elegantGeorgian seaside resort and attracted the well-known and wealthy of the day. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the area was one of Britain's chiefmarket gardening centres.[5]
Modern Worthing has a large service industry, particularly in financial services. It has three theatres and one of Britain's oldest cinemas, theDome.[6] WritersOscar Wilde andHarold Pinter lived and worked in the town.
The earliest known appearance of the name of Worthing isWyrtingas, from circa AD 960.[7] It was listed asOrdinges orWordinges in theDomesday Book[8] of 1086, and was subsequently known asWuroininege,Wurdingg,Wording orWurthing,Worthinges,Wyrthyng,Worthen andWeorðingas.[9] The modern nameWorthing was first documented in AD 1297.[10][11]
The etymology of the rootWorth- is uncertain.Wyrt is theOld English word for "plant," "vegetable," "herb" or "spice,"[12] though there is no obvious connection with the name of the town. Additionally, the "y" was a front-loaded vowel that was indistinguishable from "i" by the end of the Anglo-Saxon period[13] and the spelling never evolved in that direction. The more obviousMiddle Englishworth is not likely as well, as there was a dramaticNorman language influence on the spelling at the time of the Domesday Book.[9] A more probable root is the word for an Anglo-Saxon goddess -Wyrd, known inNorse mythology asUrðr[14] - with a shift of thealveolar consonantd tot as evidenced by the eleventh century evolution of the word.[9]
The suffix-ing is acognate ofinge, an ethnonym for theGermanicIngaevones peoples, said variously to mean "ofYngvi" - ofFreyr in Norse mythology,[15] "family, people or followers of"[16] or agenitiveplural form of an inhabitant appellation.[17]
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From around 4000 BC, the South Downs above Worthing was Britain's earliest[18] and largest flint-mining area,[19] with four of the UK's 14 known flint mines lying within 7 miles (11 km) of the centre of Worthing.[19] The flint mine at Cissbury, the highest point in the borough of Worthing, had around 270mine shafts, some up to 12 metres (39 ft) deep, dug using tools made from the bone and antlers ofred deer.[20] More than an industrial complex, the site probably had sacred and ritualistic meaning to Neolithic people perhaps due to its stark white colour and its association with the Earth's surface and the entrance to theunderworld.[21] Graffiti or art scratched into the chalk at Cissbury and nearby Harrow Hill may be the earliest dateable examples of Neolithic art in Britain.[22] An excavation at Little High Street dates the earliest remains from Worthing town centre to theBronze Age. There is also an important Bronze Age hill fort on the western fringes of the modern borough atHighdown Hill.
During theIron Age, one of Britain's largest hill forts was built atCissbury Ring. The area was part of thecivitas of theRegni during theRomano-British period. Several of the borough's roads date from this era and lie in a grid layout known ascenturiation. A Romano-British farmstead once stood in the centre of the town, at a site close toWorthing Town Hall. In the 5th and 6th centuries, the area became part of theKingdom of Sussex. The place names of the area, including the name Worthing itself, date from this period.
Worthing remained an agricultural and fishing hamlet for centuries until the arrival of wealthy visitors in the 1750s.Princess Amelia stayed in the town in 1798 and the fashionable and wealthy continued to stay in Worthing, which became a town in 1803. The town expanded and elegant developments such asPark Crescent and Liverpool Terrace were begun. The area was a stronghold of smugglers in the 19th century and was the site of rioting by theSkeleton Army in the 1880s.
Oscar Wilde holidayed in the town in 1893 and 1894, writing theImportance of Being Earnest during his second visit. The town was home to several literary figures in the 20th century, includingNobel Prize-winnerHarold Pinter. On 9 October 1934 violent confrontations took place in the town between protestors andOswald Mosley'sBritish Union of Fascists which subsequently became known as theBattle of South Street.[23] During theSecond World War, Worthing was home to several allied military divisions in preparation for theD-Day landings, in particular many Canadian divisions.
Worthing became the world's 229thTransition Town in October 2009.[24] The project explored the town's transition to life after oil, and was established by local residents as a way of planning the town's Energy Descent Action Plan.
Local government for the borough of Worthing is shared betweenWorthing Borough Council andWest Sussex County Council in atwo-tier structure. Worthing Borough Council partners with neighbouring local authorities, as part ofAdur and Worthing Councils and theGreater Brighton City Region. The borough is divided into13 wards, with 11 returning three councillors and two returning two councillors to form a total council of 37 members. The borough is unparished.[25] At the2022 election theLabour Party won control of the council for the first time,[26] ending 18 years ofConservative administration.
The town currently returns nine councillors from nine single-member electoral divisions to West Sussex County Council out of a total of 70.[27] At the2021 West Sussex County Council election, Worthing returned five Labour and four Conservative councillors. The council is responsible for services including school education, social care and highways. The county council has been controlled by the Conservative Party since 1974, with the exception of the period 1993—97 when the council was underno overall control.
Since 2014, Worthing has also been within the area of theGreater Brighton City Region. The borough is represented on the City Region's Economic Board by the leader of the borough council.[28]
The town has twoMembers of Parliament (MPs):Beccy Cooper (Labour) forWorthing West andTom Rutland (Labour) forEast Worthing and Shoreham.
