RSPB - giving nature a home
Search
Close
Skip to content
Shop | Community
Log in | Sign up
  • About the RSPB
      About us
    • Our History
    • Our mission
    • How the RSPB is run
    • RSPB Media Centre
    • RSPB job vacancies
    • At home & abroad
    • International
    • England
    • Northern Ireland
    • Scotland
    • Wales
    • Get in touch
    • Contact us
    • RSPB offices
    • Connect with us your way
      Our activities
    • Gardening for wildlife

      Gardening for wildlife

      See our ideas to keep you connected to nature during coronavirus

    • Connect with us your way

      Connect with us your way

      From our regular emails to your favourite social media, there’s more than one way to keep in touch with nature

    • Our History

      Our History

      Discover how a campaign against feathers in fashion sparked a global force to save nature with more than a million members

  • Our work
      Nature conservation
    • Conservation and sustainability
    • Projects
    • Landscape scale conservation
    • Centre for Conservation Science
    • Satellite tracking birds
    • RSPB News
    • RSPB News
    • 'Our work' blog
    • Policy and Insight
    • Policy and Insight: England and Westminster
    • Casework
      Featured news
    • Mindful mornings

      Mindful mornings

      If you can’t get outside, why not bring the outside in by downloading our bird song radio app?

    • How nature can help protect our homes

      How nature can help protect our homes

      Following the floods this winter, watch how one area is using nature as a natural protector.

    • Casework

      Casework

      Catch up with the RSPB’s own nature detectives on the case as they look to save some very special places.

  • Birds & wildlife
      Wildlife guides
    • Identify a bird
    • Bird A-Z
    • Other garden wildlife
    • Guide to birdwatching
    • What is the Red List for UK birds?
    • Nature's Calendar
    • Nature's Home magazine
    • About Nature's Home magazine
    • Birds and wildlife articles
    • RSPB Podcasts
    • Nature's Home blog
    • Birds & Wildlife Advice
    • How you can help birds
    • Gardening for wildlife
    • Ask an expert
    • Wildlife and the law
    • How to report crimes against wild birds
    • Bird songs
    • Which bird song is that?
    • Most popular bird guides this month
    • Bird migration

      Bird migration

      Migrating birds have travelled thousands of miles just to get here. Find out why.

    • Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Read more advice about what to do if you find a bird that needs help

    • In for a duck

      In for a duck

      It’s nesting season for our waterfowl too but what are the rules you need to follow for ducks, geese or swans?

  • Get Involved
      Activities
    • Big Garden Birdwatch
    • Nature on Your Doorstep
    • RSPB Competitions
    • Dolphinwatch
    • #MyClimateAction
    • Community & advice
    • Join our local groups
    • How green are you?
    • RSPB Community
    • Get involved blog
    • Volunteering & fundraising
    • Volunteer
    • Fundraise
    • Help nature thrive as a corporate partner
    • Our grant funders
    • Campaigning
    • Campaigning in Scotland
    • Campaigning in Wales
    • Campaigning in England
    • Campaigning in Northern Ireland
    • The nature and climate emergency
    • Protecting wildlife sites
    • Campaign with us
    • Top activities to do
    • Nature on Your Doorstep

      Nature on Your Doorstep

      Great ideas on how your garden, or even a small backyard or balcony, can become a mini nature reserve

    • How green are you?

      How green are you?

      See some of the ways you can get into green living.

    • Campaigning

      Campaigning

  • Reserves & events
      Reserves A-Z Events Find a reserve
      Top reserves this month
    • Marshside

      Marshside

      This fantastic wetland site is located north of Southport town centre and has some of the best wildlife in the region.

    • Lytchett Fields

      Lytchett Fields

      The reserve has seen more than thirty species of wading birds.

    • Arne

      Arne

      Heathland home to more than 2565 species.

