Worthing
Borough of Worthing | |
---|---|
Clockwise, from top: Worthing seafront from Worthing Pier, Dome Cinema, Castle Goring, Cissbury Ring in the South Downs National Park, Connaught Theatre, Worthing Pier | |
Etymology: Old English Wyrtingas | |
Nickname: Sunny Worthing | |
Motto(s): "Ex terra copiam e mari salutem" (Latin for "From the land plenty and from the sea health") | |
![]() Location within West Sussex | |
Coordinates: 50°48′53″N 0°22′17″W / 50.81472°N 0.37139°W | |
Sovereign state | ![]() |
Country | ![]() |
Region | South East England |
Historic county | ![]() |
County | West Sussex |
Borough | Worthing |
Founded | In Antiquity |
Town charter | 1803 |
Borough status | 1890 |
Administrative HQ | Worthing Town Hall |
Government | |
• Type | Borough |
• Body | Worthing Borough Council |
• Leadership | Leader and cabinet |
• Executive | Labour |
• Leader of Council | Cllr Beccy Cooper (L) |
• Chief Executive | Catherine Howe |
• MPs | Peter Bottomley (C) Tim Loughton (C) |
Area | |
• Borough | 32.48 km2 (12.54 sq mi) |
• Rank | 277th |
Elevation | 7 m (25 ft) |
Highest elevation | 184 m (603 ft) |
Population (2022) | |
• Borough | 112,044 (ranked 216th) |
• Density | 3,445/km2 (8,920/sq mi) |
• Urban | 474,485 |
Demonym | Worthingite |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | GMT |
• Summer (DST) | British Summer Time |
Postcode | BN11–BN14 |
Area code | 01903 |
ONS code | 45UH |
Highest point | Cissbury Ring (184m) |
Grid reference | SU775075 |
Website | adur-worthing |
Worthing (/ˈwɜːrðɪŋ/ WUR-dhing) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, 11 miles (18 km) west of Brighton, and 18 miles (29 km) east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094[2] and an area of 12.5 square miles (32.4 km2), the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hove built-up area, the 15th most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Northern parts of the borough, including the Worthing Downland Estate, form part of the South Downs National Park. In 2019, the Art Deco Worthing Pier was dubbed the best in Britain.[3]
Dating from around 4000 BC, the flint mines at Cissbury and nearby Church Hill, Blackpatch and Harrow Hill are amongst the earliest Neolithic monuments in Britain.[4] The Iron Age hill fort of Cissbury Ring is one of Britain's largest. The recorded history of Worthing began with the Domesday Book. Worthing is historically part of Sussex, mostly in the rape of Bramber; Goring, which forms part of the rape of Arundel, was incorporated in 1929. Worthing was a small mackerel fishing hamlet for many centuries until, in the late 18th century, it developed into an elegant Georgian seaside resort and attracted the well-known and wealthy of the day. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the area was one of Britain's chief market gardening centres.[5]
Modern Worthing has a large service industry, particularly in financial services. It has three theatres and one of Britain's oldest cinemas, the Dome.[6] Writers Oscar Wilde and Harold Pinter lived and worked in the town.