The stories behind many street names in Worthing are revealed in new book

Wendy Greene, who researched and compiled What's In a Name? The Streets of Worthing with the help of her daughter, Chrissie Greene, is donating profits from the book to The Worthing Society.

She was thrilled to welcome around 50 people to the launch at The Ardington Hotel on Tuesday, November 14.

The book has been published to help the fight for Worthing's heritage, to keep the history of the town and some of the key people from its past alive.

11 Worthing roads and the meaning behind their names

Wendy said: "We met with Susan Belton from the Worthing Society back at the beginning of the year because I had this idea that historical things in Worthing were kind of disappearing.

"People were being forgotten and places were changing their names, and I wanted to put that right. The profits will go to the Worthing Society, who are trying to keep the heritage of Worthing going.

"There are a lot of starting points for people in the book that they can look at and follow up, like some of the obscure names that may or may not be connected to the town.

"We decided to write this little book and it just took off. We had just done a jigsaw of Worthing, so we wrote down the names and started trawling through books and local newspapers.

"We had quite a big log of information. We found some of names of what the roads used to be called but there are a few roads where we couldn't find anything, so we left them out.

"We are hoping, if this book does well, we can do Broadwater, Tarring, Goring and Durrington, and hopefully we can then make even more money for the society."

What's In a Name? The Streets of Worthing covers mainly central Worthing, coast to railway and Heene Road to Brougham Road.

All information in this book has been gathered from various sources, including the Worthing Herald and in particular articles by Elaine Hammond, Freddie Feest and John Hammond.

Alverstone Road, for example, was named after Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, a barrister, politician and judge who was active in the late 19th century.

Ambrose Place was built by Ambrose Cartwright and later renamed in his honour, having originally been called Mount Pleasant.

In Ambrose Place is a Blue Plaque marking the home of Harold Pinter and he is linked to another road in the town centre. At 7 Eriswell Road, the boarding house scene for his story The Birthday Party was partly shot for the 1968 film.

Amelia Road honours Princess Amelia, who came to Worthing in 1789 after injuring her knee. Wendy writes: "She wanted time for her leg to heal and her fragile health to be improved with sea bathing and seawater cure."

Chandos Road is named after Steyning MP Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos. He grew rich as an army paymaster to Queen Anne.

Dawes Avenue and Dawes Close link to a former landowner. In 1876, Fanny Heather of Lyndhurst Villa left seven acres for a People's Park and in 1881, more acres from Sir Robert Loder and Robert Dawes of Homefield were added to create Homefield Park.

Elizabeth Road is named after the wife of civil engineer Alfred Burges. He made a considerable fortune through his work with another civil engineer, James Walker.

Wendy writes: "He was apprenticed to Walker and in turn trained several other engineers, including St Joseph Bazalgette. In 1860, he commissioned his son, William, to draw up plans for the building of four almshouses in memory of Alfred's wife, Elizabeth. Under a centrally-situated gablet is a statuette of St Elizabeth of Hungary."

More almshouses were built in Humphrys Road. These were founded in 1858 by Robert and Ann Humphrys, in memory of their son Harry, for Anglican married couples, widows or spinsters in the Broadwater parish.

Wendy writes: "Six houses were built in Humphrys Road in that year, endowed with adjoining land. Two more houses were built c1867 in Portland Road, with money bequeathed by Robert Humphrys' will dated 1860. In 1971, those in Humphrys Road were rebuilt and those in Portland Road modernised."

High Street was formerly Old Worthing Street and this was once the main street in the town, filled with shops. In the second half of the 20th century, many of the original frontages were pulled down for road widening and development.

Tower Road is named after the Old Water Tower, which stood 110ft high and was a major landmark in the town.

Wendy writes: “The tower was built to provide fresh water when sewage was seeping into wells. The water was brought up from 365ft down, in the chalk.”

Market Street was formerly Cook's Row. At one time, it was inhabited by former fishermen, who opened up stalls to sell fish rather than catching it themselves.

Wendy writes: "The market, situated between Market Street and Ann Street, was on the site of the Guildbourne Centre. Only a few yards of the road still exist."

A colourful picture of fishing boats with the South Downs in the distance, taken by Chrissie when she was 21, has been used as the front cover the the book, which is priced at £6. Wendy can be found at The Ardington Hotel on Friday mornings, 10.30am to 12pm, and will have books available, cash only.

Wendy taught at Northbrook College and was later features editor on a magazine. She has published two books of poems, a children’s adventure and a novel.