Lancing is a village and civil parish in the Adur district of West Sussex, England, on the western edge of the Adur Valley. It lies on the coastal plain between Sompting to the west, Shoreham-by-Sea to the east and the parish of Coombes to the north. It is sometimes credited as being the largest village in England, covering an area of 3.9 miles² (892.4ha). It is a mix of coastal urban dwelling and rural chalk downland landscape. The oldest non-religious buildings date to around 1500 CE. The 2002 population was around 19,000. The village was a popular seaside resort in the mid-19th century, gaining favour from the gentry of the time for its secluded atmosphere. Lancing today no longer has a notable tourist trade although there are a number of small guest houses, most of them on the A259 coast road. There is a shingle beach with good stretches of clean sand at low water. South of the coast road is Widewater, an internationally rare brackish lagoon. Immediately north of the developed area is Lancing Ring, a Nature Reserve, part of the designated Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the proposed South Downs National Park. To the north of that is farmed agricultural downland connected to Lancing College Farm. On its eastern side is Shoreham Airport, the world's oldest continually-operational airport which also served as an RAF base during World War II. Much of the land now covered with housing was formerly taken by a number of family-run market gardening businesses growing fruit or flowers for the Brighton Market or Covent Garden in London. Sparks Nursery was growing fruit such as tomatoes and Young's produced carnations. Chrysanthemums were grown by Frank Lisher on his land south of The Finches, the house he built. The Nash family were fruit growers, producing grapes under huge glass cloches that could be rolled into place on a rail track. 'Mr Marshall's Nursery' was also notable. Lancing railway station opened with what is now known as the West Coastway Line in 1849. Between 1908 and 1912 the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway developed its railway wagon and carriage works in the area that is now the Lancing Business Park at the western edge of the village. The railway works were closed on 25th June 1965. The local secondary school, Boundstone Community College, located just inside the neighbouring village of Sompting, is a mixed comprehensive of around 1,100 students from ages 12-18. More on Lancing