  • Fun & Learning
      For teachers
    • Supporting resources
    • Wild Challenge
    • School outreach visits
    • Big Schools Birdwatch
    • Sign up for the newsletter
    • School trip ideas
    • For kids
    • Fun factoids for all the family
    • Games and activities
    • Kids stories
    • RSPB kids competitions
    • For families
    • Big Wild Sleepout
    • Wild Challenge
    • Nature reserves for families
    • Robin Robin
    • Cameron's Cottage
    • Your Support
    • About Cameron's cottage
    • Latest kids' activities
    • Wild Challenge

      Wild Challenge

      Nature is an adventure waiting to be had. Get out, get busy and get wild!

    • Fun factoids for all the family

      Fun factoids for all the family

      Find out more about the nature and wildlife outside your window.

    • Youth membership

      Youth membership

      As well as a free gift and magazines, you’ll get loads of ideas for activities to try at home.

  • Join & Donate
      Join us
    • Choose a membership
    • Family membership
    • Youth membership
    • Gift membership
    • Make a future richer in nature. Become a Life Fellow today.
    • Renew your membership
    • Donate
    • Philanthropy & Major Gifts
    • Our appeals
    • Make a one-off donation
    • Make a regular donation
    • In Memory Donations
    • Plant a celebration tree
    • In memoriam booklet download form
    • Leave a gift to nature in your Will
    • Why Include a Gift to Nature in Your Will
    • How to Include us in Your Will
    • Information for executors & solicitors
    • Download your free guide
    • Other ways to help
    • Gift Aid
    • Support us when you shop
    • RSPB Images
    • RSPB second-hand binocular scheme
    • Win with the RSPB
    • Payroll Giving
    • Stamp out albatross deaths
  • Login to your account Sign up for an RSPB account
  • Shop
  • Community
  • Home
  • Reserves & events
  • Reserves A-Z
  • Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve

Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve

gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
Address
RSPB Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve, Selsey Rd, Chichester PO20 7NE
Grid ref
SZ856966
What3Words
mirroring.starch.commoners

Pagham Harbour is a glorious and peaceful nature reserve, one of the few undeveloped stretches of the Sussex coast. This sheltered inlet is an internationally important wetland site for wildlife. Watch black-tailed godwits and little egrets by day, then linger when skies are clear for an amazing sunset.

Plan your visit

Opening times

  • Nature reserve: open at all times.
  • Car park: open at all times.
  • Visitor Centre: open daily, 10am-4pm.
  • Refreshments: open daily, 10am-4pm.
  • Toilets: open daily, 9am-5pm.

Festive opening times

  • Christmas Eve: nature reserve open at all times, toilets open, 9am-1pm, visitor centre open, 10am-1pm.
  • Christmas Day: nature reserve open at all times. Visitor centre and toilets closed.
  • Boxing Day: nature reserve open at all times. Visitor centre and toilets closed.
  • Monday 27-Thursday 30 December: nature reserve open at all times, toilets open, 9am-3pm, visitor centre open, 10am-3pm.
  • New Year’s Eve: nature reserve open at all times, toilets open 9am-3pm, visitor centre open 10am-3pm.
  • New Year’s Day: nature reserve open at all times, toilets open 9am-3pm, visitor centre open 10am-3pm.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free but donations to support the work of the RSPB are welcome.
Children
Free but donations to support the work of the RSPB are welcome.
Car park cost

There are no entry fees to the nature reserve, but the following suggested donation is welcomed in the donation cairn in our car park:

  • £2 per vehicle

Facilities

  • Visitor centre
  • Car park
  • Toilets
  • Accessible toilets
  • Baby changing
  • Pushchair friendly
  • Refreshments
  • Picnic area
  • Binocular hire
  • Guided walks
  • Viewing point
  • Nature trails
  • Educational facilities

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

The nearest train station is Chichester, 5.5 miles away. There is a taxi rank outside Chichester station - ask to be taken to Pagham Harbour Visitor Centre, Selsey Road, Sidlesham.

