Comet Worthing History

The site is located to the south east of Worthing Railway Station, between
Teville Road (to the south) and Railway Approach (to the north), with
Broadwater Road forming the eastern site boundary. It is centred on National
Grid Reference (NGR) TQ 146 032 and covers an area of approximately 1.9
Hectares.

The site is covered by a mixture of buildings and hardstanding, which include
the remains of recently demolished buildings. Standing buildings on the site
are restricted to a multi-storey car park and shop building built in the 1970s, an
office block and car showrooms of similar date, a cafeteria building and a brickbuilt,
single storey industrial building.

The site is shown as an unclassified urban area on the Soil Survey of England
and Wales (SSEW) map 6 (1983). However, the site occupies an infilled river
valley, which is believed to contain deposits of alluvium and colluvium. Deep
deposits of brick earth are recorded from site works carried out in the
immediate vicinity.

The site is 20 level, standing at approximately 5 metres Above Ordnance Datum
(AOD), with an embankment on the eastern site boundary, which carries
Broadwater Road over the railway bridge to the north east of the site.

There are no listed buildings within the site. The nearest listed building is the
original Worthing railway station, which has been converted into two red-brick
cottages that are designated as a Grade II listed building. It stands to the
north of the site on Railway Approach (Listed Building No. 17/85).
Chapman’s Hotel, also known as The Grand Victorian Hotel, stands
approximately 100 metres to the west of the site. It is a Grade II listed
building, built in the early 20th century of red brick in English bond with a
distinctive corner turret (Listed Building No. 17/10026).

A polished stone axe, probably of Bronze
Age or Neolithic date, was found at Worthing station, to the north of the site. Further finds of late Bronze Age and early Iron Age activity are represented by lithic artefacts, ditches and pottery fragments that have been found during watching briefs and archaeological evaluations undertaken in Worthing town centre, approximately 0.3 kilometres to the south east of the site and 0.35 kilometres south west of the site. A wattle and daub structure, interpreted as the remains of a prehistoric building, was recor ded during a watching brief undertaken between the old and new library buildings approximately 0.35 kilometres south of the site.

These remains suggest the presence of late Bronze Age and
early Iron Age activity in the vicinity of the site.

There is evidence of Roman activity in the
Chapel Street area of Worthing between approximately 0.2 kilometers and 0.4
kilometers to the south east of the site, consisting of bricks, tile and teasers
recovered during archaeological evaluations and watching briefs
These suggest the presence of a substantial Roman building in the
vicinity, although excavation has revealed evidence of a large pond and
residues of cultivation only.

Medieval

Medieval sites within the wider area include
remains of Anglo-Saxon structures, including post holes and possible enclosure
ditches, dated by an assemblage of 5th – 11th century pottery fragments, as well
as a number of undated but possibly contemporary features. These were
located in the area of the historic hamlet of Worthing, approximately 0.35
kilometres to the south east of the site, which were
observed during an archaeological watching brief.

Later medieval remains were observed in the same location, including two
ditches and a pit dated to the medieval period through pottery evidence, which
have been used to extrapolate the extent of medieval burgage plots (HER 5810,
5943). Further finds of two grain dryers, pits and boundary / enclosure ditches,
dating from between the 11th century and the post-medieval period, were
reported further to the east representing activity on the
edge of the medieval settlement.

Features recorded in the wider study area include a
post-medieval windmill recorded approximately 0.2 kilometres to the west of
the site on Ordnance Survey maps of 1813 and 1875 a ‘triumphal
arch’ located 0.4 kilometres to the south west of the site, walls,
pits, ditches and metal finds observed during an archaeological evaluation 0.3
kilometres south of the site, and a wall observed during an
archaeological watching brief undertaken approximately 0.35 kilometres to the
south east.

Post-medieval building remains and associated features only were observed
during an archaeological evaluation 0.4 kilometres to the south east of the site
whilst a watching brief undertaken to the north east of this
provided no evidence of further archaeological remains

Historic Maps
The earliest map showing the area of the site is a plan of two farms in the
parish of Broadwater, dating from circa. 1720-1730 (not shown). This plan
shows the site as forming part of Teville Common, which was bounded to the
south by the Teville Stream, which crossed it at the eastern end, forming a
wide pond in the vicinity of the site.

