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Horsham in Sussex County England History and GeographyHORSHAM, a borough, market town, and parish, in the hundred of FISHERGATE, rape of BRAMBER, county of SUSSEX, 29 miles (N.E.) from Chichester, and 35½ (S.S.W.) from London, containing 4575 inhabitants. This place is supposed to have derived its name from Horsa, the brother of Hengist, who is said to have been interred in the immediate vicinity, after the battle with Vortimer, near Aylesford, in 457, in which he was slain. The town is pleasantly situated on a branch of the river Adur, and in the centre of a fertile district surrounded by varied and interesting scenery: it consists principally of one spacious street, from which others branch off in various directions: the houses are in general well built, and those in the street leading to the church are agreeably sheltered by rows of trees: the town is well paved with stone found in the neighbourhood, and amply supplied with water. A mechanics' institution has been recently established, to which a useful library is attached and in which lectures on mechanics and scientific subjects are periodically delivered. The approaches to the town are formed by excellent turnpike roads from London, Worthing, Brighton, Guildford, Arundel, and Chichester, and its situation as a thoroughfare is the principal source from which its trade arises. A great quantity of poultry is reared in the neighbourhood, for the supply of the London market. There are quarries of excellent stone in the vicinity, which is used for paving, flooring, and roofing. The market days are Monday for poultry, and Saturday chiefly for corn: the fairs, principally for sheep and lambs, are April 5th and July 18th, and for horses and cattle on the Monday before Whitsuntide and November 27th; on the Saturday after the July fair is a fair for pedlary and toys, and on November 17th is a large fair for Welch cattle, called St. Leonard's fair, from its having been formerly held in an adjoining forest of that name. The town is governed by a steward and two bailiffs, chosen annually at the court leet of the lord of the manor, at which constables and other officers are also appointed. The Lent assizes for the county, and the Midsummer quarter sessions for the division, are held here. The town-hall and sessions-house is a handsome building with a stone front; it has been recently enlarged by the Duke of Norfolk, for the accommodation of the judges of assize. The county gaol, a spacious and commodious building near the south-eastern extremity of the town, is adapted to the classification of prisoners, and comprises fifty-six wards, seven day-rooms, and four airing-yards. Horsham is a borough by prescription, and has returned two members to parliament since the 23rd of Edward I.: the right of election is vested in the burgage-holders, of whom there are twenty-four, in the interest of the Duke of Norfolk: the bailiffs are the returning officers. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chichester, rated in the king's books at £25, and in the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a spacious and venerable structure in the early style of English architecture, with a lofty tower surmounted by a spire: the east window of the chancel is of beautiful design, and the interior, which preserves its original character nearly throughout, contains several ancient and interesting monuments. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists, and a Roman Catholic chapel. The free school was founded in 1532, by Richard Collier, citizen and mercer of London, who endowed it with houses and tenements producing more than £500 per annum, for the instruction of sixty boys of this parish in reading, writing, and arithmetic, of whom some of the upper class are taught Latin: the master has a salary of £110, and the usher one of £73. 6. 8. per annum: the school is under the direction of the Master and Wardens of the Mercers' Company, and the boys are nominated by the vicar and the churchwardens, and by two school-wardens annually elected by the parishioners. The premises comprise a good school-room, and dwelling houses with gardens for the masters. Lancasterian schools, in which two hundred boys and one hundred girls are instructed, and an infant school, are supported by subscription; and there are several small charitable bequests for distribution among the poor. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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