At the2017 general election, the East Worthing and Shoreham seat became amarginal seat[29] for the first time, with both seats having been held by their incumbents since the seats' creation before the1997 general election. From 1945 to 1997 Worthing returned one MP. From 1945 until 2024 Worthing had always returned Conservative MPs.[30][31] Until 1945 Worthing formed part of theHorsham and Worthing parliamentary constituency.
Worthing is situated in West Sussex inSouth East England, 49 miles (79 km) south of London and 10 miles (16 km) west ofBrighton and Hove.Historically withinSussex, in therape of Bramber, Worthing is built on theSouth Coast Plain facing theEnglish Channel. To the north of the urban area are the chalk hills of theSouth Downs, which form aNational Park. The suburbs ofHigh Salvington andFindon Valley climb the lower slopes of the Downs, reaching up to the 120-metre (394 ft) contour line, whereas the highest point in the borough reaches 184 metres (604 ft) atCissbury Ring. Land at Cissbury Ring and the adjacent publicly ownedWorthing Downland Estate together form a 145-hectare (360-acre) area ofopen access land within the borough. Further high points are at West Hill (139m) north-west ofHigh Salvington and atHighdown Hill (81m) on the boundary withFerring.[32] Cissbury Ring forms the onlySite of Special Scientific Interest in the borough.[33]
With a population of about 200,000,[nb 1] theCentre for Cities identifies the widerprimary urban area of Worthing as one of the 63 largest cities and towns in the UK. Extending from Littlehampton to Lancing, the primary urban area is roughly equivalent to the present day borough and the area administered from 1933 to 1974 as theWorthing Rural District, or the 01903 Worthing telephone code area. Worthing forms the second-largest part of theBrighton and Hove built-up area, England's 12th largest conurbation, with a population in 2011 of over 470,000.[34] The borough of Worthing is bordered by the West Sussexlocal authority districts ofArun in the north and west, andAdur in the east.
Worthing is situated on a mix of two beds of sedimentary rock. The large part of the town, including the town centre, is built uponchalk (part of theChalk Group), with a bed ofLondon clay found in a band heading west from Lancing through Broadwater and Durrington.[35]
Worthing lies roughly midway between the RiversArun andAdur. TheculvertedTeville Stream and the partially-culvertedFerring Rife run through the town. One of the Ferring Rife's sources is inTitnore Wood, aSite of Nature Conservation Interest and one of the last remaining blocks ofancient woodland on the coastal plain.[36]
The development along the coastal strip is interrupted by strategic gaps at the borough boundaries in the east and west, referred to as theGoring Gap and theSompting Gap. Each gap falling largely outside the borough boundaries.[37] The borough of Worthing contains nonature reserves: the nearest is Widewater Lagoon in Lancing.[38]
Lying some 3 miles (5 km) off the coast of Worthing, theWorthing Lumps are a series of underwater chalk cliff faces, up to 3 metres (10 ft) high. The lumps, described as "one of the best chalk reefs in Europe" by theMarine Conservation Society, are home to rare fish such asblennies and thelesser spotted dogfish.[39][40] The site has been declared a Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI) (a site of county importance) by West Sussex County Council.[41] Since 2013 the area has also formed part of theKingmereMarine Conservation Zone. Just south of the shoreline lies remains of what was once an extensivekelp forest which until the 1980s stretched from Bognor Regis to Brighton and covered approximately 177 km2 (68 sq mi).[42] With only 6 km2 (2 sq mi) remaining, the kelp forest is now being supported to recover.[43]
Worthing has atemperate oceanic climate: itsKöppen climate classification isCfb. Its mean annual temperature of 10.6 °C (51.1 °F) is similar to that experienced along the Sussex coast, and slightly warmer than nearby areas such as the Sussex Weald.[44] On most summer afternoons asea breeze, sometimes known asThe Worthing Effect[45][46][47][48] by the local watersports community, blows from the south-west, building throughout the morning and peaking generally mid to late afternoon.[45]
| Climate data forBrighton City Airport,[a] (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1998–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 14.4 (57.9) | 16.5 (61.7) | 19.6 (67.3) | 24.2 (75.6) | 26.5 (79.7) | 29.5 (85.1) | 33.4 (92.1) | 33.2 (91.8) | 29.4 (84.9) | 23.0 (73.4) | 17.8 (64.0) | 14.1 (57.4) | 33.4 (92.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) | 8.4 (47.1) | 10.5 (50.9) | 13.1 (55.6) | 16.3 (61.3) | 19.1 (66.4) | 20.9 (69.6) | 21.0 (69.8) | 18.9 (66.0) | 15.5 (59.9) | 11.6 (52.9) | 8.9 (48.0) | 14.4 (57.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.3 (41.5) | 5.4 (41.7) | 7.1 (44.8) | 9.2 (48.6) | 12.2 (54.0) | 15.1 (59.2) | 17.0 (62.6) | 17.1 (62.8) | 14.9 (58.8) | 12.0 (53.6) | 8.4 (47.1) | 5.9 (42.6) | 10.8 (51.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.4 (36.3) | 2.3 (36.1) | 3.6 (38.5) | 5.2 (41.4) | 8.1 (46.6) | 11.0 (51.8) | 13.0 (55.4) | 13.1 (55.6) | 10.9 (51.6) | 8.4 (47.1) | 5.2 (41.4) | 2.8 (37.0) | 7.2 (45.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −7.4 (18.7) | −2.8 (27.0) | −6.7 (19.9) | −4.2 (24.4) | −0.5 (31.1) | 3.2 (37.8) | 6.5 (43.7) | 5.0 (41.0) | 2.1 (35.8) | −3.2 (26.2) | −4.1 (24.6) | −10.3 (13.5) | −10.3 (13.5) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 80.5 (3.17) | 56.7 (2.23) | 45.7 (1.80) | 45.1 (1.78) | 45.9 (1.81) | 46.7 (1.84) | 54.2 (2.13) | 58.7 (2.31) | 59.1 (2.33) | 82.2 (3.24) | 90.4 (3.56) | 87.5 (3.44) | 752.6 (29.63) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 12.7 | 10.3 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 11.6 | 13.1 | 12.6 | 118.8 |
| Source 1:Met Office[49] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Starlings Roost Weather[50] | |||||||||||||
The naming of parts of the town reflect its growth in its formative years of the 19th century. Central parts of the town are made up of the formertownships of Worthing andWest Worthing, which merged in 1890 when the town gained borough status. This area comprises the town centre,East Worthing and West Worthing. To the north and west of this area are the former villages of Worthing which have old roots but only became urbanised in the 20th century. These districts sometimes share their names – although not necessarily boundaries – with local electoralwards and include the former parishes ofBroadwater,Durrington,Goring and(West) Tarring, as well asFindon Valley, which was formerly part of the parish ofFindon. Other areas within these parishes includeHigh Salvington,Offington andSalvington.
