Victorian Resort Expansion

1870s-1900s

The last three decades of the nineteenth century saw Bognor expand steadily from a small resort into a recognisable seaside town. The combination of the railway, the pier, and the mild climate drew increasing numbers of visitors, and the town grew to accommodate them. Hotels, guest houses, and boarding houses were built along the seafront and the streets behind it, catering to families and invalids seeking sea air. Residential streets extended north from the original core, providing housing for the workers who staffed the resort and the tradespeople who supplied it. Churches, schools, and public buildings followed the housing. The Esplanade was developed and improved, with shelters, gardens, and a promenade suitable for the daily constitutionals that Victorian visitors expected of a seaside holiday. The town gained a reputation as a quiet, respectable resort, less raucous than Brighton and less fashionable than Eastbourne, but reliable and family-friendly. The Victorian expansion gave Bognor most of its surviving historic architecture, including the terraces around Waterloo Square and the commercial buildings on the High Street. The population grew from a few hundred at the start of the century to several thousand by 1901. The town was still modest compared to its larger neighbours, but it had established itself as a functioning resort with a loyal if unshowy clientele drawn from the middle classes of London and the home counties.