Discover Britain: Shoreham-by-Sea

Sandwiched between the South Downs, the River Adur and the English Channel, Shoreham-by-Sea is more than just an easy link to Brighton. It's a very walkable little town with a smattering of cute cafés, decent restaurants and good pubs. I'd never even heard of it before starting summer school, but now whenever I need to get off campus, it's my go-to place.

To get to Shoreham from the college you have to walk along the banks of the River Adur, and to this day it remains one of my favourite walks in the world. No matter what the weather's like, the ever-changing views are gorgeous.


View of the Adur (and Shoreham airport) from the bridge

Another day, another view, this time from the towpath looking back towards the bridge and the college

A little bit further along the towpath

The end of the towpath takes you to the bottom of High Street, where you can find the usual array of high street shops. Just as High Street becomes Brighton Road, I swing a left onto East Street, because this is where Toast by the Coast, my favourite café-cum-delicatessen, can be found.

My go-to café

Though a little over-priced, the food is really good. This summer, to combat the monotony of deep-fried crap being served up in the dining hall, I escaped to Shoreham for a continental platter (£6.50/€8/US$11) at every given opportunity.

The first of many...

With my stomach taken care of, I was able to do some exploring. In the middle of East Street is the Grade I listed Romanesque Church of St Mary de Haura (at the harbour).


The church with the war memorial in front

Originally erected during Norman times, it has undergone a lot of work throughout the ages. Consequently, much of the interior has been built in the Transitional style, between Norman with its rounded arches and Gothic with its pointed ones. Unusually for a parish church, both the chancel and its aisles are vaulted in stone and supported by flying buttresses.

Interestingly, the columns in the chancel arcade are different on both sides. The ones on the north side (on the left in the picture) alternate between round and octagonal columns while those on the south side are all constructed in the same complex design.


The 12th century chancel

Golden bird

The façade

The graveyard

East Street runs alongside the church and takes me to one of my favourite shops, Ginger & Dobbs, which is a seller of locally-sourced organic produce and – rather strangely – antiques and salvage. They also have a small café serving coffee, sandwiches and cakes.

 

The café-cum-grocer's-cum-salvage store

International banking corporation packaged for the small-town market

One of Shoreham's biggest attractions is its pebble beach, and when the sun comes out, that's where the local folk go. Lined with pretty beach huts, it's a great place to watch the sun set.

Sunset over Shoreham beach

But if a walk to the beach seems too much, you only need to head back to the river to get equally stunning sunset views. I may have travelled to a number of places on three different continents, but when it comes to great views, a sunset over the River Adur is right up there.

Still one of my favourite ever views