To cycle from the station, turn south over the level crossing down Stockbridge Road for approximately 100m then turn left into Canal Basin. Immediately to the right is the canal path which is the start of Route 88, currently ending at the Visitor Centre. 

 

By bus

The 51 Link service from Chichester Bus Station to Selsey stops outside the Visitor Centre. The bus station is 2 minutes' walk from the train station. The journey takes 20 minutes.

By bike

By bike Route 88 from Chichester Canal Basin to the Visitor Centre. Medmerry Cycle Link connects RSPB Medmerry with RSPB Pagham Harbour.

By road

From the A27 at Chichester, take the B2145 south towards Selsey. After half a mile at the first roundabout, turn right continuing on the B2145 to Selsey (do NOT take the B2166 to Pagham village - the Visitor Centre is on the opposite side of the Harbour). Remain on the B2145 for 6 miles. The turning into the Visitor Centre car park is half a mile on from Sidlesham on the left-hand side.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps
View on What3Words
RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Information for dog owners

imageb20qr.png

Dogs are welcome on the public footpaths and bridleways around the nature reserve. Please keep to the designated rights of way only.

Please keep your dog on a lead and under close, effective control at all times, due to the sensitive wildlife, habitats and livestock here. We know that the countryside is a dog walking paradise. It’s important to remember the special surroundings here are wonderful havens for rare wildlife. Even if dogs are very well behaved, wildlife and livestock can easily become startled by a loose dog they perceive as a predator.

Disturbing wildlife does more than simply causing it to move away; it uses up their energy, decreasing their chance of survival regardless of season. Thank you for protecting the special wildlife here by keeping your dog on a lead and under close, effective control.

  • Discovery Trail through the Discovery Zone is not a public footpath, so sorry, no dogs are permitted here other than assistance dogs.
  • Dogs are welcome in the dog-friendly exercise area on Slipe Field and Yeoman’s Field.
  • A dog water bowl is available outside the visitor centre.
  • Dogs die in hot cars, please do not leave your dog in the car when visiting us.
  • There are dog waste bins on the nature reserve at our Visitor Centre and Church Norton car park.

Group booking information

Bringing a flock? We welcome group bookings.

Please notify us of your visit in advance. Whether it is to reserve coach or minibus parking, arrange a tailored introductory talk or organise a bespoke guided walk for your group, we can ensure that your needs are attended to.

If you are a nature tour leader, we would love to work with you to make the most of your trip for your guests.

For all group visits, please contact us on 01243 641508 so we can arrange your visit to your specific requirements.

Schools booking information

For full details on our exciting programme of curriculum-linked, outdoor education sessions, visit our school trip information. 

  • School visits to Pagham Harbour are curriculum-linked, hands-on and fun, with a wide range of habitats to explore all year round. We can accommodate up to three large classes of children per day. 
  • We provide all equipment – children only need to bring suitable clothing, drinks and packed lunches.

Also, check out our fantastic range of resources for teachers, or take on the Schools’ Wild Challenge. 

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 361Kb

Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve map

Pagham Harbour and Medmerry area map

Contact Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve

  • RSPB Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve, Selsey Rd, Chichester PO20 7NE
  • pagham.harbour@rspb.org.uk
  • 01243 641508
  • @RSPBPagham
  • Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

    Black-tailed godwit in breeding plumage

    Black-tailed godwit

    These elegant, long-billed waders can be seen here in autumn, spring and autumn. Look out for their striking black and white wingbars as they take flight.

    Dark-bellied brent goose

    Brent goose

    Flocks of brent geese come to feed on the fields and saltmarsh in winter. They can be seen in good numbers here from October and linger well into the spring to make sure their Arctic breeding grounds have thawed out.

    Little Egret

    Little egret

    These dainty little white herons can be seen throughout the year here. You can see them fishing, stirring up fish fry from the muddy bottom with their feet.

