Felpham (, , or , ) is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Although sometimes considered part of the urban area of greater Bognor Regis, it is a village and civil parish in its own right, having an area of 1.645 square miles, (4.26&nbsp;km),<sup>2</sup> with a population of 9,611 people that is still growing (2001 census). The population at the 2011 Census was 9,746. There is also a Methodist church close to the three-way junction of Felpham Way, Flansham Lane and Middleton Road, in the east of the village.

History

Felpham is mentioned in a charter of 953 by which King Eadred granted thirty hides of land there to his mother Queen Eadgifu. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of the 11th century, under the hundred of Binstead: "St Edward's Abbey [Shaftesbury] holds and held Felpham before 1066..."

Its value before 1066 was said to be £10.

thumb|right|[[Blake’s Cottage in Felpham where William Blake lived from 1800 till 1803.]]

The poet William Blake was introduced to the village by his friend William Hayley and lived in Felpham for three years between 1800 and 1803. He wrote Milton: A Poem in Two Books, while living in a house now named Blake’s Cottage. The poem contains the line about "England's green and pleasant land", today known as the anthem "Jerusalem", which were inspired by Blake's "evident pleasure" in the Felpham countryside. The cottage where he lived is depicted in the illustrations for the poem. It lies within the original village, close to the Fox public house. Of the village he wrote:

<blockquote>

Away to sweet Felpham for heaven is there:<br/>

The Ladder of Angels descends through the air<br/>

On the turrett its spiral does softly descend<br/>

Through the village it winds, at my cot it does end.

</blockquote>

The "turrett" in the verse is Hayley's house, east of the church, which he built around 1800. It was in Felpham that Blake had his altercation with the drunken soldier John Scofield, who was trespassing in his garden.