Bosham’s history is long, some well documented and other steeped in myths and legends. Around 1000AD the Danes invaded Bosham and the story goes that they made off with the church bell only to lose it in what is now called the ‘bell hole’. Locals say you can hear the bell ringing on stormy nights! Bosham is reputed to be the site of King Canute’s attempt to stop the tide. Some historians believe that Canute’s young daughter was drowned in the millstream and is buried in Bosham Church.

Bosham next appears on the Bayeaux Tapestry. As King Harold’s home village, it was from here that he sailed to Normandy in 1064. Bosham Church is depicted on the Tapestry along with the history of the Battle of Hastings. However, the church is thought to pre-date Harold by about 300 years making it one of the oldest in England.

The reason that we were there to film is that Earl Harold, accompanied by some of his
friends  embarked on a journey to France. They set off in a hunting
party accompanied by their dogs, Harold rode high in the saddle and
proudly displayed the falcon tethered to his fore arm.

Before the getting into their ships, they stopped at the church to pray for safe passage.  Harold and his friends are depicted on the tapestry walking in the North door of the Bosham
Church.

Bosham is a delightful seaside town… however, there wasn’t much time to explore. It was a Bank Holiday and the sunny weather has encouraged the masses to migrate to the beach. The traffic was bumper to bumper so we decided to try and miss a little of it by returning to hastings early.

Our thanks to Canon om Inman for allowing us to film.