The Sussex Coast - online book

A Literary & Historical travel guide to the Sussex Coast

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	III. The Manhood
	THE name Manwode or Manhood, as it is now usually spelt, seems to date back at any rate to the time of Edward I. No one knows what it means ; the pro­posal to connect it with the Meons in Hampshire starts from a wild guess ; the deriva­tion "main wood" is equally unsatisfactory, and could by no possibility have been given to the district unless by a most sarcastic person. The Hundred of Manhood includes the seven parishes of Birdham, West Itchenor, West Wittering, East Wittering, Earnley, Selsey, and Sidlesham, or in other words the lands between Chichester and Pagham Harbours. It is a flat and at first sight perhaps not a particularly interesting district, but the open sea in front and the view of the Downs behind give it a charm that has attracted numer­ous if somewhat temporary immigrants during the last few years. Nor is this appreciation anything new. In the Manhood Bishop Sherburne built himself a country house in the reign of Henry VIII.