Sidlesham Heritage Centre:

The impact of the Land Settlement Association

In the 1930s, there was a move to help people from the industrial north of England who had lost their jobs during the depression. The Land Settlement Association (LSA) had land in a number of counties in the South of England and East Anglia, including Sidlesham, and offered these plots to struggling families, so they could start a new life on the land.

From 1935, settlers began to move down to the parish and in total 120 smallholdings were established. This resulted in a local population increase of over 45%, in less than 20 years. The Sidlesham Heritage Centre was set up in 2020 to display information about the historical impact of this movement on the settlers and the parish as a whole.