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| Burpham | |
|---|---|
 Burpham Village from Perry Hill | |
  Burpham Location withinWest Sussex | |
| Area | 12.38 km2 (4.78 sq mi) [1] |
| Population | 145 (Civil Parish.2011)[2] |
| • Density | 12/km2 (31/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TQ039089 |
| • London | 47 miles (76 km)NNE |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Arundel |
| Postcode district | BN18 |
| Dialling code | 01903 |
| Police | Sussex |
| Fire | West Sussex |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Burpham (listenⓘ) is a rural village andcivil parish in theArun District ofWest Sussex, England. The village is on an arm of theRiver Arun slightly less than 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast ofArundel.
A slight minority of the population qualifies as within the working age.
Wepham is a ruralhamlet in the parish about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) northeast ofArundel on the road between Burpham andWarningcamp.
The surrounding area has yieldedIron Age andNeolithic remains. The bones, a tusk and some grinders of an elephant were found near Peppering Farm in 1820.[3]
The village is next to the site of aSaxonBurh (anOld English term for "fortification") with earthworks to protect against Viking attack up the River Arun. It is one of a series of burhs ordered byAlfred the Great or his successor,Edward the Elder in about AD 900 and listed in theBurghal Hidage. Burpham'stoponym is derived fromburh.
TheChurch of England parish church ofSaint Mary is ofSaxon origin. It has a lepers' window by which lepers could watch theMass. English Heritage lists the building as a Grade I listed building.[4]
Burpham has one main street, mainly of thatched Sussexflint cottages.
Burpham has a rich literary history.Mervyn Peake and his family lived here and he walked theSouth Downs while devising the fantasy characters ofGormenghast.Mervyn Peake is buried at St Mary's Church, Burpham.
John Cowper Powys moved to Burpham with his wife Margaret in 1902 and wrote warmly of Burpham in hisAutobiography (1934).[5] His son Littleton Alfred Powys was born in the village later that year and subsequently grew up living with his mother whilst John Cowper Powys toured America delivering public lectures and writing.[6] The Rev.Tickner Edwardes, who lived in what is now the Burpham Country House Hotel, when Vicar of Burpham, was a noted naturalist, and wrote many books includingThe Lore of the Honey-Bee, as well as authoring romantic novels and early films of the 1920s such asTansy, the story of a love triangle between a village girl and two brothers.[7] Ablue plaque on the building commemorates him. Both Peake and Edwardes are buried in St. Mary's churchyard. LikeGilbert White of Selbourne, Edwardes combined his role as priest with his love and knowledge of the natural world. As Vicar he encountered one Harold Dexter, leader of a Boys' Club from Mitcham in Surrey who were camped nearby. Harold was interested in bees; finding that the Vicar shared his interest he asked the Vicar whether he had come across a remarkable book on bee culture by a man named Tickner Edwardes. Replied the Vicar: I am Tickner Edwardes.
Burpham has views across the Arun and its water meadows towardsArundel Castle,Arundel Cathedral andArundel Priory. The village has a century-old cricket pitch.[citation needed] There is onepublic house, The George at Burpham[citation needed] which at one time held anAA Rosette as agastropub.[8]
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