Memories of Horsham

1936

This was the year that I started work in Jacksons Cycle shop in West Street aged 15
Jim Hayler

I lived here

This photo shows the old post office that was run by my Aunts Alice and Edie and Uncle Harry in the 1920s. I lived next door in number 57 till I left in 1939. Jim Hayler

The Drawing Office

From 1962 to 1966 I worked in the drawing office of Horsham Urban District Council. This was in the first floor extension to the right of the picture. This was my first job and my boss was Deputy Engineer and Surveyor, John Sheldon, and the big chief was John Ridd, Engineer and Surveyor. I used to park my motor-scooter in the stable block at the rear of the building. A source of amusement was to launch paper planes down to the school girls who used to sit on the park benches below!

The British Red Cross

I think this was in the 1960s, whilst I was working for the Flight Simulator Firm in Crawley, REDIFON LTD, part of Redifusion Ltd.
I became part of the team puttting on a charity show at this theatre for the Red Cross. It was called "MIDNIGHT MATINEE".It was a great event with Petula Clark, Arthur Haynes and many others. In the audience was Lavinia, the Duchess of Norfolk. I was on the lighting equipment. Arthur wasn't happy with me. During a sleight of hand trick he wanted the lighting dimmed. Well, the controls were opposite to what I had been used to!  The auditorium was flooded with light at the critical time. Arthur made a joke of it, as though it was intentional!

from house to dining hall and chapel.

This is the view looking east from the "house" I was in, PEELE A.
We used to march into the dining hall, seen beneath the tower on the left, for our meals.  We had a standard bearer carrying the house flag heading the squad.
The building on the right in the foreground is the school chapel.
The trees cannot be very old for the school was opened in 1902, having come down from London.

The Butchers Shop

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s my father, Patrick Scullion, known to many of his customers as Jock, was the family butcher at 8 Bishopric. I was his butcher's boy around 1960 delivering orders on the trade bike on Saturday mornings and Tuesday after school. I also helped to make sausages which were second to none! I well remember Milledges to the right of our shop which sold newspapers and toys and the little grocers to the left run by a spinster called Miss Carcas. The back of our shop opened onto the yard of Piggotts, a hardware store, and I used to slip in there and watch them cut glass.

The Crown Hotel

This public house was built in 1805 and refurbished in June 2007. It is listed by English Heritage at this link:

http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=&id=298105

Swimming memories

My sisters and I would catch the bus from Crawley to Horsham and send many happy hours in the open pool. Then we would go to the milk bar in the Carfax and get a yummy milk shake!

so many happy hours

my brothers john and alan and myself spent many hours in this pool such sweet memories, whilst we stayed with our grandparents during the summer holidays

Theatre wall lighting

At least two of the outside lights were rescued from a skip during the demolition of this theatre. They are now on the walls of a house in Horsham.

This site is now occupied by Boots on the corner of Swan Walk.

Horsham Station and Park

The park is on the left and the station is just visible in the middle distance. The overhead lines have gone now but the wall is grade II listed.

Same but different

The tree still remains in place but the fountain and war memorial have been relocated. The memorial is just around to the left, out of sight in this image. The fountain is in the distance beyond that church spire. The spire is all that remains of the original St Mark's Church, the rest demolished to make way for Royal & Sun Alliance.

You can't see this view any more!

In the foreground of this photo (the road known as Normandy) some almshouse have been built. The church itself has developed a loved or loathed carbuncle on its left hand side - a nice building that does not blend with the church.

Little changed since 1929

In the year this photo was taken the property was transferred from the Hurst family to the council. The building has had many notable owners since it was built in 1720 and remains a treasured property to this day. Current photos of this scene and the park side can be seen on http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/18/18.htm

Sensory garden in the foreground now

In the year this photo was taken the property was transferred from the Hurst family to the council. The building has had many notable owners since it was built in 1720 and remains a treasured property to this day.
A sensory garden now stands in the foreground of this view.

Today this is the Horsham District Council headquarters

In the year this photo was taken the property was transferred from the Hurst family to the council. The building has had many notable owners since it was built in 1720 and remains a treasured property to this day.

Still a Cottage Hospital today

Although the car park has been tarmacced, very little else has changed. Much has been extended and developed around this building. See current photos of this same image on http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/39/39.htm

Very little has changed

Although no longer a grammer school this does remain an educational establishment, effectively a sixth form college for Horsham. It goes by the name of The College of Richard Collyer, in honour of the man who left money in his will to set up a school for '60 boys'. Originally set up on the site of the current St Mary's C of E Primary School in Normandy, Horsham.

The scene today

The old town hall in the centre has changed little although at the time this photo was taken the town hall was in the building to the left known then as the Anchor Hotel, now Bar Vin. The fine building to the right has gone to be replaced by a plainer building housing Rymans.

The post box is no longer on the left but has moved to behind where the car is parked on the right hand side.

You can see current pictures of this scene at http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/35/35.htm

On Saturdays a market is still held here

William Slaughter

My Grandad was born in one of the cottages in this picture and it was lovely to come across this photo as the cottages are very rarely seen.

