Medieval Fishing Settlement

c. 1200-1500

After the loss of the bishopric in 1075, Selsey settled into its role as a small fishing village at the end of the Manhood Peninsula. The community depended on the sea for its livelihood, catching fish, crabs and lobsters from small boats launched from the beach. The village was isolated, connected to the mainland by the single road across the low-lying peninsula, and the population remained small. The medieval church of St Peter served the parish, and the remains at Church Norton continued to attract occasional pilgrims who remembered Selsey's Saxon heritage. Coastal erosion was already a concern, and the sea gradually encroached on the land around Selsey Bill, claiming properties and fields over the centuries.