Saxon Pagham and the Selsey Bishops

c. 680 AD

Pagham was part of the lands granted to St Wilfrid and the early bishops of Selsey in the late seventh century. The Saxon settlement grew on the low-lying coastal plain between the sea and the tidal inlet that would become Pagham Harbour. The parish formed part of the extensive ecclesiastical estates of the South Saxon diocese, and this connection to the church would shape Pagham's governance and land ownership for centuries. The name Pagham derives from Old English, likely meaning the homestead of a man named Paecca. The Saxon village was agricultural, working the flat, fertile fields of the Manhood Peninsula and drawing fish and shellfish from the harbour waters.