Petersfield High Street North

Part of front cover designed by Edward Grainger for Petersfield Monographs No. 2 entitled ‘High Street Petersfield’.

Visits

It was an auspiciously sunny morning as we parked among yachts in various states of repair, a clue to our proximity to Chichester Harbour. With our guide, Hilly Sloan, our focus was to be Bosham Church and its place in history. Its name is a clue, deriving from ‘Boscum’ - oak essential for shipbuilding.

Bosham, a Royal Manor from Saxon times, played a significant role in English history featuring in the Bayeaux Tapestry. The Royal connections meant that Bosham Church had a College of Priests whose interests clashed with those of the parish. The Church itself dates back to Saxon times but has been extended eastwards.

The remoteness of Bosham meant that smuggling was rife and we saw gravestones that could be removed to hide contraband from the Revenue men. Although Bosham had proved an unsuccessful startup site for a conquest of Normandy, matters were more auspicious in the 2nd World War when Bosham was a base for early radio transmissions to France and its ship building facilities were used to build and test the ‘Mulberry Harbours’ used in the D Day landings.

Bosham Church

  Bosham

How To Join

Contact us for an application form. Membership costs £15 per person or £20 per couple. This includes eight meetings per year with a speaker and five optional meetings of the Society’s Archaeological Group. You will also receive a copy of the Society’s twice-yearly bulletin.

Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery

Petersfield Museum

Visit Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery to see some of the archival work PAHS has undertaken.

Petersfield Musical Festival

"Petersfield

Petersfield Musical Festival has entertained the town with choral music for over 100 years.

Petersfield Physic Garden

fritillaryThe Physic Garden is open daily except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s day. Check the website for times. Entrance is free.

People of Petersfield Heath

People of the Heath Visit People of the Heath for more on the excavation of the Petersfield Heath barrows.