According to theOffice for National Statistics, Worthing's population increased to an estimated 110,570 in 2019.[51] Worthing is the second most densely populated local authority area in East and West Sussex, with a population density in 2011 of 33.83 people per hectare.[51] Worthing underwent dramatic population growth both in the early 19th century as the hamlet had newly become a town and again in the 1880s. The town experienced further growth in the 1930s, and again when new estates were built, usingprisoner of war labour, to the west of the town from 1948. The main driver of population growth in Worthing during the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century has been in-migration into Worthing; in particular Worthing is the most popular destination for people moving from the nearby city ofBrighton and Hove, with significant numbers also moving to the borough from London.[52]
| Year | Population | Year | Population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 2,151 | 1921 | 37,906 | |||
| 1811 | 3,824 | 1931 | 45,905 | |||
| 1821 | 4,922 | 1939 | 55,584 | |||
| 1831 | 5,654 | 1951 | 67,305 | |||
| 1841 | 6,856 | 1961 | 77,155 | |||
| 1851 | 7,615 | 1971 | 88,467 | |||
| 1861 | 9,744 | 1981 | 90,686 | |||
| 1871 | 11,873 | 1991 | 98,066 | |||
| 1881 | 14,002 | 2001 | 97,540 | |||
| 1891 | 19,177 | 2011 | 104,640 | |||
| 1901 | 24,479 | 2021 | 111,400 | |||
| 1911 | 31,301 | 2031 | 122,200 | |||
Source: A Vision of Britain Through Time,[53]Office for National Statistics[54][2]ONS population projections 2014 base / projections uplifted by '21-1,800/'26-2,100/'36-2,500 given underestimation at 2016 - 2,250/
In 2021, 4.02% of residents, rising to 7.08% in central Worthing[55] identified as a sexual orientation other than heterosexual, compared with an average in England and Wales of 3.2%. The figure for under-35s in the borough of Worthing rose to 7.9% compared with an England and Wales average of 6.2%.[56]
According to theUK Government's2021 census, 91.2% of the population wasWhite (85.1%White British, 0.8%White Irish, 0.1% Gypsy/Irish Traveller, 0.2%Roma, 5.2%Other White), 2.5% ofmixed ancestry (0.9% White and Black Caribbean, 0.5% White and Black African, 0.9% White and Asian, 0.7% Other Mixed), 4.0%Asian (1.0%Indian, 0.2%Pakistani, 0.7%Bangladeshi, 0.5%Chinese, 1.5% Other Asian), 1.2%Black (0.8% African, 0.2%Caribbean, 0.1%Other Black), 0.2%Arab and 0.8% of other ethnic heritage.[57]
The town also has some notable communities from overseas. At the 2021 census 0.79% (864 people) were born inPoland, 0.70% of its population (778 people) were born inIndia, 0.68% (753 people) were born in thePhilippines and 0.65% (724 people) were born in Romania.
Worthing has a younger population than the other three districts of coastal West Sussex, albeit older than the South East average. In 2006, 26.7% of the population were between 25 and 44 years old, which is a higher proportion compared to the other districts in the coastal West Sussex area.[52] Over the last 20 years, Worthing has seen the sharpest decline in its population aged 65 years or more with its proportion of the total population falling by 8.1% (7,000 in real terms), at a time when this age group has actually grown across the South East region and elsewhere.[52] In contrast there have been comparatively significant increases in older families (4.5%) and family makers (4.3%) within the borough.[52] In 2010 the estimated median age of the population of Worthing was 42.8 years, 3.2 years older than the average for the UK of 39.6 years.[58]
| Religion | 2001[59] | 2011[60] | 2021[61] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Holds religious beliefs | 72,477 | 74.2 | 64,326 | 61.4 | 53,428 | 47.9 |
 Christian | 70,387 | 72.1 | 60,817 | 58.1 | 48,897 | 43.9 |
 Buddhist | 330 | 0.3 | 600 | 0.6 | 704 | 0.6 |
 Hindu | 214 | 0.2 | 546 | 0.5 | 739 | 0.7 |
 Jewish | 256 | 0.3 | 227 | 0.2 | 274 | 0.2 |
 Islam | 733 | 0.8 | 1,348 | 1.3 | 1,912 | 1.7 |
 Sikh | 106 | 0.1 | 122 | 0.1 | 124 | 0.1 |
| Other religion | 451 | 0.5 | 666 | 0.6 | 778 | 0.7 |
| No religion | 16,575 | 17.0 | 31,577 | 30.2 | 50,895 | 45.7 |
| Religion not stated | 8,516 | 8.7 | 8,737 | 8.3 | 7,013 | 6.3 |
| Total population | 97,568 | 100.0 | 104,640 | 100.0 | 111,336 | 100.0 |
More people in Worthing identify as Christian than any other religion (43.9% in 2021)[62] and the borough has about 50 active Christian places of worship. Worthing'sChurches Together organisation[63] encouragesecumenical work and links between the town's churches.
