Emsworth
Template:Infobox England parished place with auto map Emsworth is a small town in England, situated on the south coast on the Hampshire side of the border between Hampshire and West Sussex. The town lies at the north end of Chichester Harbour, a large but shallow inlet from the Solent. The Harbour is now used almost exclusively for recreational sailing, but in the past was the setting for Emsworth's oyster farming industry. In some places the old oyster-beds can still be seen at low tide. The town has a basin for small yachts and a few fishing boats opposite the millpond, an artificial lake which fills at high tide can be emptied through a sluice at low tide. The River Ems, which is named after the town (not, as often believed, the town named after the river) also flows into the millpond, and although the mill is no longer in use it now houses one of the town's two sailing clubs.
Emsworth has a population of approximately 10,000 people, in the 19th century Emsworth had as many as 30 pubs and beer houses probably to do with the fact that Emsworth was a fishing village. Today, only nine remain, and this number may have decreased due to the Emsworth fishing and oyster trade dying down, or to the consolidation of the pub trade in the 1990s and 2000s
Emsworth's once famous oyster industry went into decline in the early years of the 20th century. Recently, Emsworth's last remaining oyster boat The Terror was restored and is now sailing again.
The town for many years has been a Conservative constituency.
Since 2001 Emsworth has held an annual Emsworth Food Festival in September. Run entirely by unpaid volunteers this is now the largest event of its type in the UK with over 55,000 visitors in 2006. The Emsworth Food Festival is a community event involving local schools, businesses and community organisations.It is usaly held in the town center and can be very busy at this time of year.
Adjacent Thorney Island in West Sussex, in World War Two, and, many years after, was a Royal Air Force station, which has now become a Royal Artillery base.