Hidden Horsham - Inside the Town Hall

The Town Hall Committee Room

On Saturday the 20^th of September the Town Hall in Market Square was opened to the public. Whilst the main hall downstairs is frequently open for markets, exhibitions and the like the other areas are more restricted. The Register Office is open for its normal business purposes and the Marriage Room can be booked. The committee room is directly above the area used for markets and is therefore the same size, it is in normally out of bounds

Tours of the room were led by Councillor Christine Costin who was able to give some history of the room's usage. In addition to what is available the Hidden Horsham's feature information was given that the building is haunted by the ghost of Dan Roberts (1737-1831), the town crier well known for his large nose. It is said that he was concerned for the wellbeing of the building and it was rebuilt in 1812 though his influence on that has not been determined Roberts is graphically described by Henry Burstow, see external links below

Access to the cells in the basement was not allowed because of the storage of theatrical equipment. The cells are in two set of three on opposite sides for male and female inmates. Access to the towers at the front of the building was denied on health and safety grounds although the specifics of the reason was not given. Amusingly all of those on the tour were advised not to ascend the stairs if any medical condition suggested that they shouldn't

The staircase is has impressive baluster castings that go up and around as the stairs turn through 180^o. At the top of the stairs is the notice listing the town council chairmen between the years of 1974 and 1987. The landing leads to the marriage room and the committee room which have doors facing each other

The committee room is currently unused although is in good condition. At the opposite end to the door and backing onto Market Square is a elevated stage running the full width of the room. In each corner is a door to the turrets. It is not clear what is behind these doors, perhaps a spiral staircase or ladder. A third door, to the right as you enter the room, leads to a service staircase which emerges near to the downstairs kitchen

Although the cells and their corridor were not accessible the staircase was in place. The route that inmates would have been taken down is shown in the photographs. There was also a suggestion that a tunnel was once in place between the Town Hall and the East Street prison site although no evidence was put forward. However, during the recent refurbishments of Scott & Seargant, now the Steamer Trading Cookshop, a tunnel was discovered running parrallel with East Street and this would be in the correct location

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