Town in West Sussex, England
Bognor Regis
Bognor's royal 'Regis' came courtesy of a convalescing king, and its founder wanted to name the whole town after himself, a London hatter's idea of seaside glory.
Key information
- County
- West Sussex
- Nation
- England
- Population
- About 64,000 (2011 Census, built-up area)
- Known for
- Royal title, Butlin's, the old Birdman flying contest, pier, sunny south-coast beaches
- Famous people
- Sir Richard Hotham, George V, Billy Butlin
- Football clubs
- Bognor Regis Town (the Rocks)
About Bognor Regis
The hatter who wanted a town named after himself
Bognor's story begins with a London hat maker. Sir Richard Hotham, a wealthy hatter, spotted a quiet stretch of Sussex coast in the 1780s and decided it would make a fine genteel resort. He bought up land, laid out terraces and built himself a grand house. He wanted to call the place Hothamton. It didn't stick. Hotham died in 1799, and the older name, from Old English meaning 'Bucge's shore', won out. His name survives in Hotham Park, a leafy green space right in the middle of town. That's why Bognor feels planned in places. It was a resort by design rather than a fishing village that happened to get a railway.
How a king's lung trouble made it 'Regis'
In 1929 King George V, recovering from a serious illness, was sent to the Sussex coast to convalesce. He spent weeks in nearby Aldwick, and the sea air did its work. Bognor's leaders asked for a royal seal of approval, and the king allowed the town to add 'Regis', Latin for 'of the king'. Then came the legend. The story goes that when someone suggested he might soon be well enough to return to Bognor, the king replied with a very rude two-word dismissal of the place. It is almost certainly apocryphal, but it has been repeated ever since, and Bognor has largely learned to enjoy it. Either way, the town ended up with one of the most upmarket suffixes on the south coast.
The day grown adults jumped off the pier
For decades Bognor was home to the International Birdman, a gloriously daft contest in which entrants in homemade flying machines and fancy dress launch themselves off the end of the pier. The aim is to fly as far as possible; the usual result is a large splash. It started in Selsey in 1971 and moved to Bognor in 1978, where crowds lined the seafront to cheer or wince. In 2008 the event moved along the coast to Worthing after safety concerns about the shortened pier. Bognor revived its own Birdman in 2010, and it remains the place that made the contest famous. The pier itself opened in 1865 and gave the contest its dramatic launch pad.
Redcoats on the Sussex coast
Bognor became a byword for the classic British seaside holiday, and Billy Butlin helped. His holiday camp opened here in 1960 and is still welcoming families. Generations of children have queued for chalets, funfair rides and the famous Redcoats. Beyond Butlin's, the town has the traditional seaside lineup: a long shingle and sand beach, an esplanade, and a summer carnival season. Hotham Park offers a calmer alternative, with a miniature railway and plenty of space to picnic. The sea here is shallow and the beach large at low tide, which is part of why families have flocked here for over two centuries.
Football for the Rocks
The local team is Bognor Regis Town, nicknamed the Rocks after the offshore reef that gives the town its other pet name. They play at Nyewood Lane and were founded in 1883. Their finest hour came in the mid-1980s, when they reached the second round of the FA Cup, a long way up the pyramid for a non-league side. It remains the highlight of local football lore. It shows the town's character: a bit of fun, a lot of stubbornness, and a willingness to take on opponents far bigger than itself.