    Little tern

    Little tern

    These delightful chattering seabirds are the UK's smallest tern and nest colonially at Pagham Harbour. Watch them fishing in the harbour and offshore, hovering before they dive, emerging again with their catch to feed their chicks.

    Male pintail

    Pintail

    Pintails flock here in autumn and winter. Look out for the elegant males and their long tails.

Recent sightings

Brent goose Branta bernicla, flock flying low over wetland, Wallasea Island RSPB reserve, Essex, England

Find our about recent wildlife sightings at Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve.

read more

Nature spectacles

One of the highlights of summer is our tern colony on Tern Island. Take a seat at Church Norton and look out across the harbour to the flurry of activity over the island. The sound of chattering terns drifts across the languid waters mingled with the harsher squawks of the black-headed gulls, with which they share nesting rights on the island. Common, sandwich and little terns all nest on the island and it is a delight to watch these elegant seabirds fishing in the harbour, hovering briefly before diving into the water for small fish.

If you stand on Pagham Harbour's North Wall at dusk on a winters evening, you may be lucky enough to experience a true winter wildlife spectacle as hundreds of brent geese and wigeon pass overhead to graze in the fields north of the reserve. The sound of beating wings can be heard over their honks and whistles, as their sheer numbers add to the darkening gloom.

Being flanked to the east and west by sprawling urbanisation while jutting out into the English Channel, also makes our reserve a migration hotspot and it often turns up a rarity or two.

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter

Waders and wildfowl linger well into spring, including curlews, grey plovers, bar-tailed and black-tailed godwits, dunlins, pintails, wigeons, teals and brent geese. Smaller migrants arrive, such as sedge, reed and willow warblers, blackcaps and chiffchaffs sing in the bushes and wheatears hop about the beach.

 

Little and common terns can be seen fishing in the harbour, while lapwings feed on the scrapes at Ferry and Breach Pools. Now is the best time to enjoy the reserve’s insect life, with common blue and gatekeeper butterflies, day-flying moths, such as cinnabar and six-spot burnet, feeding along the hedgerows and dragonflies patrolling the ponds.

Regular species at Church Norton are wheatears, redstarts, spotted and pied flycatchers. Wader migration is peppered with unusual birds like little stints, curlew sandpiper and ruffs, especially on Ferry Pool. It can be easy to see 60 bird species in a day. Anything can turn up – osprey, wryneck, even honey buzzard.

Large numbers of dark-bellied brent geese, lapwings and black-tailed godwits use the harbour or surrounding fields, with a supporting cast which includes grey and golden plovers, lapwings and dunlins. Slavonian grebes are seen offshore and red-breasted mergansers in the harbour.

About Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve

Habitat

Roughly half of the reserve is intertidal saltmarsh and mudflats, with the remainder of the reserve consisting of farmland, copses, lagoons, reedbeds and shingle beaches.

  • Saltmarsh and mudflats: The intertidal area supports a vast number of invertebrates including ragworms, snails, shrimps and crabs which in turn form the staple diet of many wading birds that are attracted to the site in their droves. Specialist plants able to cope with the tidal influx also provide food for ducks, geese and finches.
  • Grassland and farmland: Farmland consisting mainly of permanent grass provides valuable feeding for waders at high tide and grazing for winter ducks and geese. Hedgerow and scrub offer cover, food and nest sites, while set-aside is used by ground-nesters.
  • Shingle and vegetated shingle: Breeding shorebirds, in particular little terns and ringed plovers, make shallow scrapes on the shingle spits and islands. Vegetated shingle also provides a home for yellow-horned poppy, sea kale and nationally scarce childing pink, which can only be found on two sites along the whole of the south coast.
  • Reedbed and lagoons: A mix of reedbed and fresh, salt and saline lagoons attracts a variety of birds, animals and insects.

Conservation

Working with partners and landowners, we use cattle and sheep to graze grassland and manage its water levels. This provides winter food at high tide for wildfowl such as wigeon, snipe and brent geese, and breeding sites for redshank and lapwing in the spring.

