The Chichester Society exists to celebrate the attractions of our City and make sure they stay attractive.
And what attractions we have to offer!
- One of the first Roman towns in Britain;
- Cathedral with Norman origins;
- Handsome 18th / 19th Century townscape;
- Internationally famous theatre and art gallery;
- Highly-rated modern University, College of arts & technology;
- Active and high-standard literary and cultural scene;
- Proximity to beaches, harbour and yachting centre;
- Gateway town to the South Downs National Park;
- All the attractions of Goodwood;
- Benign micro-climate.
The Society was founded in October 1973 at a public meeting called by artist David Goodman to protest against the wholesale demolition of parts of the city.
It is a registered charity No. 268055 and its details on the Charity Commission websIte can be found here
David Goodman – The Society’s Founder
David Goodman’s address was made in the Old Court Room in the Council House on 1 October 1973. It was a crowded, noisy and lively meeting chaired by the Mayor of Chichester. Although Goodman had not set out to form a new organisation – the Chichester Civic Society had already been in existence for many years, and he really sought to galvanise and broaden it if possible. However, this proved too difficult, and the following month, on 5 November, a further and larger meeting held in the Assembly Rooms led to the creation of the Chichester Society. This was followed by a Town Meeting held in the Cathedral in June 1974 attended by some 1,500 citizens.
The text of David’s 1973 address to the meeting is available here.
The story of these events is discussed in Saving Our City by Tim Rooth. For details go to our publications page. The Society did much then and since to confront such threats and you can see more on our archive page.
Society Organisation
The society has a membership of around 500 and is managed through an Executive Committee whose current (2020-2021) members serve as Trustees and can be found here
A list of past and present Executive Committee Officers of the Society can be found here.
Now visit our ‘About‘ page to see what what we offer via this website!
