Worthing is a seaside town on the West Sussex coast, sitting between Brighton to the east and Littlehampton to the west, with the South Downs rising just inland. It's the main town of the borough of Worthing, and together with neighbouring Adur it forms one of the larger urban areas on the Sussex coast.
A town built by the sea
Worthing appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a small fishing and farming hamlet within the parish of Broadwater. It stayed a quiet coastal settlement until 1798, when Princess Amelia, youngest daughter of King George III, came to convalesce here — her stay helped establish Worthing's reputation as a healthy seaside resort, and the town grew quickly through the 19th century. Worthing Pier opened in 1862 and was rebuilt in its current form in 1889, and still stands at the centre of the seafront today.
People and place
The 2021 Census recorded a population of around 111,300 for the Worthing borough, up from just over 104,600 in 2011. The town grew over the 20th century by absorbing the older villages that surrounded it, including Broadwater, West Tarring, Durrington and Goring-by-Sea — each still recognisable today as a distinct part of the wider town, and covered in more detail on our villages and streets page.
Climate
Worthing sits on what's widely regarded as the sunniest stretch of the English south coast, sheltered by the South Downs and with fewer Atlantic weather fronts reaching it than areas further west. See our weather page for more detail.