Hidden Horsham - Horsham in 2008

Horsham in 2008 The King & Barnes retail shop (now closed) alongside new offices

Horsham's architectural mix has many buildings saved from the past but it is not afraid to look to the future and adopt modern building styles. A number of new concrete, steel and glass structures have gone up over the last ten years in sharp contrast to the predominance of Victorian architecture in the town. New buildings have also been erected that are sympathetic to the neighbouring buildings; borrowing their designs for influence. Old buildings have been retained and converted for modern use, sometimes controversially, for example the Town Hall

In wedding terms this might be described as 'something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue' and this sums up this four page feature

The old buildings of Horsham are scattered around this site, perhaps best indexed from the gallery pages or the site map index of listed buildings

This feature concentrates on the changes that have happened over the last ten years. Visitors to this site who have not been back to Horsham, perhaps since childhood, can look at the photos here and see that, in general, the town is doing a good job in maintaining the high standard of care that is expected of it. A few buildings have slipped through the net and appear out of place in the town but these are few and far between. In many respects these 'bad' buildings serve to illustrate what happens when the town, on rare occasions, gets it wrong

Hills Farm Lane the new development

In this context The Horsham Society, see external links below, established itself more than 50 years ago to look after the town's 'past, present and future' and is active in many spheres when Horsham contemplates change. Its stated purpose is to 'watch over the interests of the town, to guard its heritage, to promote good planning and design and to speak up when it believes decisions detrimental to Horsham are being considered'

Whilst not always agreeing with all of the Horsham Society's views, Hidden Horsham does actively support its good work. The society provides a focus for the campaign to maintain the cultural history of the town by lobbying the council directly and through the West Sussex County Times

In recent years the town centre has been well supported by Visit Horsham, a comprehensive web site featuring every retail and service outlet. The town can be searched by map, street name, zone or trade sector. It integrates well with the community by linking out to associated sites. See external links below

The first look at Horsham's evolution over the last ten years considers the new developments featuring glass, concrete and steel, not to mention some plastic!

Contributions, comments and suggestions are welcomed. Please use the contact page to let us know your thoughts. More information on the images is always welcomed