Pagham Harbour is internationally recognized as a site breeding shorebirds, in particular little terns, ringed plovers, and oystercatchers. Although we erect temporary exclusion zones to protect nesting seabirds, we also work hard and with great success to create suitable habitat on one of the harbours islands, encouraging them to nest where they are less vulnerable to disturbance.

Many birds and insects thrive in our reed beds but have different requirements depending on their species. By rotational cutting, we create a mosaic of different reed height and ages, whilst also managing the water levels, benefiting reed warblers and flame wainscot moth.

We sow a wild bird seed mix to provide food and cover throughout the year for turtle doves, yellowhammers and other farmland birds. Our scrub is now home to a variety of wildlife and we are establishing a small group of breeding nightingales for the first time on the reserve.

Partners

A partnership for people and wildlife.

Pagham Harbour is a fantastic home for nature, helped by the tremendous support of many individuals, groups and organisations. In addition to RSPB members and supporters, local community members and a tireless team of volunteers, we would particularly like to thank the following organisations and individuals for their financial support:

Friends of Pagham Harbour
West Sussex County Council
Environment Agency
Sussex Wildlife Trust
Heritage Lottery Fund
Sussex Ornithological Society
Hall Hunter Partnership
Bruce Wake Charitable Trust
Natura 2000
EU Life
  • Little Tern Recovery Project is generously supported by the EU LIFE+ Nature Programme.

Other funders we'd like to thank include:

  • Mrs Mary EA Watkinson
  • Mrs MJ Crawshaw
  • The Violet Flanagan Charitable Trust
  • The John Coates Charitable Trust
  • The Bassil Shippam and Alsford Trust
  • The Steven Bloch Image of Disability Charitable Trust
  • The Patricia Routledge Charitable Trust
  • Natural England through Defra

Site information

Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve is one of the best places for wildlife in the UK, covering approximately 600 hectares and has LNR, SSSI, SAM, MCZ, RAMSAR and SPA status.

 The reserve also has a rich historical heritage and hides a number of visual hints to its fascinating past, including medieval forts and Selsey Tram embankment.

Latest blog posts

  • New Beginnings up North.

    After a 17 year stay as warden of RSPB Pagham Harbour and Medmerry, February 2022 was a time of new beginnings. At the beginning of the month, I moved up to southwest Scotland to become the new warden for the RSPB reserve at the Crook of Baldoon. I h...

    Posted 12/05/2022 by The Warden
  • Celebrate your inner Robin on our adventure trail this Christmas

    Credit Aardman/Netflix).     We’re delighted to be partnering with Netflix and Aardman on Robin Robin, a half-hour, stop-motion, festive story for the whole family, about a young robin trying to fit in. It’s debuting on Netflix on 24 November – get t...

    Posted 13/11/2021 by RoyN
  • Litter Pick SC and Johnson

    If you are free on Sunday 25th, 10 am - 1 pm                                 or If you are free on Sunday 1st August, 10 am - 1 pm We need help with a litter pick! At Medmerry there are parts of the reserve that are not accessed regularly and there h...

    Posted 09/07/2021 by RoyN
  • What to look for in summer…

    What to look for in summer… The highlight of summer at Pagham Harbour is our tern colony. Taking a leisurely stroll, starting from our Visitor Centre, pass through the Discovery Zone. The pond is full of life with backswimmers and boatman sculling be...

    Posted 29/06/2021 by RoyN
read our blog

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

Pagham Harbour is a great day out for all the family. Our Discovery Trail (short route) is suitable for buggies, and we have free self-guided activity sheets available every day all year round. 

During the school holidays, we run special family events, from pond dipping, bug hunting and arts and crafts, to seashore safaris, mud-sifting and seasonal themed events. (Children must be accompanied by an adult.)

