HORSHAM, a parish and borough and market-town,
in the hundred of FISHERGATE,
rape of BRAMBER, county of SUSSEX, 29 miles (N.E.),
from Chichester, and 3
(S. S. W.) from London, con-
taining 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 mecha-
nics 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 assizesfor the
county, and the Midsummer quarter sessions for the
division, are held here. The town-hall and sessionshouse
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 schoolroom,
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 5 and there are
several small charitable bequests for distribution among
the poor.