Barnham is a semi-rural village and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, England, centred about five miles (8 km) north of Bognor Regis.HistoryBarnham is mentioned in the Domesday Book and retains some of its rich agricultural history, having had very little woodland for many centuries, and gently rolling cereal fields and pasture instead.GeographyWest Barnham forms a semi-rural conurbation with Barnham which had 3,107 people living in it 2001. As with many other such villages in the south-east of England just outside the Metropolitan Green Belt with accessible to centres of employment and resorts for the retired, accepted construction in the early part of the 21st century has included retirement apartments and other residential expansion.The cattle market was, in its heyday, considered to be one of the most important in Sussex for both cattle and cereals.In the 20th century this area, on alluvial soils, was important for market gardening; There are many large, industrial-sized greenhouses in the area, although very few within the parish boundary.GovernanceAn electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward includes Aldingbourne and surrounding area with a total population at the 2011 census of 8,627.AmenitiesThe parish church, dedicated to St Mary, was given to the Abbey of Lessay in Normandy in 1105 and later passed to Boxgrove Priory. There is an elaborate carved rectangular font of Sussex marble. The white wooden tower was once regarded as an important aid to shipping in the English Channel.
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