River Arun - History

History

As early as 150 AD, the Arun was recorded as the Trisantonis in Ptolemy's Geography, with later records substantiating the connection. Trisantonis is thought to be a Brythonic word for 'the trespasser', indicating the river's tendency to flood land near to the river. There is also a theory that the Arun may have been known as the Trisantonis in its lower reaches close to the sea, but known as the Arnus (from the Brythonic 'Arno' meaning run or flow). So the Arnus would mean 'the flowing one'. It is possible that the town of Arundel may mean Arno-dell, or dell of the flowing river. In the Middle Ages the river was known as the Tarrant, evidenced by Tarrant Street in modern Arundel, later becoming known as the Arun after the town or the Rape of Arundel.

The mouth of the river has not always been at Littlehampton. Until the later fifteenth century it joined the River Adur at Lancing some ten miles to the east before entering the sea. This estuary became blocked with shingle by the eastward drift of the tides, pushing the Adur towards Shoreham-by-Sea, while the Arun broke out at Worthing, Goring and Ferring at various times, until it formed its present estuary at Littlehampton between 1500 and 1530. The Arun was linked to the canal network by the Wey and Arun Canal, opened in 1816 and closed in 1871, which is currently being renovated. The river had been made navigable to New Bridge on the A272 between Wisborough Green and Billingshurst by 1787, by the Arun Navigation Company. By 1791 ships of 200 tons could reach Arundel, where goods were transferred to sailing barges which could use wind and tide to travel upriver. There was no towpath on the river. The river was a toll-free navigation as far as Pallingham, by ancient royal charter, causing financial difficulties for the navigation company, which was obliged by act of parliament to maintain the river. The Rother Navigation joined the Arun near Stopham Bridge, a fine medieval stone bridge built in AD 1423, which carried the heavy traffic on the A283 road until a new bridge was built beside it in the 1980s. The central arch was raised in 1822 to allow masted barges to pass. Littlehampton and its harbour were guarded from naval attack by Littlehampton Redoubt on the western bank at the mouth of the river, completed in 1854, which is now screened from the open sea by Climping sand dunes. This fort replaced a seven gun battery on the east bank built in 1759, which now has a recreational crazy golf course on top of it.

The river was abandoned as a navigation by a warrant issued as part of the Railway and Canal Traffic Act of 1888. The River Lark in Suffolk was the only other river navigation abandoned at that time.