OS grid reference TQ054022 Sovereign state United Kingdom District Arun | Civil parish Rustington Area 3.72 km² Local time Saturday 7:39 AM Dialling code 01903 | |
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Population 13,883 (Civil Parish.2011) Weather 7°C, Wind NE at 14 km/h, 83% Humidity |
England tourist rustington sussex
Rustington is a village and civil parish near Littlehampton in the Arun District of West Sussex. Rustington is approximately at the midpoint of the West Sussex coast and midway between the county town of Chichester and Brighton. The A259 runs along the north of Rustington, westward to Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Chichester, and east to Worthing and Brighton.
Contents
- England tourist rustington sussex
- Map of Rustington UK
- History
- Conservation area and information centre
- Sports and leisure
- Annual events
- Geography
- In music literature and the media
- Shopping facilities
- Sport and leisure
- Transport
- Popular culture
- Hot cross bun
- Air speed records
- Twin towns
- Notable people
- References
Map of Rustington, UK
With a population of over 14,000 in 2014, it has the size and facilities of a small town, including a shopping area with a mix of independent and chain stores. The parish of Rustington includes the neighbourhood of West Preston.
History
Rustington was in World War I home to an American air base, at the east of the High Street.
Conservation area and information centre
Rustington contains a conservation area which extends from the south end of North Lane to The Lamb in The Street. Here, where trees are protected, are the largest number of pre-1850 listed buildings in the post town, with The Street and surrounding roads containing some of the finest 17th and 18th century Sussex flint cottages in West Sussex, some of which are thatched.
There is a village information centre at the Churchill Parade car park. Rustington has its own museum, containing artworks and artefacts and a coffee shop, housed in an 18th-century thatched house recently converted for the purpose.
Sports and leisure
The local amateur football team, Rustington F.C., went through 2006 without losing a single match, earning them a mention on Sky Sports News on New Year's Eve.
Annual events
Rustington competes annually in the South-East in Bloom competition. It holds an annual carnival and fête in August. Close to Christmas Eve, Rustington has a village carol concert which is free for local residents and features local school children accompanied by the Littlehampton Concert Band.
Geography
Rustington adjoins the English Channel, and ranges between 2 metres and 7 metres above Ordnance Datum. It has three main recreation grounds and neither woodland nor fields.
In music, literature and the media
Rustington is a well-known hymn tune by Hubert Parry who lived and died in Rustington (see Notable People below).
Rustington achieved national fame in 1956 with the launch of Flanders and Swann's show At the Drop of a Hat, in which the Gnu Song contains the lines:
I had taken furnished lodgings down at Rustington-on-SeaWhence I travelled on to...(Ashton-under-Lyne it was actually)...Shopping facilities
Rustington has independent shops such as butchers, greengrocers and bakers. It has some major banks and a post office serving a population of 40,000. Pedestrianised areas benefit the Churchill Court Shopping Courtyard. On display in the high street is a large Late Ice Age erratic boulder; this was brought to Rustington on ice during the last Ice Age. It was re-discovered in a local field named Stonefield having been used as a boundary marker for many years. Rustington also has a retail park on the A259 road.
Sport and leisure
Rustington has an amateur football club Rustington F.C. who play at the Recreation Ground.
Transport
Rustington shares Angmering railway station with Angmering and East Preston. Trains from this station go to Brighton and Portsmouth/Southampton, and some to London.
Bus services to Brighton and Portsmouth are provided by the 700 Coastliner.
Popular culture
In the Gnu Song, introduced in the 1950s by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, a verse begins with the line, "I had taken furnished lodgings down at Rustington-on-Sea". This is the setting for an apparition of a gnu.
Hot cross bun
Air speed records
Two world air speed records were set over Rustington sea front.
- Set on 7 September 1946, by Group Captain Teddy Donaldson, flying a Gloster Meteor Star. Donaldson also became the first man to exceed 1,000 km/h.
- Set on 7 September 1953, by Squadron Leader Neville Duke, flying Hawker Hunter WB188, at a speed of 1170.9 km/h.
To celebrate, on 7 September 1996, Neville Duke returned to Rustington to unveil a plaque, marking the event, joined by a Gloster Meteor and a Hawker Hunter, which flew over the sea front.