Pagham Harbour Reclaimed for Farmland

1876

In 1876, a sea wall was built across the mouth of Pagham Harbour in an attempt to reclaim the tidal inlet for agricultural use. The scheme was driven by the desire to convert the mudflats and saltmarsh into productive farmland, following similar reclamation projects elsewhere on the south coast. The wall cut off the harbour from the sea, and the enclosed land was drained and ploughed. For over thirty years, the former harbour was farmed, though the low-lying land remained prone to waterlogging and the soil was poor in places. The reclamation fundamentally altered the landscape of Pagham, turning a tidal inlet into fields.