Platinum Heritage Trail
"An early morning walk through Felpham Village is a blessing for the whole day.",
Seven Plaques to Celebrate the Queens Seven Decades of Reign
Home to writers, poets, explorers and war heroes, Felpham boasts many surprising and notable people.
Some, like William Blake, are internationally recognized whereas others may not be so well known. All deserve to be commemorated by Blue Plaques.
Follow the new Platinum Blue Plaque Trail to discover the stories of some of the Village’s remarkable people and explore some of Felpham's key landmarks, such as the magnificent medieval St Mary's Church or The Fox one of the oldest inns in the county.
Blue Plaque number one is displayed within a memorial stone which is located in the Fisherman's Gardens on the seafront at the end of Canning Road…
Ernest Joyce (1875 – 1940) Antarctic Explorer
Ernest was a highly decorated explorer awarded the Albert Medal for his bravery during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and the Polar Medal with 4 bars by the Royal Geographical Society, only one other person having achieved this.
Born in Felpham in 1875, his father was a coastguard living in one of the fifteen cottages in Admiralty Road. Ernest began his naval career at the age of 15, when he joined Captain Scott's 1901 Discovery Expedition as an able seaman.
In 1907, Shackleton recruited Joyce to go on the Nimrod Discovery Expedition then in 1914 Shackleton recruited Joyce for the Ross Sea party which resulted in a number of deaths and incredible heroics, the Ross sea party became known as
The Lost Men.
His effectiveness in the field was widely acknowledged by his colleagues but sadly he made no significant material gains from his expeditions, living out his older years in humble circumstances before dying alone in 1940.
Plaque located within Fisherman's Gardens outside of The Lobster Pot
William Blake (1757 – 1827) Painter & Poet
Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, William Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age.
His prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced".
In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. He produced a diverse and symbolically rich oeuvre, which embraced the imagination as "The body of God" or "Human existence itself".
Late in life, he decided to move out of London to enjoy the splendour of Felpham in a cottage now named Blake's Cottage,
Blue Plaque is located on Blake's Cottage, Blakes Road.
George Morland (1763 – 1804) Artist
George Morland specialized in charming depictions of rural landscapes. Among his best-known works is the painting Inside of Stable (c. 1791) featuring a quiet scene of farm labourers and their horses bathed in yellow light.
The artist’s early life was tumultuous, with controversial accounts of his father imprisoning his son to produce forgeries of Dutch and Flemish paintings for his profit, only to be exploited further by an art dealer when he escaped his father’s home. He enjoyed significant success in his later life and was well known in London for his debaucherously parties and wild lifestyle. Whilst spending time in Felpham, he painted a ship leaving Chichester Harbour on a wall of the original Fox Inn in lieu of rent arrears.
His career was cut short by his arrest for debt and the subsequent loss of use of his left hand due to palsy, which he contracted in prison. Despite this, he painted right up until his death in London at the age of 41.
The Blue Plaque is located above the front door of The Fox public house
William Hayley (1745 – 1820) Poet, biographer
Born in Chichester, he was sent to Eton in 1757 and then to Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1762. In 1767 he left Cambridge and went to live in London. His private means enabled Hayley to live on his patrimonial estate at Eartham, Sussex and he retired there in 1774.
The location of this house in Eartham is now occupied by the Great Ballard School. In 1800 Hayley also lost his natural son, Thomas Alphonso Hayley, to whom he was devotedly attached. He had been a pupil of John Flaxman's, to whom Hayley's Essay on Sculpture (1800) is addressed.
Flaxman introduced William Blake to Hayley and after the latter had moved in 1800 to his marine hermitage at Felpham, Sussex. Blake settled near him for three years to engrave the illustrations for the Life of Cowper. This, Hayley's best-known work, was published in 1803–1804.
The Blue Plaque is located on the entrance wall to Turret Court
Charles George Lewis (1808 – 1880) Engraver, Artist
Charles was born in Enfield, Middlesex and was an outstanding engraver in his time; many of his best-known plates were after the works of Sir Edwin Landseer. The earliest of these was Hafed, published in 1837. His works after other painters included: Bonaparte a Bassano, The Melton Breakfast, after Sir Francis Grant. By Hawking in the Olden Time in 1842, The Hawk, The Peregrine Falcon, and Breeze in 1843, Islay, Macaw, and Love Birds in 1844, The Cat's Paw in 1846, The Otter Hunt in 1847, Hunters at Grass and Shoeing in 1848, The Woodcutter in 1849, A Grand Hart in 1853, Baying the Stag and The Poacher in 1873, Deer in Woburn Park in 1877, and Collie Dogs, the list is endless.
