Horsham

“ N Sussex, there is a pretty market-town called Horsham, near unto it a forest, called St. Leonards forest, and there, in a vast and unfrequented place, heathy, vaulty, full of unwholesome shades, and overgrown hollows, where this serpent is thought to be bred; but, wheresoever bred, certain and too true it is that there it yet lives. Within three or four miles compass are its usual haunts, oftentimes at a place called Faygate, and it hath been seen within half a mile of Horsham, a wonder, no doubt, most terrible and noisome to the inhabitants thereabouts. ”

“ The sweetest part of Horsham is there. Elsewhere the town bustles. (I should, however, mention the very picturesque house—now cottages—on the left of the road as [Pg 113] one leaves the station: as fine a mass of timbers, gables, and oblique lines as one could wish, making an effect such as time alone can give. The days of such relics are numbered.)
HORSHAM STONE
Horsham not only has beautiful old houses of its own, but it has been the cause of beautiful old houses all over the county ”

“ Still, notwithstanding, as respects the town, Horsham is greatly improving: the number of buildings which have been lately erected, and which are still erecting, are of a new and very handsome description: the streets are neatly paved, with the large flat stones procured from the excellent quarries in the neighbourhood; and the illumination of the streets by gas, which is being carried on with great spirit and energy, contribute very greatly to the general respectability p. ”

“ On a lofty eminence denominated Denne hill, the visitor may obtain a very beautiful view of the town of Horsham, with its adjacent hills behind, the interesting church appears by far the most conspicuous object in the wide extended landscape, while the small and winding branch of the river Arun, which takes its rise in the adjacent forest of of St. ”

“ Well, it was the beginning of ’84 when my father came to live at Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the January of ’85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly-opened envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what he called my cock-and-a-bull story about the Colonel, but he looked very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon himself. ”

“ She was a trifle apprehensive as to whether she herself might not have given him cause for displeasure. He had refused to dine at Pershore Castle two nights before, but she and Pamela had gone, and he had not objected to that. What he might possibly object to, however, was the invitation she had given to young Lord Horsham to lunch at Hayslope that very day. She had not told him yet that she had done so, for her reason for asking the young man had been quite clearly defined in her own mind, and she did not want him to guess at it. ”

“ Some neolithic remains have been found at Horsham. The town is not mentioned in Domesday Book, but the Rape of Bramber, in which it lies, belonged at that time to William de Braose. His descendants held the borough and the manor of Horsham, and through them they passed to the family of Mowbray, afterwards dukes of Norfolk. There are traces of burgage tenure at Horsham in 1210, and it was called a borough in 1236. It has no charter of incorporation. Horsham sent two representatives to parliament from 1295 until 1832, when the number was reduced to one. ”

“ What is said of Shepparton in the north-east applies to Horsham in the north-west. Horsham, the newly-created capital of the Wimmera District, is entitled 'the Prairie City.' The Wimmera climate is hot and dry, and there [Pg 68] were doubts as to whether the farmer would hold his own on these arid plains; but the settlement is now twelve years old, and is increasing mightily. This Wimmera District tapers off into the mallee scrub, the old desert of Victoria, which has lain neglected for years, while Victorians have opened up country 2000 miles away. ”

“ Having principally confined the limits of the foregoing account, to a circle of about 4 or 5 miles around the town of Horsham, we have omitted previously to notice the priory of Rusper, a building of great antiquity, and closely connected with that borough, by the endowment of the church to its nuns. Very little of the ancient edifice remains at present, I shall therefore insert a very brief account of the nunnery, as given by Sir William Burrell, in his interesting MSS. preserved in the British Museum. ”

“ Horsham stone—Horsham and history—- Pressing to death—Juvenile hostility to statues—Horsham's love of pleasure—Percy Bysshe Shelley's boyhood—a letter of invitation—Sedition in Sussex—a Slinfold epitaph—Rudgwick's cricket poet—Warnham pond—Stane Street—Cobbett at Billingshurst—The new Christ's Hospital.
Horsham is the capital of West Sussex: a busy agricultural town with horse dealers in its streets, a core of old houses, and too many that are new. ”

“ To the east of the parish is a portion of St. Leonard’s forest, and a part of the parish of Cowfold: to the west Horsham, and part of Broadwater; to the north another portion of the forest; and south Cowfold. The district is peculiarly rich and beautiful, abounding in springs of excellent water in every direction. The church, of the time of Edward III, and dedicated to St. Andrew, is in the early style of English architecture, with a low tower, containing 3 bells, and surmounted by a low shingled spire, at the west end. The roof is pannelled in a similar manner to the church at Horsham ”

“ Around Warnham the neighbourhood is one unbroken succession of pleasant scenery and of delightful “nooks and corners;” and the district is studded with many pleasant residences. Within a few miles, too, are Horsham, with its fine old church and other objects of interest; St. Leonard’s Forest, Longhurst, Graylands, Rusper, and a score or two other places that are full of beauty and interest, and show well what charms are furnished by the scenery of Sussex. ”

“ This village is seven miles from Horsham, and I got here to breakfast about seven o'clock. A very pretty village, and a very nice breakfast, in a very neat little parlour of a very decent public-house. The landlady sent her son to get me some cream, and he was just such a chap as I was at his age, and dressed just in the same sort of way, his main garment being a blue smock-frock, faded from wear, and mended with pieces of new stuff, and, of course, not faded. The sight of this smock-frock brought to my recollection many things very dear to me. ”

“ At Tower Hill, is a spring, by whose waters every thing over which it passes is encrusted, in consequence of its depositing a small portion of carbonate of lime, with which it is impregnated in passing the limestone strata, through which it flows.
POPULATION
The population of Horsham, has of late years greatly increased, and at present amounts to nearly 6000. The following table will afford a view of its advance during the present century. ”

