Heene

Heene comes from the word Hīun or Hīwun meaning family or household.

Once part of the parish of West Tarring, Heene was a civil parish in its own right from the 16th century up until 1890 when it became part of the Borough of Worthing. Its borders are defined by the Teville Stream and Tarring Road to the north and Elm Grove and Wallace Avenue (once known as Sea Lane) to the west.

During the English Civil War in January 1644, the Spanish warship the Santiago (St James), was beached at Heene. The ship had several Royalist officers on board, as well as 24 brass guns, 2,000 arms and 100 barrels of gunpowder and a large cargo of linen. The ship had set sail from the port of Dunkirk, at the time part of the Spanish Empire, having been pursued by Dutch men of war and to avoid capture seems to have tried to head for either Shoreham or Arundel.

In 1863 William Westbrooke Richardson, who owned most of the manor of Heene, sold his land to the Heene Estate Land Company, which in turn sold the southern part of its land to the West Worthing Investment Company in 1864. In 1865 the property of the two companies became the new town of West Worthing, which was intended to be an upmarket resort and residential area in its own right. In 1873, West Worthing was extended westwards up to the boundary with the parish of Goring at George V Avenue. The term West Worthing is still in use today.

In 1873 a new St Botolph's Church was opened on the site of the ruined chapel with the same dedication. In 1882 and again in 1895 there were plans for a pier at the bottom of Grand Avenue, which never came to fruition. West Worthing railway station opened in 1889 to serve the new town of West Worthing. The following year, West Worthing merged into the new borough of Worthing. In 1894, West Worthing was described as being chiefly a good class residential area with much the same relation to Worthing as Hove to Brighton.

The 1968 film version of Harold Pinter's play The Birthday Party was filmed opposite the Grade II listed Heene Terrace on the seafront.

In the early 21st century, the formerly wild part of Worthing once known as Little Heene is now known as Worthing's West End. Its shops and restaurants have a Bohemian feel.

References

5. http://www.stbotolphsheene.org.uk/

6. http://www.musicatheene.org.uk/