Some of his most famous being: Bouricairos crossing the Pyrenees, 1859; The Highland Shepherd and Huntsman taking Hounds to Cover, 1861; A Scottish Raid, 1862; The Horse Fair, 1863; A Family of Deer crossing the Summit of the Long Rocks and Morning in the Highlands.
An excellent example of the quality of his engravings can be found in an 1874 book ‘Landscapes British and Foreign, engraved by Charles G Lewis after E.W. Cooke R.A’ published just prior to him retiring to Felpham in 1877. He died suddenly from apoplexy at the front gate of his residence in Felpham Road watching a parade go past and was buried in Felpham churchyard.
Blue Plaque located on Cavendish Villa, Felpham Road
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Professor Robert Anderson (1922 –2012)
Olympic coach and film fight sword master
He was an English Olympic coach and a renowned film fight choreographer, with a
cinema career that spanned more than 50 years and included films such as Highlander, The Princess Bride, The Mask of Zorro, The Lord of the Rings, and Die Another Day.
He was regarded as the premier choreographer of Hollywood sword-fighting and during his career he coached many actors in swordsmanship, including Errol Flynn, Sean Connery, Antonio Banderas, Viggo Mortensen, Adrian Paul, and Johnny Depp. He also appeared as a stunt double for Darth Vader's lightsaber battles in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Anderson died on New Year's Day, 2012 in a West Sussex hospital at the age of 89.
Blue Plaque located White Lodge, Outram Road
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Barbara Harmer (1953 – 2011) First Woman
Supersonic Airline Pilot
On 25 March 1993, Barbara made history flying as first officer on a BA Concorde from
London’s Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport.
Her family moved to Felpham when she was five years old, left the local school to
become a hairdresser shortly after deciding to get involved within the Air industry, from
controller at Gatwick to becoming a flying instructor at Goodwood Airport, Barbara then
spent the next two years studying by correspondence course for her commercial pilot’s
licence, passing in 1982.
She joined British Caledonian and had her first experience of jet airliners. Four years later, Caledonian merged with British Airways and in 1992 Barbara was selected for an intensive six-month conversion course for Concorde, costing £100,000, fortunately this time paid by her employer .
Barbara’s passions didn’t stop at flying which may have come from living in Felpham overlooking the sea. She became a qualified offshore yacht master with plans to take part in a transatlantic event in 2013 with her husband.
Sadly, in 2009 she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died at St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Chichester on 20 February 2011, aged 57.
Blue Plaque located at Felpham Sailing Club
unveiled Internationals Women's Day 8th March 2023
Following are worthy historical candidates
UNDER CONSIDERATION & REVIEW
Cyril Jackson (1746 – 1819) Dean of Christ Church, and tutor to George IV
He was born in Yorkshire and was an outstanding academic, at Christ Church Jackson soon
became famous. He possessed a genius for government and enforced discipline without
any distinction of persons. He took a large share in framing the ‘Public Examination Statute,’
and always impressed upon his undergraduates the duty of competing for exhibitions
and prizes.
In 1771 he was chosen to be sub preceptor to the two eldest sons of King George retiring
to the Manor House at Felpham 1809, in a letter shortly before he passed away in the
Manor House he wrote to the King thanking him for settling his financial account, also within
the final sentence he apologized to the King for the quality of the note paper as it was all he
could acquire within the village.
He died in the Manor House 31st August 1819 being buried at St Mary's, Felpham.
James Joshua Guthrie (1874 - 1952) Poet, writer, illustrator and a leading print maker
James J Guthrie was inspired by William Blake and William Morris; he founded the Pear
Tree Press in Felpham so that he could take production into his own hands. An artist,
typographer, and printer, Guthrie was particularly interested in intaglio printing. Two of
his favourite pursuits were wood engraving and book plate design.
The first book issued by his Pear Tree Press was ‘Some Poems of Edgar Allan Poe’
in 1901, with drawings by Guthrie. One of the most elaborate engraved title pages
by James Guthrie features in ‘The Paradise of Tintoretto’ printed by Ballantyne & Co
published in 1910 includes from Flansham within its design. The last book, 50 years
later, was his work From a Sussex Village, printed at the Mermaid Press in Felpham in
1951 as a contribution to the Festival of Britain.
Others
Frank Powers - War Hero
Kenny Baker - Jazz Player
Email: Mrkwatson@btinternet.com
Tel:07831 877534
