Commemorating poet John Keats's Chichester connections

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Chichester will once again celebrate its connections with the poet John Keats.

January 21 is the Feast Day of St Agnes recognised by many from the poem The Eve of St Agnes written by Keats, more than 200 years ago in January 1819, during his visit to Chichester, Stansted Park and Bedhampton. It was published in 1820 in his second and last volume of poems.

On Tuesday, January 21 at 7pm (doors open at 6.30pm), Nigel Gossop, a member of the Chichester Literary Society, will present an illustrated talk at Westhampnett Community Hall to raise funds for St Peter’s Church Reordering Project. The first stage of the project is to put in a much-needed accessible toilet, a tea point and a meeting room, at the church.

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Vincent Gray will have his original John Keats Chichester sculpture on display with photo opportunities, a death mask of Keats and his sculpture maquette for sale.

Nigel said: “The talk covers an outline of Keats tragically short life and works and an introduction to the players and characters involved with bringing him on his visit to Chichester and Bedhampton, without which The Eve of St Agnes may never have been penned. In September 1820 the dying John Keats was en route to Italy when a storm forced the ship he was on to take shelter in Portsmouth Harbour, giving him the opportunity to spend his last night on English soil back in the village of Bedhampton.”

Tickets for the talk are £10 available from Hazel Bate; email [email protected] or call 07962 811990.

The talk is presented by the Chichester Literary Society in memory of the actor John Clegg who died in August 2024, remembered by many as La Di Dah Gunner Graham in the BBC sitcom It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. John was a resident of Westhampnett and a long-standing member of the Chichester Literary Society.

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