The civil parish is made up of the village of Graffham, part of the hamlet of Selham, and South Ambersham.

It forms part of the Bury Ward for the purposes of electing a Councillor to Chichester District Council.

Graffham was listed in the Domesday Book (1086) in the ancient hundred of Easebourne as having 13 households: seven villagers and six smallholders; with land for ploughing, woodland for pigs and a church, the parish's value to the lord of the manor was £8.

[5] In the 2001 census, the parish covered 11.81 km2 (2,917 acres) and had 229 households with a total population of 510 of whom 229 residents were economically active.

Notable residents have included: Jane Vigor, John Sargent, Harry Ricardo, David Young, Baron Young of Graffham, Ann Dally,[6] Timothy Bell, Baron Bell, Henry Edward Manning, and Samuel Wilberforce