Worthing's firstAnglican church,St Paul's, was built in 1812; previously, worshippers had to travel to the ancientparish church of Broadwater. Residential growth in the 19th century led to several otherAnglican churches opening in the town centre:Christ Church was started in 1840[64] and survived a closure threat in 2006;[65]Arthur Blomfield'sSt Andrew's Church brought the controversial"High Church" form of worship to the town in the 1880s—its "Worthing Madonna"icon was particularly contentious;[66][67] and Holy Trinity church opened at the same time but with less dispute.[67][68]
Other Anglican churches were built in the 20th century to serve new residential areas such asHigh Salvington and Maybridge; and the ancient villages which were absorbed into Worthing Borough between 1890 and 1929[69] each had their own church:Broadwater's hadSaxon origins,[70]St Mary's at Goring-by-Sea wasNorman (although it was rebuilt in 1837),[71]St Andrew's at West Tarring was 13th century,[72] andSt Botolph's at Heene andSt Symphorian's at Durrington were rebuilt from medieval ruins.[73][74] All of the borough's churches are in the RuralDeanery of Worthing and theDiocese of Chichester.[75]
The first Roman Catholic church in Worthing opened in 1864; the centrally locatedSt Mary of the Angels Church has since been joined by others at East Worthing, Goring-by-Sea and High Salvington. All are in Worthing Deanery in theRoman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.[76] ProtestantNonconformism has a long history in Worthing: the town's first place of worship was an Independent chapel.[77]Methodists,Baptists, theUnited Reformed Church andEvangelical Christian groups each have several churches in the borough, and other denominations represented includeChristadelphians,Christian Scientists,Jehovah's Witnesses,Mormons andPlymouth Brethren.[78] ACoptic Orthodox church is also present in the town. TheSalvation Army have been established for more than a century, but their arrival in Worthing prompted large-scale riots involving a group called theSkeleton Army. These continued intermittently for several years in the 1880s.[79][80] Other Christian organisations include Worthing Churches Homeless Projects andStreet Pastors.
In 2021, 1.7% of the population of Worthing were Muslim.[62] Since 1994 the Muslim community has had a mosque at the Worthing Islamic Cultural Centre, also known asWorthing Masjid (Worthing Mosque) orMasjid Assalam (Mosque of Peace, or Mosque of Allah)[81] which follows theSunni tradition and holds prayer, education, and funeral services for the local community.[82]
There are also small communities ofBuddhists (0.6% in 2021) in Worthing,[62] including a community ofTriratna Buddhists. There is a small Jewish community (0.2% in 2021) and the town had a synagogue in the 1930s.[83] In 2011, 0.7% of the population wereHindu, 0.1% were Sikh and 0.7% followed another religion. A small community of theBaháʼí Faith practises in Worthing. 45.7% claimed no religious affiliation, a figure significantly higher than the average for England and Wales of 37.2%, and 6.3% did not state their religion.[62]
Worthing has 22 primary schools, six secondary schools, one primary and secondary special school, two independent schools, one sixth form college and one college ofhigher andfurther education.
Founded by 1890 as the Worthing School of Art and Science,[84]Northbrook College's main campus is located on the outskirts of Worthing at West Durrington, where its creative arts degrees are validated by theUniversity of the Arts London.[85] Northbrook's Broadwater campus is set to close in 2025 and courses are to be consolidated at West Durrington and at the Broadwater campus of the town'ssixth form college,Worthing College.[86] Northbrook and Worthing Colleges share aprincipal and are both part of theChichester College Group.
West Sussex County Council provides six state secondary schools:Bohunt School Worthing in Broadwater is acoeducationalacademy school,Durrington High School andSt Andrews High School andWorthing High School are allcoeducational, with St Andrew's taking in girls from 2021.Davison High School in East Worthing is a girls' school.St Oscar Romero Catholic School in Goring is a Catholic School.Our Lady of Sion School in the town centre is aprivate school for children aged 3–18.
| Total employee jobs | 43,800 | — |
| Full-time | 28,000 | 63.9% |
| Part-time | 15,800 | 36.1% |
| Manufacturing | 3,300 | 7.5% |
| Construction | 1,100 | 2.4% |
| Services | 38,900 | 88.7% |
| Distribution, hotels & restaurants | 9,600 | 22.0% |
| Transport & communications | 1,400 | 3.3% |
| Finance, IT, other business activities | 9,600 | 22.0% |
| Public admin, education & health | 16,200 | 36.9% |
| Other services | 2,000 | 4.6% |
| Tourism-related | 3,000 | 7.0% |
Worthing's economy is dominated by the service industry, particularly financial services. Major employers includeGSK,LEMO electronics, Rayner Lenses,HM Revenue & Customs, theEnvironment Agency andSouthern Water.[88]
In October 2009, GlaxoSmithKline confirmed that 250 employees in Worthing would lose their jobs at the factory, which makes the antibioticsco-amoxiclav (Augmentin) andamoxicillin (Amoxin) and hundreds of other products.[89][90] As of 2009[update], there were approximately 43,000 jobs in the borough.[91]
Although Worthing was voted the most profitable town in Britain for three consecutive years at the end of the 1990s,[92][93] the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2009 found that Worthing residents' mean pre-tax pay is only £452 per week, compared to £487 for West Sussex and £535 for South East England as a whole.[91]
In 2008, Worthing was in the top 10 urban areas in England for jobs in each of three key sectors, thought to have a significant impact on economic performance: creative, high-tech industries and knowledge-intensive business services.[94] The 2012 UK Town and City Index fromSantander UK ranked Worthing as the second highest town or city in the UK for connectivity[95] and ranked fifth in the UK overall out of 74 towns and cities.[95]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2017) |
In June 2006, Worthing Borough Council agreed a masterplan for the town's regeneration,[96][97] focused on improving the town centre and seafront. A new £150 million development is proposed forTeville Gate, between Worthing railway station and the A24 at the northern approach to the town centre. It is expected to include two residential towers, amultiplex cinema, hotel and conference and exhibition centre.[98] The developers are expected to apply forplanning permission in the summer of 2010.[99] Redevelopment is planned for the Grafton Street car park area;[100] and the town's major undercover shopping centre, the Guildbourne Centre, may be rebuilt entirely and extended to Union Place, covering the site of the town's formerpolice station.
In the longer term, the area around Worthing'smuseum, art gallery, library and town hall—collectively described as the "Worthing Cultural and Civic Hub"—is to be revamped to provide extra facilities and new housing.[101] In 2009, Worthing Borough Council applied for a £5 million grant from theHeritage Lottery Fund to redevelop and enlarge the museum.[102] A new £16 million municipal swimming pool, Splash Point Leisure Centre, has been designed byStirling Prize-winning architectsWilkinson Eyre;[103] it was opened by ParalympianEllie Simmonds in June 2013. It has been proposed that Montague Place is pedestrianised to improve the link between the town centre and the seafront.[104]
Completed regeneration projects include the reopening of theDome Cinema in 2007 after major investment from theHeritage Lottery Fund, and a £5.5 millionmixed-use development on the site of a former hotel near Teville Gate.[105]
Aturnpike was opened in 1803 to connect Worthing with London,[106][107] and similar toll roads were built later in the 19th century to connect nearby villages.[107][108]Stagecoach traffic grew rapidly until 1845, when the opening of arailway line from Brighton brought about an immediate decline.[109] The former turnpike is now theA24, aprimary route which runs northwards to London viaHorsham and connects Worthing with theM25 motorway. Two east–west routes run through the borough: theA27trunk road runs toBrighton in the east, and toChichester,Portsmouth and theM27 motorway in the west. TheA259 follows a coastal route betweenHampshire andKent.[110]
Most local and long-distance buses are operated byStagecoach South which has its origins inSouthdown Motor Services—founded in 1915 with one route toPulborough.[111] Stagecoach in the South Downs operates several routes around the town and toMidhurst, Brighton and Portsmouth.[112] The most frequent service, betweenLancing andDurrington, was brandedPULSE in 2006.[113] Worthing-based Compass Travel have routes toAngmering, Chichester,Henfield and Lancing;[114] and other companies serve Horsham,Crawley,[115] Brighton[116] and intermediate destinations.National Express coaches run between London'sVictoria Coach Station and Marine Parade.[117] During the 1920s and 1930s, a fleet of up to 15 convertedShelvoke & Drewrydustbin lorries—theWorthing Tramocars—operated local bus services alongside more conventional vehicles.[118][119]
The borough has five railway stations:East Worthing,Worthing,West Worthing,Durrington-on-Sea andGoring-by-Sea. All are on theWest Coastway Line and are managed and operated byGovia Thameslink Railway.[120] Worthing opened on 24 November 1845 as a temporary terminus of the line from Brighton, which was extended to Chichester the following year and electrified in the 1930s.[121] Regular services run to destinations such as London,Gatwick Airport,Brighton,Littlehampton andPortsmouth.[122]
Shoreham Airport is about 5 miles (8 km) east of Worthing. The nearestinternational airport isGatwick, about 28 miles (45 km) to the northeast.[110]
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Home Office policing in Worthing is provided by the Worthing district of the West Sussex division ofSussex Police.[123] The district is divided into two neighbourhood policing teams—North and South—for operational purposes. The police station is in Chatsworth Road.[124] The West Downs division's headquarters is at Centenary House in Durrington.[125] Worthing's fire station has been in Broadwater since 1962. The borough had been in charge of fire protection since 1891, after several decades in which volunteers provided the service. A fire station was built on Worthing High Street in 1908; it was demolished after the move to Broadwater.[126] The Worthing and Adur District Team, part of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service,[127] employs 60 full-time and 18retained firefighters.[128]
Worthing Hospital is administered by theUniversity Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. The 500-bed facility on Lyndhurst Road was founded in 1881 as an 18-bed infirmary.[126][129] It replaced older hospitals on Ann Street and Chapel Road.[129] Other medical care facilities include two mental health units (Greenacres and Meadowfield Hospital)[130][131] and a 38-bed private hospital in theGrade II-listed Goring Hall.
