Coast

The Harbour Conservancy say that there are around 9000  boats registered here; all because of its sheltered and deep water moorings. If you look to the east – roughly on your right as you board the ferry – then you are looking Bosham Hoe, now a private village of desirable houses and the home of some rare orchids. 

David Rudkin

As you look to the west, or to the left, you’ll see the main harbour. Some historians  - including David Rudkin, director of the internationally important Fishbourne Roman Palace a few miles away, believe that the harbour was the invasion point for the successful Roman invasion of 43AD.

“I do support it, but what I should stress is that the evidence will probably never be good enough to be able to be certain about it. This is the big problem.Logic tells us it happened this way. Proof is going to be very hard to find.” said Mr Rudkin

“The problem essentially is that the Romans could have reached this area very rapidly after an invasion. Even if they had come through Richborough in Kent. They type of material that we have to use to date this activity, things like fine potteries, are not sensitive enough to distinguish between one part of one year and one part of the next.” said David Rudkin.

But there is no doubt that people living around Chichester Harbour would have been familiar with the Romans many years before they finally turned up on a mission to take over.

“We have good solid proof here at Fishbourne for contact way before that . In our excavations in 1995 and 2002,we found a ditch that contained material that was sealed in some time around AD25.”

Roman invasion

The material that was sealed in the ditch included imported pottery from Northern Italy – a type of pottery that came from the around Pisa and Arezzo called Aratine ware. A military sword scabbard was also found there.

“So what we could be looking at based on this evidence and common sense as well is that there were very strong contacts way way before the Roman invasion, possibly even dating back to the time when Caeser invaded back in 55AD and 54AD and the implications that this area is decidedly pro-Roman, way before the invasion itself which again makes it even more sense to suggest that the invasion in this part of the world wasn’t so much of an invasion as ‘Welcome in lads!’.

Disembark when the ferry lands and make your way up to  where a footpath is signed off to the left. It will take you off around the headland into Bosham Water -  a good point at which to take a closer look at the plant and animal life of the harbour.