Bognor Regis is a seaside coastal resort located within West Sussex in the South of England and one of the oldest recorded Saxon place names in Sussex.  In a document of 680AD it is referred to as Bucgan'ora meaning Bucge's shore, or landing place.  In Anglo Saxon, Bucge means 'book' or in Auld Englisċ 'beech tree'.

In more recent times it was know as just ''Bognor'' and up until the 18th century, was just a fishing village and was also used by smugglers.

Read more about the origins of Bognor...

About Bucge

Bucge was the name of the female Saxon leader of the first recorded settlement on the south coast of Britain between Pagham to the west and Felpham to the east, as part of the emerging realm of Sussex.

The settlement was established as a fishing and farming community around 680 BCS 10th and was known as Bucgan ora which means Bucge’s shore, bank or landing place.

The earliest land deeds were recorded in the bōcland, the Saxon charter of land tenure.  Unchartered lands were known as folcland, or the commoner’s land, known as commons.

The first recorded history was in the Domesday Book of 1086 which referred to the land of Sūþsexe, meaning South Saxons.  In the 7th century it was part of the Saxon Heptarchy of 7 emerging Kingdoms, covering what we know today as England.

Back to Bucge - the name derives from the Saxon name for the beech tree (bōc) which would have been prevalent across Northern Europe in the 6th and 7th centuries.

The bōc was revered by Saxon cultures as the Queen of the Woods, because of its great value to their communities.  It provided shelter, wood, birch bark, mast (beech nuts) and more.  For centuries the northern european cultures traditionally used birch bark to write their records on.  The bōc is the root of the modern term ‘book’.

As the respected leader, Bucge would most likely have been named for her ability to protect and sustain her community and maybe even to write words about their culture, customs and traditions in a village bōc.