Gas was manufactured in Worthing for nearly 100 years until 1931,[126][132] butScotia Gas Networks now supply the town through their Southern Gas Networks division.[133] Electricity generation took place locally between 1901 and 1961;[126][132]EDF Energy now supply the town.[134]Southern Water, who have been based in Durrington since 1989, have controlled Worthing's water supply, drainage and sewerage since 1974. The town's first waterworks was built in 1852.[135] Drainage and sewage disposal was poorly developed in the 19th century, but a fataltyphoid outbreak in 1893 prompted investment in sewage works and better pipes.[126][136]
There are a number of voluntary and community groups active in the town ranging from small volunteer-led groups to large well established charities. There is a Council for Voluntary Service and a Volunteer Centre funded by the local authority to support voluntary action. In 2003-4 registered charities in Worthing indicated a combined income of £56 million in the submitted accounts to the Charity Commission. The Place Survey conducted in all local authority districts by central government in 2009 found that up to 24,000 people in Worthing described themselves as giving volunteer time in the community.
Salvington in Worthing was the birthplace of philosopher and scholarJohn Selden in 1584.[137]Jane Austen's unfinished final novelSanditon is thought to have been significantly based on experiences from her stay in Worthing in 1805.[138][139] Two ofPercy Bysshe Shelley's earliest works were printed in Worthing, includingThe Necessity of Atheism in 1811, which resulted in Shelley's expulsion from Oxford University and falling out with his father. Shelley'sgrandfather builtCastle Goring and hisfather was the first chairman of what becameWorthing Council.[140]Oscar Wilde wroteThe Importance of Being Earnest while staying in the town in the summer of 1894; its main character Jack/Ernest Worthing is named after it.[141] In the 1960s, playwrightHarold Pinter lived wroteThe Homecoming at his home in Ambrose Place.[142] Other literary figures to have lived in the town includeW.E. Henley,[137]W.H. Hudson,[137]Stephen Spender,[143]Dorothy Richardson,[144]Edward Knoblock,[145]Beatrice Hastings,[146]Maureen Duffy,[147]Vivien Alcock,[148]John Oxenham[137] and his daughterElsie J. Oxenham.[137]
The history of film in Worthing dates back to exhibitions onWorthing Pier in 1896, and two years laterWilliam Kennedy Dickson—inventor of theKinetoscope, a pioneering motion picture device—visited the town to film daily life. In the early 20th century, several cinemas were established, although most were short-lived.[149][150] Other former cinemas include the Rivoli (1924–1960), the 2,000-capacity Plaza (1933–1968) and the 1,600-capacity Odeon (1934–1986).[150] The Kursaal was built in 1910 as a combined skating rink and theatre bySwiss impresarioCarl Adolf Seebold. It was renamed the Dome in 1915 in response to anti-German sentiment duringWorld War I. Seebold opened the 950-capacityDome Cinema in place of the skating rink in 1922;[149] it is still open, and is one of Britain's oldest operational cinemas.[151] The Connaught Screen 2 cinema (formerly the Ritz, and before that Connaught Hall) was established in 1995.[150][152]
Many films and television programmes have been filmed using Worthing as the backdrop including:Pinter'sThe Birthday Party (1968),[153] directed byWilliam Friedkin (best known for directingThe French Connection in 1971 andThe Exorcist in 1973),Black Mirror (2023),Dance with a Stranger (1985),[154]Wish You Were Here (1987),[154]Stan & Ollie (2018),[155]My Policeman (2022),[156]Vindication Swim (2024)[157] andWicked Little Letters (2024)[158] as well as the television drama seriesCuffs (2015)[159] andThe Death of Bunny Munro (2025).