“ Horsham (36 m.) . This prosperous and pleasant county centre makes a good halting place. The Early English and Perpendicular church is worth a visit, although practically rebuilt in the middle of the last century. The fine proportions and spacious and lofty interior will at once strike the visitor. Notice the altar tomb of Thomas de Braose (1396) , Lord Hoo (1455) , Eliz. Delves (1645) , and a brass of Thomas Clerke (1411) . Also the ancient font. The old "Causeway," which leads to the church from Carfax, as the centre of the town is called, should be more popular with artists than it is. ”

“ It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came down.
"You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of young Openshaw's."
"What steps will you take?" I asked.
"It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. I may have to go down to Horsham after all." ”

“ To the North of Horsham, on Hurst hill, p. 34is Moated House, formerly belonging to the family of the Westons: this mansion was the residence of Robert Hurst ob. 1483, whose monument in the church, the reader will remember.
Nearer the town, is a very ancient building formerly belonging to lord Hoo and de Hastings, whose remains are interred in the church: a farm house at present the property of the duke of Norfolk alone marks the site of this once splendid and princely edifice. ”

“ It is probable a similar wing was on the south aspect and thereby formed a Greek II. The ancient apple trees which cover the flank, render such an idea very problematical.” Near the building is a very deep well, said to have been used as a place of destruction for those members of the convent, who had dared to break their vows of chastity.
Near Mrs Delves tomb at Horsham, is the headless brass figure of an ecclesiastic, supposed from the letters T C in the cope, to cover the remains of Thomas clerk, a former rector. ”

“ The traditions among the inhabitants affirm, that a subterraneous passage connects this castle with the nunnery at Rusper, which is 8 miles distant, but no attempt has been undertaken to ascertain the truth of this conjecture. p. 57Passing over Tower Hill, an eminence near Horsham, we arrive at the village of Itchingfield, or Hethinfield as it was formerly called. ”

“ Horse-power, the unit of work of a steam-engine, being the power to raise 33,000 lbs. one foot in one minute.
Horsham (9) , a market-town of Sussex, 26 m. NW. of Brighton; has a fine specimen of an Early English church, and does a thriving trade in brewing, tanning, iron-founding, &c.
Horsley, Samuel, English prelate, born in London; celebrated as the champion of orthodoxy against the attacks of Priestley (q. v.) , in which he showed great learning but much bitterness, which, however, brought him church preferment; was in succession bishop of St. Davids, Rochester, and St. Asaph (1733-1806) . ”

“ There'll only be a nominal majority of sixteen against them. The Labour lot are committed on their side . . and now that the Irish have gone—
wedgecroft. But they'll be beaten on the Address first go.
trebell. Yes . . Horsham hasn't any doubt of it.
wedgecroft. He'll be in office within a week of the King's speech.
trebell. [With another access of energy.] I'll pull the bill that's in my head through a Horsham cabinet and the House. Then I'll leave them . . they'll go to the country—
wedgecroft. You know Percival's pledge about that at Bristol wasn't very definite.
trebell. Horsham means to. ”

“ Paul's, or any other apostle's day, it was usual for persons of quality to send round a present of a spoon with the figure of such apostle to their friends. In some Catholic families these and the before-mentioned customs are still retained, though I question whether the spoons are enriched with such superb workmanship.
W.H.H. THE TOPOGRAPHER. HORSHAM, SUSSEX.
The town of Horsham is pleasantly situated on the liver Arun, in the county of Sussex, about 36 miles S. by W. of London. It is a borough, and contains the county gaol. The spring assizes are likewise held here. ”

“ The two houses chosen to exemplify the first Georgian type are Graeme Park, Horsham, begun in 1721 and finished the following year by Sir William Keith, sometime Lieutenant-Governour of the Province, and Hope Lodge, in the Whitemarsh Valley, built in 1723. ”

“ ROSE, HUGH JAMES (1795–1838) , English divine, was born at Little Horsted in Sussex on the 9th of June 1795, and was educated at Uckfield school and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1817, but missed a fellowship. Taking orders, he was appointed to Buxted, Sussex, in 1819, and to the vicarage of Horsham in 1821. He had already attained some repute as a critic, which was enhanced when, after travelling in Germany, he delivered as select preacher at Cambridge, four addresses against rationalism, published in 1825 as The State of the Protestant Religion in Germany. ”

“ There was the wife with the baby in her arms, the husband teaching another child to walk, while four more were at play before them. I stopped and looked at them for some time, and then, turning my horse, rode up to the wicket, getting into talk by asking the distance to Horsham. I found that the man worked chiefly in the woods, and that he was doing pretty well. The wife was then only twenty-two, and the man only twenty-five. She was a pretty woman, even for Sussex, which, not excepting Lancashire, contains the prettiest women in England. He was a very fine and stout young man. ”

“ Not all the other men put together would make his equal. I thought so then, and I think so now.
The strange thing was that he cared for me. He told me so one afternoon. And while I was half beside myself with joy they came and told me father was dead. He had been thatching the big barn, and had slipped off the roof and broken his neck. The day after father was buried, I went over with James to Horsham, and was married at the registrar's by special licence. Father was all the relation I had, and me being alone in the world, with no money, James thought it would be best. ”

“ The fact is he's made a big position for himself in the world, and—"
"Oh, yes, I know all that. So does he. That's the root of the trouble."
The conversation was broken at that point by the incursion of several young people whose activities and sociabilities for the afternoon would radiate from this garden terrace. Norman Eldridge was among them, and with him were the two young men whom he had invited to Hayslope. These he had already presented to Pamela, and they were now on either side of her, while Horsham thus dispossessed, was making himself agreeable to other guests. ”