People are still walking the Roman street plan to the shops
- Four streets meeting at a cross
- Laid out as Noviomagus Reginorum
- Fishbourne: the largest Roman house north of the Alps
- Never subsequently improved upon
How Chichester grew
A street plan that has outlasted everything built on it.
The Roman street plan is laid out
Four streets meeting at a cross, named North, South, East and West, set out when the town was Noviomagus Reginorum. The Romans left in the fifth century; people are still walking their layout to the shops.
Four streets, laid out by the Romans
Chichester’s city centre is still the Roman plan: four streets meeting at a cross, named North, South, East and West, laid out when the town was Noviomagus Reginorum and never subsequently improved upon.
A couple of miles away at Fishbourne is the largest Roman residential building found north of the Alps, with mosaic floors and a formal garden whose planting trenches survived well enough to be replanted.
The lesson Chichester quietly offers is that a good structure outlasts everything built on it. The Romans left in the fifth century; people are still walking their layout to the shops.
What that means if you trade in Chichester
Chichester serves a prosperous, older population across West Sussex and the harbour villages, with a substantial retired and second-home market.
Customers here tend to research thoroughly, ask for references and stay loyal once satisfied. The first impression does a great deal of work.
What Chichester businesses ask us for
Write for careful buyers
This market reads everything. Detail and references beat urgency.
Harbour and downs
The Witterings, Bosham, Midhurst, Petworth. Rural coverage is the common question.
Be reachable by phone
An older customer base often prefers to ring. Make the number obvious.
A prosperous city between the Downs and the harbour
Chichester is affluent, compact and serves a wide, well-off catchment across West Sussex — the South Downs on one side, Chichester Harbour and the coast on the other. Retirement and second-home money is a real feature of the local economy.
It has a substantial visitor trade built on the Roman sites, the cathedral, the Festival Theatre and the sailing on the harbour, and that trade is strongly seasonal. A great many local businesses make most of their year between April and September.
The customer is generally older, comparatively wealthy, and more likely than average to ring rather than book online — which is worth designing for rather than against.
How Chichester businesses sell
Clearly and without jargon. An older, well-off customer base rewards legibility — big text, obvious phone number, no hunting.
Trades and home services
Name the villages and the harbour communities. Make the phone number large and obvious — a lot of enquiries here still start with a call.
Shops, cafés and hospitality
Heavily seasonal. Publish the hours you actually keep in January as well as August.
Marine and harbour services
Sailing is a genuine local industry. Say what you handle, and where you are relative to the harbour.
Clinics, salons and studios
Offer booking online, but keep the phone route obvious. Both matter in this market.
Why FastSites works here
The Romans laid out a structure so good that seventeen centuries of building on it never improved it. A simple structure that works is not a compromise; it is the point.
Live in days, published price, built mobile-first and legible. Tell us your real season and we will put it on the page.
How well do you know Chichester?
Five quick questions. Get all five right and you win a 10% off discount code for your website. Every answer is somewhere on this page, so have a read if you get stuck.
Chichester quiz · 1 of 5
What survives as Chichester’s city centre layout?
Common questions
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