About
Littlehampton Museum celebrates the history of one of West Sussex's most distinctive coastal communities — a town shaped by its position at the mouth of the River Arun, by centuries of maritime trade and shipbuilding, and by its later life as a popular seaside resort. Housed in a refurbished town centre building, the museum draws on rich local collections to illuminate the story of the town from prehistoric times to the twentieth century.
Littlehampton's identity has always been defined by its relationship with the sea. For centuries the town served as a working harbour: coal and timber came in; grain, wool, and later manufactured goods went out. The museum traces the evolution of this maritime economy through ship models, navigational instruments, harbour records, and the personal stories of the seafaring families who formed the backbone of the community. Shipbuilding flourished on the river bank during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with local yards producing vessels that traded across the North Sea and beyond.
The museum also explores the landscape and archaeology of the River Arun valley, which has been continuously inhabited since the Mesolithic period. Finds from excavations at nearby Arundel, Angmering, and along the coastal strip reveal the depth of human activity in this corner of Sussex — from Neolithic farming communities through Bronze Age metalworking to Roman agriculture and Saxon settlement. The arrival of the railway in 1863 transformed Littlehampton into a Victorian seaside resort, and the museum documents the bathing machines, pleasure steamers, funfair attractions, and holiday fashions that gave the town its resort character. The story of the town's artistic connections — including the poet William Blake's three-year residence at nearby Felpham (1800–1803), where he composed much of his epic Jerusalem — adds a literary dimension to the museum's local history narrative.
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Plan Your Visit
💡 Visitor Tips
- Littlehampton station is a 10-minute walk from the museum — the town is directly served by Southern Railway trains from Brighton and Chichester.
- Combine with a walk along the seafront and to Look and Sea, the award-winning visitor centre at the beach, for a full picture of the coastal town.
- The Felpham Blake Trail (west of Littlehampton) marks the sites associated with William Blake's three-year stay; ask museum staff for directions.
- Arundel Castle is 4 miles north and makes an excellent combined day out — the museum opens early enough to visit both.
- The town's seafront East Beach Café, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, is worth seeing architecturally as well as for refreshments.
- Summer weekends are busiest for the town generally; visit the museum first thing in the morning to avoid crowds in the town centre.
- The museum's photographic archive can be accessed for local history research — contact in advance to arrange an appointment.
- Town centre parking is charged; consider arriving by train from Brighton (30 minutes) to avoid parking costs.
Highlights
Maritime Heritage — Working Port and Shipbuilding
At the heart of the museum is its maritime collection, which documents Littlehampton's centuries as a working harbour at the mouth of the River Arun. Ship models, navigational instruments, harbour accounts, and the business records of local shipbuilding yards chart the evolution of the port from medieval trading quay to Victorian commercial harbour.
Local yards produced sailing vessels and later steam-powered craft that traded around the British coastline and into the North Sea, and the stories of the maritime families who crewed and owned these vessels give a human dimension to the maritime record.
William Blake at Felpham
Between 1800 and 1803, the visionary poet and artist William Blake lived at Felpham, a village just west of Littlehampton, in a cottage on the seafront. It was here, inspired by the Sussex landscape and the sea, that Blake composed key sections of his prophetic epic Jerusalem — a work of cosmic ambition whose opening lines, set to Hubert Parry's music, became the hymn 'And did those feet in ancient time.
' The museum explores Blake's Sussex years and their importance to English Romanticism, including the episode in which Blake ejected a soldier from his garden and was charged with sedition — a trial that ended in acquittal at Chichester.
Victorian Seaside — The Resort Years
The arrival of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway at Littlehampton in 1863 transformed the working harbour town into a seaside resort. The museum documents the bathing machines, beach huts, pleasure steamers, and funfair attractions that catered to Victorian and Edwardian holidaymakers.
Photographs, postcards, programmes, and seasonal ephemera capture the social rituals of the British seaside holiday, from the formality of Victorian bathing etiquette to the more relaxed pleasures of the inter-war years when Littlehampton Beach became a popular destination for London families.
Prehistoric to Roman — River Arun Valley
The River Arun valley has been settled since the Mesolithic period, and the museum's archaeology collection presents finds from excavations across the region. Flint tools, Bronze Age metalwork, and evidence of Iron Age farmsteads illustrate the long continuity of human settlement. Roman activity in the area was substantial — a Roman road ran through what is now Arundel and the coast was used for landing supplies.
Pottery, coins, and building materials from local excavations are displayed alongside maps showing how the landscape has changed over millennia.
Collections
The Littlehampton Museum holds collections covering archaeology, maritime history, social history, and local photography relating to Littlehampton and the River Arun area. The archaeology collection includes prehistoric flint tools, Bronze Age metalwork, and Roman finds from the coastal plain of West Sussex.
The maritime collection encompasses ship models, navigational equipment, harbour records, and material from local shipbuilding families spanning the eighteenth to twentieth centuries.
The social history collection includes domestic objects, clothing, ephemera, and personal effects documenting everyday life in the town across the same period. The museum also holds an important photographic archive of several thousand images covering the Victorian resort era through to the mid-twentieth century, alongside a small library of local history publications.
Littlehampton Through Time
The main permanent gallery covering the history of Littlehampton from prehistoric settlement to the twentieth century, with particular emphasis on the maritime heritage, resort development, and local community life.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.