Fittleworth

The Swan Inn in Fittleworth is a fourteenth century coaching inn where artists have contributed painting to the panelling in the pub’s Lounge Bar. There are more sketches in the Swan’s visitors book.

Fittleworth was the home of artist Charles Sims in the early 1900s. After he had moved from Fittleworth poor Sims has a terrible time. The death of one of his sons in the First World War seems to have set him off on the road to paranoia and, ultimately, suicide.

After his death the art establishment, which had turned against Sims in the last ten years of his life, changed their mind. They decided that the spiritual scenes he painted were in fact interesting after all, although the paintings later came to be seen as the product of mental illness.

Have a look at I Am The Abyss and I Am The Light to see an example of Sims’ state of mind in the year of his death.

Fittleworth is also a former home of composer Edward Elgar, who lived near the village for a time at a thatched cottage called Brinkwells surrounded by woodland.

There are several good fishing stretches of the Arun and Rother nearby. See our fishing pages for details of West Sussex fishing clubs.

Map of the Fittleworth area

• Amberley
• Arundel
• Bignor
• Bury
• Duncton
• Egdean
• Petworth
• Pulborough
• Slindon
• Storrington
• Stopham
• West Chiltington

• Arundel
• Bognor Regis
• Burgess Hill
• Chichester
• Crawley
• East Grinstead
• Haywards Heath
• Horsham
• Littlehampton
• Midhurst
• Petworth
• Shoreham-by-Sea
• Steyning
• Worthing

• Full details of sports clubs in West Sussex
• West Sussex bed and breakfast guide

Saturday February 04