Public services in Worthing
Worthing, a seaside town in the English county of West Sussex which has had borough status since 1890,[1] has a wide range of public services funded by national government, West Sussex County Council, Worthing Borough Council and other public-sector bodies. Revenue to fund these services comes principally from Council Tax.
Police and courts
Home Office policing in Worthing is provided by the Worthing district of the West Downs division of Sussex Police.[2] The district is divided into three neighbourhood policing teams—Town, East and West—for operational purposes. The police station is now in Chatsworth Road,[3] but several town-centre sites have been occupied in the past. The first station was at 7 Ann Street; it moved to number 17 and then, in 1922, to 16 High Street. A new building was provided in Union Place in 1939.[4] After the move to Chatsworth Road, C.G. Stillman's brick structure fell into disuse, and in April 2009 permission was given to demolish it; this happened in October 2009.[5][6]
When the town was incorporated, a combination of
A magistrates' court was established at the old town hall in 1835. Twelve years later, county court status was granted. When the new town hall was built in the 1930s, the arrangement continued, but a new courtroom was provided at the police station in 1940. The present Law Courts building on Christchurch Road dates from 1967 and was designed by a team including Frank Morris.[11]
Fire protection
Worthing's first fire engine was bought for the town by a resident in 1815. A 29-man volunteer fire brigade was formed in 1855; by 1869 it operated three fire stations. The borough organised its own fire brigade in 1891. A new fire station was built on High Street in 1908; it closed in 1961, and the present building on Ardsheal Road in Broadwater was provided in 1962.[7][12] Services are now provided by the Worthing and Adur District Team, part of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service,[13] which employs 60 full-time and 18 retained firefighters at the Worthing station.[14]
Hospitals
The town's first hospital was built in 1829 on Ann Street. A larger building opened in 1846 on Chapel Road, and was given the name "Worthing Infirmary and Dispensary" after an enlargement in 1860. In 1881, the first part of what would become
Post and telephones
Until 1798, post bound for Worthing was conveyed by coach to Steyning and left there for collection. From then, deliveries operated via Shoreham-by-Sea, but in 1807 Worthing's first post office opened and it became a post town.[23] The main post office—a Head Post Office between 1919 and 1985—[24] has occupied eight different sites,[25] but it moved to Chapel Road in 1878 and was rebuilt in Neo-Georgian style in 1930.[7][26] Public telegraph services began in 1880, although the railway had a system in place from 1859. Worthing's telephone system began in 1890; a manual telephone exchange, once the largest in England, was established in 1912 and was supplemented by a second in Goring-by-Sea in 1929. Automatic exchanges opened in 1966 and 1972.[24]
Gas and electricity
The town was provided with a
Water supply
Worthing relied on springs and wells for water until the Local Board (predecessors of the present Borough Council)
Drainage and sewerage
Worthing's typhoid epidemic of 1893, which killed 188 people, was caused by pollution of the water supply after the digging of an extra well to alleviate pressure on the waterworks interfered with an old sewer.
Cemeteries
Worthing's main cemeteries are on South Farm Road in Broadwater (opened in 1862) and the bottom of Findon Valley (opened in 1927 on a 42-acre (17 ha) site). The latter's gatehouse and chapel were designed by Giles Gilbert Scott.[7][41] Several churches have their own small graveyards, and one existed next to Worthing railway station until about 1908, when its graves were moved to Broadwater.[42][43] Worthing Crematorium, north of Findon in the neighbouring district of Arun,[44] was opened in 1967–68 on the site of Muntham Court, a mid-18th century Jacobean-style country house which was demolished in 1961.[42][45]
References
Notes
Sources
- ^ Elleray 1998, p. 97.
- ^ "Policing your Neighbourhood – Local Policing". Sussex Police. 2009. Archived from the original on 11 December 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ "Worthing District". Sussex Police. 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ a b Elleray 1998, p. 113.
- ^ "Demolition for Worthing's old police station". Worthing Herald. Johnston Press Digital Publishing. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ^ Stephens, Brian (7 October 2009). "VIDEO: Demolition of former Worthing police station". Worthing Herald. Johnston Press Digital Publishing. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Salzman, L. F., ed. (1980). "A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 1: Bramber Rape (Southern Part). Worthing: Local Government and Public Services". Victoria County History of Sussex. British History Online. pp. 114–119. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ "Freedom of Information Request: Detainee Handling Centres (Reference: FOI 643/08)". Sussex Police. October 2008. Archived from the original on 7 November 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ "Freedom of Information Request: Police stations opened or closed since 1997 (Reference: FOI 619/07)". Sussex Police. December 2007. Archived from the original on 8 November 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ "Worthing District crime levels and statistics". NPIA Local Crime Mapping. National Police Improvement Agency. 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ Elleray 1998, p. 93.
- ^ Elleray 1998, p. 75.
- ^ "Your District Teams: Worthing & Adur". West Sussex County Council. 4 June 2009. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ "Fire Stations: Worthing". West Sussex County Council. 29 June 2009. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f Elleray 1998, p. 83.
- ^ "Worthing and Southlands Hospitals". Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust. 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ "Meadowfield General Information". NHS Choices website. National Health Service. 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ "Greenacres General Information". NHS Choices website. National Health Service. 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Elleray 1998, p. 84.
- ^ Elleray 1985, §40.
- ^ Historic England (2007). "Courtlands Hospital, Parklands Avenue (west side), Worthing, Worthing, West Sussex (1250473)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ Elleray 1977, §180.
- ^ Elleray 1998, p. 115.
- ^ a b Elleray 1998, p. 116.
- ^ Elleray 1977, §121.
- ^ Nairn & Pevsner 1965, p. 389.
- ^ a b Elleray 1998, p. 77.
- ^ "Site of Worthing's iconic gasometer earmarked for development as demolition nears completion". Worthing Herald. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- Scotia Gas Networks. pp. 2–3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- ^ a b UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ a b c Elleray 1998, p. 73.
- ^ Elleray 1985, §127.
- ^ Historic England (2007). "Lamp Standard, Farncombe Road, Worthing, Worthing, West Sussex (1250852)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ "About us: Areas we cover". UK Power Networks. 2013. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- ^ Elleray 1998, p. 96.
- ^ a b c Elleray 1998, p. 140.
- ^ Elleray 1977, §28.
- ^ Elleray 1985, §9.
- ^ "Where I live". Southern Water Services Ltd. 2005. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ Elleray 1998, p. 136.
- ^ Elleray 1998, pp. 45–46.
- ^ a b Elleray 1998, p. 46.
- ^ Elleray 1977, §64.
- ^ "Crematoriums". Worthing Borough Council. 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ Elleray 1985, §190.
Bibliography
- Elleray, D. Robert (1977). Worthing: a Pictorial History. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-263-X.
- Elleray, D. Robert (1985). Worthing: Aspects of Change. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-551-5.
- Elleray, D. Robert (1998). A Millennium Encyclopaedia of Worthing History. Worthing: Optimus Books. ISBN 0-9533132-0-4.
- ISBN 0-14-071028-0.