The buildings have gone

The building to the right hand side has gone but the long wall remains. The church spire in the distance is all that remains of St Marks Church near to the Carfax. The rest of the church was demolished to make way for the new Royal & Sun Alliance offices that form a bridge over the inner ring road. This development took place between 1975 and 1991.

A view down the avenue

Some 99 years later and little has changed. The lodge house which is behind the photographer to the right is currently up for sale (Oct 2006). The property at the end of the drive, Denne House, has been divided into apartments which fetch in excess of £300,000 when they come onto the market.
Catherine Howard stayed at Denne House in her late teens in 1536.

Looking towards St Mary's Church

This scene has changed little in the intervening years - apart from the double yellow lines on the road. I think the man has gone too! You can compare this with today's view at http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/hh/frith3.htm some 99 years later.

The home of Horsham Museum

The second building on the left is now the home of Horsham Museum. The bay window has been removed from the nearest building. The view is from the top of the Causeway looking towards St Mary's Church.

The fountain has moved

The drinking fountain to the right-hand side was erected in 1898 to mark the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Victoria. It became a traffic hazard and was placed into storage for many years before being re-erected then moved again. See the full story and a 2006 photograph of the fountain at http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/36/36.htm

Nat West Bank

It was built in 1897 and was designed in the Queen Anne style by the architect Frederick Wheeler FRIBA who had offices in Horsham. It is now the home of the NatWest bank. The bandstand has been moved slightly to the right.
An engraving above the main door, now a cashpoint area, reads: Erected 1897 the 60th year of the reign of Queen Victoria.

You can see an up to date version of this photo together with more history at http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/7/7.htm

View on West Street

The second shop on the left was Jury Cramp's jewellers, now occupied by H Samuel. Mr Cramp was a well-known figure around Horsham and operated an alcohol-free hotel in Market Square. The giant spectacles just visible in the photo now reside in the nearby Horsham Museum.

See current photos of the shop front on http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/34/34.htm

The Causeway looking towards St Mary's Church

This is before the road was made up. The main property to the right was three dwellings and is now one, known as Minstrells. A lamppost remains in the same position but the property is now tile hung.

This was a new building when the picture was taken

It was built in 1897 and was designed in the Queen Anne style by the architect Frederick Wheeler FRIBA who had offices in Horsham. It is now the home of the Nat West bank. The bandstand has been moved slightly to the right.

An engraving above the main door, now a cash point area, reads: Erected 1897 the 60th year of the reign of Queen Victoria.

You can see an up to date version of this photo together with more history at http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/7/7.htm

Denne Park actually

This is the view from Denne Park above Horsham. The outlook will have changed but much of the green land remains to this day

The Town or Provender Mill

The building shown has since been replaced but fell into a state of disrepair in the 1970s. It was converted to offices in the 1990s and remains as such today. You can see some 2006 photos here: http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/3/3.htm

Only the spire remains of this church

Most of the church was demolished to make way for Royal & Sun Alliance to put up their offices. The church was 'relocated' to a site further out of town near Holbrook Primary School. This is the view from the Carfax.

Not much remains today...

If you stand outside Toymaster (in the Carfax) and look towards Boots this is about where this photo was taken. The big building to the right remains; King & Chasemore but the buildings to the left were demolished in the 1940s to make way for Sterling Buildings which now houses Toymaster, Burger King etc.

The pyramid roof has gone!

This is the view from near the iron railway bridge (built c1859) looking back towards the town. The pyramid shaped roof was in place up until the end of WWII. Between then and now it has been removed but I do not know why! Have a look at www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/9/9.htm to see how it looks today. The site is occupied by Sussex Blinds.

Flagstones

This property is known as Flagstone and is at the foot of the Causeway, next to St Mary's Church. It is dated 1615 on the centre gable, this is thought to relate only to that part of the buidling. The main building may be up to 200 years older. In around 2000 the building was extensively renovated but retains its extenal apprearance and internal character. See more on www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk

St Mary's Church at the foot of the Causeway

The church has been extended in recent years by a 'block' (blot?) on the nearest corner of this photo. Although a nice building in its own right it does not fit in with the style of the church. St Mary's C of E primary school now occupies a site to the right of this image. To the extreme left is a plot in the graveyard devoid of headstones. This is where the bodies of hanged convicts were laid to rest. Another gravestone at the front of the church lays North/South, not the usual East/West. This is the grave of a Muslim, later Catholic woman named Helena Bennett of Indian descent, abandoned by her French husband the Comte de Boigne. She died in 1854.

A view over Horsham

This view has changed little over the intervening years. The church, St Mary's, at the foot of the Causeway is Horsham's only grade I listed building. In the background there was a multistorey office block which has now been removed to be replaced with modern but fitting office blocks occupied by Royal & Sun Alliance.

Building relocated

Around the 1920s this building was known as Perry's Place and was located diagonally opposite the Black Jug, known then as the Hurst Arms. It was dismantled and moved to nearby Mannings Heath. It now forms the clubhouse and is called Fullers. A stunning web site featuring photos of Horsham comparing them to the Frith originals is at www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk