Selection Criteria

Selection process
There is a set of criteria against which any suggestion will be judged. These have been based on those set down by English Heritage but adapted for Worthing.

A suggestion for a Blue Plaque can be made by members of the public or the Blue Plaque Committee.
Please initially email the selection panel with your suggestion before submitting a formal proposal.
The email should be sent to worthingsociety@yahoo.co.uk

If your suggestion is worth more detailed consideration you will be asked to complete a formal application using a template for guidance.

The Blue Plaque committee will then research the proposal and advise on whether the suggestion should be successful based on the criteria. The panel meet quarterly.

If there are several successful applications in any particular year the committee will decide which plaques to proceed with. If unsuccessful an application can be carried forward to the following year.

  • List of Worthing’s Blue Plaques
  • Jane Austen – author
  • Patricia Baring – conservationist
  • Beach House dedicated by Basque Children of ’37 Assoc. UK Ellen Chapman – suffragist and mayor of Worthing
  • Alma Cogan – singer
  • Pvt William Cooper – fought at Rorke’s Drift
  • Dr Frederick Dixon FRCS, FGS.
  • Edward VII
  • Keith Emerson – musician
  • Sgt. Walter Harrold, MM (Military Medal)
  • W.H. Hudson – naturalist
  • Edward Knoblock – playwright
  • Philip McCutchan – author
  • Montague ‘Monty’ Moore VC, Commemorative paving stone Gladys Morgan – actress and comedienne
  • WPC Gladys Moss
  • Harold Pinter – playwright
  • Princess Amelia
  • Provident House
  • Carl Seebold and The Dome
  • Percy Bysshe Shelley – author
  • Henfry C.P. Smail – naturalist
  • St Pauls
  • Sir Frederick and Lady Stern – botanist and horticulturist The Lifeboat House
  • George Warne – hotelier
  • Oscar Wilde – playwright
  • Worthing Railway Station

Material of the blue plaque.
Aluminium and blue. Circular. Either 16 or 18 inches in diameter.

The Criteria
Please see below for the criteria against which an application will be judged.

WORTHING BLUE PLAQUE CRITERIA

To be eligible for a blue plaque the person concerned must:

  • As a general rule been deceased for 20 Years or have passed the centenary of their birth. Fictional characters are not eligible
  • Have lived in Worthing for a significant proportion of their life
  • Have made an outstanding contribution to the lives of the people of Worthing or to human welfare and
    happiness nationally
  • Be considered eminent by a majority of members of their own profession
  • Have lived or worked in the building concerned for a significant period in time or importance, within their
    life and work be recognisable to the well-informed passer-by, or deserve national recognition.
    Proposals can be considered for the commemoration of buildings that have a historical significance worthy of public notice – other than a particular personal association – either because:

    • (i) a historical event of particular importance occurred there, or
    • (ii) the building had an important historical significance that is not obvious from its present
      appearance, use or any existing commemoration.
    • The building has significant architectural interest

However, proposals in this category can be accepted and assessed only as resources permit, and at the discretion of The Blue Plaque Committee.

With regards to the location of a plaque:

  • plaques can only be erected on the actual building lived or worked in by the figure, not the site where the building once stood, or on buildings that have been radically altered*
  • Buildings marked with plaques should be visible from the public highway
  • A single person may not be commemorated with more than one blue plaque
  • Plaques are not placed on Boundary walls, gate piers, in educational or ecclesiastical buildings.
  • The consent of the Conservation Officer is necessary for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas.