9 The Causeway, Horsham - 01403 211661 tourist.information@horsham.gov.uk

Horsham - In 947, it was hors ham - home of horses. An alternative explanation is that "Horsham" is a contraction of "Horsa's Ham" named after the Saxon warrior who was said to have been given lands in the area.

Horsham is a market town situated on the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, in the county of West Sussex, England with a population of 55,657 (2008). It lies 31 miles (50 km) south southwest from London, 18.5 miles (30 km) northwest from Brighton and 26 miles (42 km) northeast from the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Crawley to the northeast and Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill to the southeast. It is the administrative and market centre of Horsham District Council area.

The 'Horsham Point' - a Mesolithic arrowhead - is sometimes claimed as the birth of distinctly British culture[citation needed] since it is the earliest known artefact that postdates the separation (due to glacial meltwater filling the Channel) of Britain from the continent.

The first mention of Horsham was in King Eadred's land charter of AD 947. The town had connections to the sale of horses and the name is believed to be derived from "Horse Ham", a settlement where horses were kept.

Despite having been in existence for some 140 years at the time of the survey, Horsham is not mentioned in the Domesday Book either because it was never visited by inspectors, or was simply 'left out' of the final version. It lies within the ancient Norman administrative division of the Rape of Bramber.

In ancient times Horsham was controlled by the powerful de Braose family. Later the Eversfield family, which had risen from Surrey County obscurity into a powerhouse of ironmasters and landowners, built Denne Park House, their seat. The family later represented Horsham in Parliament, and controlled the Eversfield Estate in St. Leonards-on-Sea, where the seaside promenade is named for the family.

Horsham had two weekly markets in the Middle Ages, and was noted locally for its annual fairs.

Despite a local iron industry which stayed until the 17th century and a prosperous brewing industry, Horsham remained primarily a market town serving the many farms in the area until the early 20th century, when other industry and residential development began to proliferate. One of the most important of these was the manufacture of bricks from the Wealden clay on which Horsham sits. Warnham and Wealden Brickworks still operate two miles north of Horsham and there are disused workings throughout the area, notably at Southwater which is now developed as an education centre and leisure park.

Horsham prospered during the Victorian era and early 20th century. The town, along with others, has been well documented photographically by Francis Frith. The pictures record many of the landmarks that are still in place today, although some, such the war memorial, Jubilee Fountain and Carfax Bandstand, have been moved.

Horsham remained a prominent brewery town until 2000, when the King and Barnes Brewery was closed on merger with Hall & Woodhouse, brewers of Dorset. King & Barnes was formed in 1906 from the merger of King & Sons, maltsters existing from 1850 and G H Barnes & Co., brewers whose origins date back to 1800. The brewery remained in the King family hands until the merger in 2000 when production ceased permanently. Their most famous brews included: Sussex Ale, Wealden Ale, Broadwood, Festive and the seasonal Old and Christmas Ales. The last member of the King family involved in the company still brews in Horsham as W J King & Co (Brewers) and supplies real ales to local pubs. There are two other small brewers currently operating in Horsham: Hepworth's is run by a former head brewer at King & Barnes, and Welton's, a company who were formed in Capel, Surrey, about fifteen years ago, and have been in Horsham since 2004.

The town has grown steadily over recent years to a population of over 50,000. This has been facilitated by the completion of both an inner and outer town bypass. The location of any new growth is the subject of intense debate. Certainly, the town will fight hard to retain the 'strategic housing gap' between itself and its large neighbour Crawley. However, the latest plans by the District Council include a large neighbourhood directly adjacent to Crawley, potentially eating into that gap.

The last man to die of pressing in the whole of England was John Weekes of Horsham. He was charged with robbery and murder of a woman along with three accomplices, one of whom was a small boy used to sneak inside the woman's house and open access for the other three. When police found stolen property in the possession of the men, they easily persuaded the boy into turning King's evidence. Two of the other accomplices were convicted, but when John Weekes had his turn to plead, he refused to say anything. Once the judges brought in eight witnesses who swore Weekes could talk and was not dumb, they gave him time in the cells. When he refused further to say a single word, the judges were forced to find him not guilty of murder. Instead, he was convicted of 'standing mute through malice'. Weekes was placed under three hundredweight boards, and the sixteen stone gaoler jumped on top of him. Local folklore continues the story, extending it to include the death of his executioner days later, sometimes in the same spot where the execution was carried out. Some think that he was a mute.

Public executions generally took place at a place called North Heath, now a suburb of Horsham. The road to the execution site was known for many years as Gibbet's Road but was later renamed Giblet's Road with an extension now called Giblet's Way. The last man to be put to death for homosexuality in England was in Horsham in 1834.