Hidden Horsham - Jury Cramp

Jury Cramp's Shop

Jury Cramp was a well known figure at the turn of the 20th century. A diminutive trader with strong views on the consumption of alcohol and a leader in the temperance movement

His jewellers was located at No 4 West Street, Horsham on the site now occupied by another jeweller, H Samuel between the Edinburgh Woolen Mill and Starbucks

Having learned his trade in Clerkenwell, Jury Cramp set up his first shop in Market Square in 1872. From here he relocated to Middle Street before moving to West Street in 1878. Signage on the shop front advertised that the jewellers were also watchmakers, silversmiths and opticians

Clerkenwell is remembered in the name of the building still visible behind the mount for H Samuel's clock. The shop finally closed in 1986 after which his trade mark shop front giant spectacles were removed to Horsham Museum, together with the shop signs shown below. The shopfront was also renewed at this time. Horsham's longest serving opticians are now Dixey CB Opticians just a few hundred yards away

Behind the clock mount is another engraved stone bearing the letters 'J.C.', presumably a reference to Jury Cramp. It is followed by a date, believed to be 1878, and the letters 'A.D.'.

Shop Sign

Shop Sign

John Wakefield, founder of the Wakefield groups of shops in Horsham, was a one-time employee of Jury Cramp

Around the beginning of the 20^th Jury Cramp also owned the Temperance hotel just around the corner at 10 Market Square, now the Aga shop

The clock was the subject of concern in the town in February 2008 when a planning application was made to remove the clock in order to update the shop frontage. Samuels subsequently denied that they planned to remove the clock and in remains in place at the time of this update, May 2008. West Sussex County Times picked up the story and reported it on their website, see external links below

The photos below include Jury Cramp's Jewellers in 1898 and 1965 respectively. In the second photo the spectacles are clearly visible in the centre of the picture

Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.

Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.

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