Charles Hide’s Survey of Worthing, dated
1838, shows the common to have been divided into five fields, the easternmost
of which contains the southern half of the site, including Teville pond.

These fields are also shown on the Broadwater Tithe map of 1848 (not shown),
where they are described as Teville Meadow, Waste Piece and Old Pond in the
southern half of the site, and Building Ground in the north of the site. The
Tithe map also shows the recently constructed railway line and original
Worthing station to the north of the site. Presumably the label of ‘building
ground’ refers to the construction of the railway.

The 25” first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1875 shows the development of
semi-detached houses along Teville Road in the south of the site. The houses included gardens which filled the area between the Teville Stream, seen running west to east through the site, and Teville Road. A road named Railway Approach is shown running through the northern part of the
site, joining with Broadwater Road on the western boundary. The Teville pond is no longer shown at this time.

The 25” second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1898 (not shown) shows the
site to have been largely unchanged except for the construction of three
buildings in the north of the site adjoining Railway Approach.

The 25” third edition Ordnance map of 1912 (see Plan CPM 2) shows the construction of
further buildings along Railway approach in the northern part of the site, whilst
the first revision of this map, made in 1932, shows the construction of a terrace
of buildings along Railway Approach in the west of the site (see Plan CPM 2).
The second revision of this map (not shown), produced in 1943, included the
addition of a large garage building which lay partially within the western part
of the site.

The demolition of two semi-detached houses in the south western
corner of the site and the construction of a large tank, presumably for water
storage, are also shown.

The New Series 1:2500 Ordnance Survey map of 1954 shows the site
as largely unchanged from 1943. The construction of the Teville Gate
development, requiring the demolition of all earlier buildings within the site is
recorded on the 1:2500 map of 1971 although the development was only officially completed in 1972.

Teville Common lay between the two settlements of Broadwater and Worthing
during the 17th century. It is recorded that ten
farmers held this land in common in 1696 and that the common
was sold off in five lots to cover the cost of inclosing common land elsewhere in
1805. The common took its name from the Teville Stream, which ran through
the site and which formed a pond named Teville Pond in the western part of
the site. The pond was drained in 1840 and the stream piped
underground.

Road drainage works undertaken in the 1960s near the junction of Teville Road
and South Farm Road, approximately 0.25 kilometres to the west of the site,
encountered a layer of peat under 5 feet of accumulated brick earth. The peat layer was dated by the range of pollen types it contained tothe early Neolithic, displaying a transition in tree pollen types characteristic of the woodland clearance seen at that time.

This suggested that the area into
which the Teville Stream runs formed a broad lagoon up to the beginning of the
Neolithic, which was in-filled by silting, which continued until approximately
2000 BC.

Worthing expanded rapidly during the late 18th and 19th centuries as a seaside
resort, although its development underwent periods of depression during the
early and late 19th century (Rowland and Hudson 1963). The area of the site
was not included within the early development, only becoming part of Worthing
Borough in 1875.

An archaeological assessment has been undertaken for land at Teville Gate. It has identified that there is potential for archaeological remains of prehistoric date to survive within the site area.
These relate, first, to the presence of Palaeolthic deposits of the pagham
raised beach and, second, the potential for organic remains of Neolithic date to
be preserved as peat deposits. There is also some, albeit more limited,
potential for archaeological remains of Roman and medieval date to survive
within the site area.

Cartographic and documentary sources suggest that the site lay outside the
area of the settlements of Worthing and Broadwater. Land within the site
formed common land next to the Teville Stream and included the Teville Pond
=0 A
from, at least, the late 17th century. The land was inclosed in the early 19th
century and was developed for mixed residential and commercial use in the
late 19th century and early 20th century.

All the standing buildings within the site were demolished in the early 1970s
prior to its redevelopment for the Teville Gate development. The development
and subsequent redevelopment of the site is likely to have caused disturbance
and truncation to any archaeological deposits that may have lain within it.

It is likely that the developmental history of the site will have had a significant
adverse impact on any below ground archaeological deposits within it, most
particularly those of more recent date.

With regard to the built heritage, the only buildings within the site are modern,
dating from the early 1970s, and are of no particular historic or architectural
interest. A Grade II listed building lies to the north of the site.

Several stories of suicide attempts- 3 in 1999 alone... One more recent one made the national press, when the parents of the deceased received their son’s possessions, including a shoe with part of the foot still inside.

Comet Store Worthing History