page_title: Shoreham-by-Sea
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Shoreham-by-Sea / History
caption_attribution_description: St Nicholas Church, Old Shoreham
context_page_description: Shoreham-by-Sea is a seaside town and port in West Sussex, England.
  The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the English Channel. The town lies in the middle of the ribbon of urban development along the English south coast, approximately equidistant from the city of Brighton and Hove to the east and the town of Worthing to the west. Shoreham covers an area of 2,430 acres and has a population of 20,547.
context_section_description: Old Shoreham dates back to pre-Roman times. St Nicolas' Church, inland by the River Adur, is partly Anglo-Saxon The name of the town has an Old English origin. The town and port of New Shoreham was established by the Norman conquerors towards the end of the 11th century.
  St Mary de Haura Church (St Mary of the Haven) was built in the decade following 1103 (the Domesday Book was dated 1086), and around this time the town was laid out on a grid pattern that, in essence, survives in the town centre. The church is only half the size of the original – the former nave was ruinous at the time of the civil war although remnants of the original west façade survive in the churchyard to some height.
  Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Idrisi, writing c.1153, described Shoreham as "a fine and cultivated city containing buildings and flourishing activity".
  The rapid growth of the neighbouring towns of Brighton, Hove and Worthing – and in particular the arrival of the railway in 1840 – prepared the way for Shoreham's rise as a Victorian sea port, with several shipyards and an active coasting trade. Shoreham Harbour remains in commercial operation to this day.
caption: St Nicolas' Church.
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