Shoreham Harbour is the premier Sussex port (the largest port between Dover and Portsmouth).
At low tide the River Adur cuts a narrow fast running channel through the mud flats in the middle of Shoreham-by-Sea as it rushes out to sea through the two long piers that mark the entrance to Shoreham Harbour.
In the 50's major developments including a new entrance and the construction of East and West breakwaters were completed and in the 60's and 70's trade was flourishing. Still a working port today, the port has now celebrated its 250th Anniversary with it's Power station being the highest structure in Sussex with a chimney rising 106 metres above sea level.
The port is not currently working to its full capacity because the small cargo ships that visit the port cannot go out at all states of the tide. The trade in the latter half of the 20th century is further a field to Baltic and Mediterranean ports, and the port is unable to compete with nearby Newhaven for the regular cross-channel passenger trade.
