When the parish and its accompanying settlement were founded as part of an
Anglo-Saxon estate within the
Rape of Bramber, it was known as "Kingston". By the 14th century, the names "Kingston by Shoreham" and "South Kingston" had also been recorded, but in 1315 it took the name "Kingston Bouci" derived from the
de Bouci or
de Boucey surname of the
lord of the
manor. Later, this surname became
anglicised to
Bowsey and the village name changed accordingly. In the 18th century this was assumed to mean "by sea", and the name "Kingston by Sea" became established. Adur District Council refers to "Kingston Bucii".
Nikolaus Pevsner suggested that the second element of the name derived from the French
beau site, but other sources disagree with this. Two other villages in the
historic county of
Sussex are called Kingston.
Kingston by Ferring (historically known as "Kingston by Arundel"), to the west, is also on the
English Channel coast; and
Kingston near Lewes (also known as West Kingston in medieval times) is to the east. At various times, land in all three manors was held by the
Earl of Arundel, and old sources sometimes fail to distinguish between the three settlements. ==History==