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/paghamharbour

Leisure activities

  • Walking: As well as being a haven for wildlife, Pagham Harbour is a walker’s paradise with miles of footpaths and beautiful open countryside to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. A walk to the beach on a clear day is rewarded with views of Beachy Head to the east and the Isle of Wight to the west, while on a blustery day it’s a great way to blow away the cobwebs and clear your mind.

  • Photography: For photographers and artists there are opportunities and inspiration everywhere, with big open landscapes, dramatic skies and a wealth of subjects, colours, tones and textures which change from season to season and day to day. We run wildlife photography and painting workshops throughout the year if you are keen to improve your skills.

  • Star-gazing: Being an undeveloped oasis in the Sussex coastline, the night sky above our reserve is great for star gazing with stunning views of the Milky Way and other constellations – look out for our popular astronomy nights.

  • Archaelogy and history: Pagham Harbour also boasts a rich history, from Bronze Age artefacts and evidence as a Roman seaport, to the age of steam and the Second World War. There are still a number of visible reminders to the past. 

    The earliest mill found at Sidlesham was dated to 1275 with the last being built in 1755. This last tidal mill was reputed to have been one of the finest in the country with three great water wheels and eight pairs of millstones. All that remains is a rectangle of grass and low brick walls to mark the site of the mill.

    At Church Norton there is the surviving earthwork mound and ditch, remains of an 11th Century Norman ringwork castle, inside which the remains of stone buildings have been located. Traces of possible Iron Age occupation were found during excavations along with Neolithic scrapers and other worked flints.

    Also at Church Norton is St Wilfred’s Chapel. The 13th building was formerly the chancel of the much larger St Peter’s Church. It is located on or near the site of the first Cathedral of Sussex which was established by St Wilfred when he lived there for six years from AD 681.

    There are also numerous stories of smuggling and of the harbour being used as a practice firing range for aircraft during the Second World War.

    The Selsey Tram which ran between Chichester and Selsey from 1897-1935 runs through the reserve and alongside the harbour's edge between Ferry Channel and Sidlesham. This is one of our main walking routes along the embankment and still goes by the name of the ‘Tramway’. Originally, steam locomotives were used and later supplemented by petrol rail-buses. In its heyday, over 22,000 passengers used it per annum. Unfortunately due to it often breaking down, the nature of rickety rails and the laid-back style of service it was teased with nicknames such as ‘The Sidlesham Snail’ and ‘The Bumpety Bump’.

Make the most of your journey

Boat in Bann Estuary, Co, Londonderry

Code of Conduct for boating

This Code of Conduct is for the use of waterborne craft in Pagham Harbour.

Share this

  • Facebook Facebook Created with Sketch.
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

You might also be interested in

Pilsey Island RSPB Reserve. Aerial view.

Portsmouth to Pagham

The coastal plain from Portsmouth to Pagham Harbour is one of the most important areas for birds in southern England.
Aerial view of Medmerry

Medmerry

One of our ‘wild and wonderful’ reserves, it offers walks and cycle rides with panoramic views and glorious sunsets.
RSPB Giving Nature a Home Campaign

Join us - legacy

Become an RSPB member by signing up here.

We spend 90% of net income on conservation, public education and advocacy

Quick links

  • Contact us
  • Online Community
  • Vacancies
  • Media centre

Information for

  • Teachers
  • Policy makers
  • Farmers & landowners
  • Scientists

Our work in

  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland
  • International

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

Partnering with

BirdLife_logo

The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International. Find out more about the partnership

Fundraising Regulator logo OSCR logo

© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654

  • Terms & conditions
  • Cookie policy
  • Privacy policy
  • Charter and statutes
  • About our site
  • Modern Slavery Act

Cookie Preferences

Accepting all non-essential cookies helps us to personalise your experience

Edit settings
Accept all

Essential cookies are required

These cookies are required for basic web functions

Enable analytics cookies

Allow us to collect anonymised performance data

Enable marketing cookies

Allow us to personalise your experience

Save settings
Read our cookie policy