Lancing although technically still a village, is today a large sprawl of mixed age properties, most of which are the result of a massive amount of building after WW2. Before the wars the area was well known in the nineteenth century as a coastal resort for the wealthy and for its horticulture, particularly the growing of watercress.
Lancing although technically still a village, is today a large sprawl of mixed age properties, most of which are the result of a massive amount of building after WW2. Before the wars the area was well known in the nineteenth century as a coastal resort for the wealthy and for its horticulture, particularly the growing of watercress. To the west lies the large coastal town of Worthing and to the east Sompting and Shoreham-By-Sea. The village has effectively become combined with Sompting to form a continuous block of suburbanisation. The historical Shoreham Airport has done the most to prevent Lancing being swallowed up by the huge expansion of building in this part of the Sussex coast. Sitting in the middle of a large area of grassland near the Adur's west bank, it is still in use as a small airport for light aircraft and retains its beautiful Art Deco Building which now houses a café and restaurant.
Sompting is a village that lies inland and has areas on both sides of the A27 in between Lancing and Shoreham. The church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin is thought to date from as early as 960 AD but a lot of the church was remodelled by the Knights Templar in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Sompting Manor House dates to medieval days when, like Steyning and many other places in the Adur valley, the Abbot of Fecamp, in Normandy held the manor. The current building on the old site of the Manor House was built in 1856 and is now used by Sompting Abbotts School. The Sompting Festival, originally part of the Adur Festival, is held yearly.