Artists from Worthing includeAlma Cogan,[160]Royal Blood andThe Ordinary Boys. Worthing was home in the late 1960s to theWorthing Workshop, a group of artists and musicians who includedLeo Sayer,[161]Brian James ofThe Damned,Billy Idol andSteamhammer, whose guitarist,Martin Quittenton, went on to co-writeRod Stewart's UK number one hits "You Wear It Well"[162] and "Maggie May".[163] For three days in 1970 a field on the outskirts of Worthing was the site of thePhun City music festival, the UK's first large-scale free music festival and organised by two former Worthing residents,UK underground musician and authorMick Farren and Gez Cox.[164] In the late 1980s and early 1990sSterns Nightclub was a major centre forrave culture in the UK[165] and Worthing continues to have a notable electronic music scene.[166]
Music venues include the Assembly Hall, thePavilion Theatre,The Venue, the Factory Live,[167] Jungle[168] and the Cellar Arts Club.[169] The Assembly Hall is home to theWorthing Symphony Orchestra, the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra[170] and theSussex International Piano Competition.[171]Howarth of London, the UK's largest manufacturer of professional standard oboes are based in Worthing.[172][173]
As of 2019 Worthing has three council-owned theatres: theArt DecoConnaught Theatre (formerly called Picturdrome),[174] theBaroque Pavilion Theatre[175] and theModernist, Grade II-listed Assembly Hall, which is mostly used for musical performances (including since 1950 an annual music festival).[174][176][170] Theatre has been performed in Worthing since 1796. Thomas Trotter, the early promoter and manager at the town's temporary venues,[137] was asked to open a permanent theatre in 1807; his Theatre Royal opened on 7 July of that year and operated until 1855. The building survived until 1870. The 1,000-capacity New Theatre Royal in Bath Place, run by Carl Adolf Seebold for several years, lasted from 1897 until 1929.[175]
Worthing Museum and Art Gallery hosts one of the most significant costume collections in the UK.[177] Built in 1908 as the town's museum and library, it is expected to undergo a major redevelopment in 2020.[178] Alfred Cortis, the first mayor of Worthing, and the international philanthropistAndrew Carnegie funded the construction.[179]
In the visual arts, painterCopley Fielding lived at 5 Park Crescent in the mid-18th century.[137] and more recentlyJamie Hewlett andAlan Martin created cult comic figureTank Girl while at college in the town in the 1980s.[180] The town has a famous work by sculptorElisabeth Frink. Uniquely in England, Desert Quartet (1990), Frink's penultimate sculpture, was given Grade II* listing in 2007, less than 30 years from its creation. It may be seen on the building opposite Liverpool Gardens. Hand-painted by Gary Bevans over more than five years,English Martyrs' Catholic Church in Goring has the world's only known reproduction ofMichelangelo'sSistine Chapel ceiling.[181][182]
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Few structures in central Worthing predate the 19th century, these being a few buildings onWorthing High Street that are survivals from the early fishing hamlet of Worthing.[183] There are some older buildings in the former villages outside the town centre. For example, parts ofSt Mary's Church in Broadwater date to the Saxon period and West Tarring has several buildings from the medieval and Tudor periods, including St Andrew's Church and the Archbishop's Palace, which date from the 13th century.
There are 213listed buildings in the borough of Worthing. Three of these—Castle Goring,St Mary's Church at Broadwater and the Archbishop's Palace at West Tarring—are classified at Grade I, which is used for buildings "of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important".[184]Worthing Pier,Park Crescent,Beach House and several churches are also listed.[185]
Since 1896, when Warwick House was demolished, many historic buildings have been lost and others altered.[186] The town's first and most distinguished theatre, the Theatre Royal, and the adjacent Omega Cottage (the home of the theatre's first manager) were lost in 1970 when the Guildbourne Centre was built;[175][187] Warne's Hotel and the Royal Sea House burnt down;[188][189] the earlybath-houses which were vital to Worthing's success as a fashionable resort were all demolished in the 20th century;[190] Broadwater's ancientrectory rotted away after it fell out of use in 1924;[111] and several old streets in the town centre had all their buildings demolished for postwar redevelopment.[187]
Pale yellow bricks have been made locally since about 1780, and are commonly encountered as a building material.[191]Flint is the other predominant structural material: its local abundance has ensured its frequent use. The combination of flint and red brick is characteristic of Worthing. In particular, walls built alongside streets or to mark out boundaries were almost always built of flint with brick dressings, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[192]
Boat porches are a unique architectural feature of Worthing. These structures surround the entrance doors of some early 19th-century houses, and take the form of astuccoed porch with anogee-headed roof which resembles the bottom of a boat. Historians have speculated that the cottages, examples of which are in Albert Place, Warwick Place and elsewhere, may have been built by local fishermen who used their boats as a basis for the design.[193][194]
The town has a small number of residentialhigh-rise buildings includingBayside Vista at 52 metres (172 ft),[195] completed in 2022, and Manor Lea at 43 metres (141 ft), built in 1967.[196][197] TheSplashpoint Leisure Centre won aWorld Architecture Festival award in 2013.[198]
The Midsummer Tree, anoak, stands near Broadwater Green and is said to be around 300 years old. Until the 19th century, it was believed that onMidsummer's Eve skeletons would rise from the tree and dance around it until dawn, when they would sink back into the ground.[199] The legend was first recorded by folklorist Charlotte Latham in 1868.[200] Since 2006, when the oak was saved from development, meetings have been held on Midsummers Eve there.[201]
It was once believed that monsters known asknuckers lived in bottomless ponds calledknuckerholes. There were several knuckerholes in Sussex, including one in Worthing by Ham Bridge (on the present Ham Road), close toEast Worthing railway station andTeville Stream.[202]
According to legend, a tunnel several miles long led from the now-demolished medievalOffington Hall to the Neolithic flint mines and Iron Age hill fort at Cissbury. It was said to be sealed, and there was treasure at the far end; the owner of the Hall "had offered half the money to anyone who would clear out the subterranean passage and several persons had begun digging, but all had been driven back by large snakes springing at them with open mouths and angry hisses".[200][203]
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The town has five miles of beach and large areas of open space on the South Downs including theWorthing Downland Estate,Cissbury Ring andHighdown Hill. The town also contains a number of parks and gardens, many laid out in theVictorian andEdwardian eras.
The Worthing Festival is an annual multi-arts festival that began in 2023. Worthing Artists' Open Houses is an annual festival of arts and crafts.[205] In the last two weeks each July, open-air concerts take place in the town centre with a fairground along the town's promenade. Also taking place in July,Worthing Pride has been celebrated in the town since 2018. From 2008 to 2015, Worthing was the home to theInternational Birdman competition.
