Bosham Legends

The Legend of Canute:

As described in the History page, the Danish King Canute it is thought to have had a home in  Bosham – his eight year old daughter was drowned in the brook and is buried in Bosham Church in a Saxon coffin at the foot of the chancel steps. It was at Bosham where legend has it that King Canute sat on a chair surrounded by his courtiers and commanded the waves to go back – the royal prerogative - an exercise which showed that even the great Canute was mortal; he got his feet wet! .  It is said that he was trying to demonstrate that even Kings have limitations; many of our locals and visitors try the same with their cars:   

Yes, with all the technology of the 21st Century we still cannot turn back the tide.

The Legend of the Bosham Bells

In the days when the Norse pirates made their raids on this part of the country, a band pillaged the church, seizing the tenor bell.  They ignored the pleas of the villagers and, having loaded the bell onto their long boat, set sail for home.  The villagers, in their anger, rang the remaining bells to place a curse on raiders and the tenor bell, resonated in sympathy with the peal, broke loose from its lashings and crashed through the hull of the long boat which sank immediately.  It sank in a spot known now as "Bell Hole" and there it has remained.

The story does not end there - at a full moon and on a still night when the bells are rung, the lost bell will again resonate in sympathy sending its own peal as an echo in unison with them. 

Listen ...........

The Mannor House

Legend has it that Cavalier jewels and cash from the civil war are buried in the Mannor House. 

Like all Mannor Houses it boasts several ghosts including one of an old man who died sitting at a window awaiting the return of his son with whom he had quarreled.

The Mannor House also reputedly has a secret tunnel linking it to Bosham Church.