Horsham

Horsham is a market town and district in West Sussex, England.

History and Development

The first mention of Horsham was in a land charter of AD 947.

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Horsham is mentioned indirectly in the Domesday Book (although this is sometimes debated among historians) adjacent manorial lands and surrounding holdings are also mentioned. Horsham had two weekly markets in the middle ages, and was noted locally for its annual fairs.

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Despite a local iron industry which stayed until the seventeenth century, and a prosperous brewing industry, Horsham remained primarily agricultural until the early 20th century, when other industry began to proliferate.

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The town has grown steadily over recent years to a population of over 30,000. 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.

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Famous residents

Percy Bysshe Shelley was born at Field Place, west of Horsham, near Broadbridge Heath, and is commemorated by the Shelley Fountain, a large and intriguing fountain in the shape of a globe, in the town centre.

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Tim Slade - co-founder of active wear and outdoor clothing fashion label Fat Face, Robin Goodridge - drummer in rock band Bush, Jamie Hewlett - artist/cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Tank Girl (made into Hollywood movie in 1995) and co-creator of the band Gorillaz, and Rob Leggatt, creative Director at Blue Source (he was nominated for a Grammy in 2003) all attended Tanbridge House School in the town in the early 1980s.

Related Topics:
Robin Goodridge - Jamie Hewlett

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Harry Enfield attended Collyers sixth form college, as did

Related Topics:
Harry Enfield - Sixth form

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Simon Nye, writer of Men Behaving Badly, when it was still a Grammar School.

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Respected painter, naturalist and author John G. Millais, son of the famous Pre-raphaelite painter lived in Horsham in the 1900s.

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