In January, the ancient custom ofwassailing takes place in Tarring to bless the apple trees. A flaming torchlit procession takes place down Tarring High Street culminating in hundreds of people gathering around an apple tree to shout, chant and sing to drive away evil spirits.[206] The apple trees are toasted withwassail,apple cider andapple cake, followed by fireworks.[207] On May Day, a procession and dancing takes place in Worthing town centre, culminating in the crowning of theMay Queen.[208]
In the early 19th century, Worthing was served by newspapers with a wider geographical circulation, such as theBrighton Gazette,Brighton Herald,Sussex Daily News,Sussex Weekly Advertiser andWest Sussex Gazette.[209] Weekly or monthly publications such as theWorthing Visitors' List and Advertising Sheet (notorious for its condemnation of people who had displeased its owner, Owen Breads),[210] theWorthing Monthly Record & District Chronicle and theWorthing Intelligencer[211] provided some local coverage from the middle of the century onwards; but the town's first regular local newspaper was theWorthing Gazette, introduced in 1883.[211] It favoured theConservative Party at first, and supported theSkeleton Army's anti-Salvation Army riots later that decade.[212]
In 1921 its scope was extended to include Littlehampton, and it was renamed accordingly.[211] TheWorthing Herald was founded in 1920; it acquired theGazette in 1963, but continued to publish the newspapers separately until 1981. Since then, a single newspaper has been published weekly under theHerald name, but it is officially known as theWorthing Herald incorporating the Worthing Gazette.[211] It is now owned byJohnston Press, and has been based at Cannon House in Chatsworth Road since 1991.[211] The Brighton-based dailyThe Argus, owned byNewsquest, also serves Worthing. An anarchic local newsletter calledThe Porkbolter, focusing on environmental issues, has been published monthly since 1997.[213]
Worthing is served by theBBC South television studios based in Southampton,[214][215]BBC South East from Tunbridge Wells, and by theITV franchiseMeridian Broadcasting, also with studios in Southampton.[216] Television signals come from theRowridge orWhitehawk Hilltransmitters.[217][218]
More Radio Worthing is Worthing's localcommercial radio station. Launched in 2003 it broadcasts from the Guildbourne Centre on 107.7FM.[219]Heart South, aGlobal Radio-owned commercial station, also covers Worthing.[citation needed]BBC Local Radio coverage is provided byBBC Radio Sussex.[citation needed]
Worthing's 5 miles (8 km) of coastline provide for watersport, especiallycatamaran racing,windsurfing andkitesurfing. The town has held aregatta forrowing since at least 1859.
The South Downs is commonly used for hiking andmountain-biking, with around 22 trail-heads within the borough. Both of Worthing's golf clubs, includingWorthing Golf Club are on the Downs. TheThree Forts Marathon is a 27-mile (43 km)ultramarathon from Broadwater to the three Iron Age hill forts of Cissbury Ring, Chanctonbury Ring andDevil's Dyke.
Worthing F.C., nicknamed"The Rebels" or"The Mackerel Men", formed in 1886 is the town's main football club.[220] The men's team play in theNational League South, having won the2021—22Isthmian League Premier Division and thewomen's team play in theFA Women's National League South East.Worthing United F.C. nicknamed 'the"Mavericks" were playing in theDivision One of the Sussex County League in 2013.[221] NicknamedWorthing Raiders,Worthing Rugby Football Club play inNational League 2 East and since 1977 have been based in the nearby village ofAngmering. Formed in 1999Worthing Thunder play in theNational Basketball League. TheWorthing Bears (now defunct) won theBritish Basketball League in1992—93. Worthing Hockey Club was formed in 1896 and has a number of teams. The home pitches are at Manor Sports Ground.[222]
The promenade is the route used by the Worthingparkrun[223] which has been taking place since June 2016. The free, weekly timed 5 km run had 420 people attending the first event.
AlongsideJohannesburg andAdelaide, Worthing is one of only three locations in the world to have hosted the men'sWorld Bowls Championship twice. The events were held in1972 and1992, both atBeach House Park, which is sometimes known as the spiritual home of bowls, and is also the venue for the annual National Championships each August. Beach House Park also hosted the Women's World Bowls Championship in1977.
| Club | Nickname | Sport | League | Venue | Established |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worthing Cricket Club | Cricket | Sussex Premier League | Manor Sports Ground | 1855 | |
| Worthing Football Club | The Rebels | Football | National League South | Woodside Road | 1886 |
| Worthing Rugby Football Club | Raiders | Rugby union | National League 2 East | Roundstone Lane,Angmering | 1920 |
| Worthing United Football Club | The Mavericks | Football | Southern Combination Football League | Robert Albon Memorial Ground | 1988 |
| Worthing Thunder | Thunder | Basketball | English Basketball League | Worthing Leisure Centre | 1999 |
| Worthing F.C. Women | The Rebels or the Reds | Football | FA Women's National League South East | Woodside Road |
Notable inhabitants include:
In the 20th century, these writers chose to live in the town:
Worthing istwinned with two rural districts; four small towns in the Eltztal region of Germany —Waldkirch,Elzach,Gutach im Breisgau andSimonswald, since 1997[231] and the Pays des Olonnes in France that includes the seaside town ofLes Sables-d'Olonne, since 1998.[231]
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