ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <title>Ian Nairn - Hidden Horsham</title> <meta name="keywords" content="Ian Nairn, Hidden Horsham, Francis Frith, Horsham photos"> <meta name="description" content="Ian Nairn. Photos on Hidden Horsham reveal architectural and structural detail that the eye normally misses."> <link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.hiddenhorsham.co.uk/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="Stylesheet" href="/styles/style.css" type="text/css"> </HEAD> <BODY> <A NAME="TOP"></A> <TABLE class="wideness"><TR><TD> <A HREF="/index.htm"> <IMG SRC="/images/topbanner.jpg" alt="click to go to the Hidden Horsham home page" border=0> </A> </TD> </TR> <TR><TD><iframe class=head scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="/menu/menuhh.htm"></iframe></TD></TR> <TR> <TD> <TABLE ALIGN="right" border=0> <TR> <TD class=strip></TD> <TD VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="122"> <IFRAME class=menu SCROLLING="no" FRAMEBORDER="0" MARGINHEIGHT="0" MARGINWIDTH="0" SRC="/menu/menu.htm"></IFRAME> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <H2>Hidden Horsham - Ian Nairn</H2> <H3>The Buildings of England - Sussex</H3> <TABLE class=thumbs align=left><TR><TD> <A HREF="/images/hh/full/66.jpg" target="_blank"> <IMG class=edge SRC="/images/hh/page/66.jpg" alt="Hidden Horsham, Horsham Station's 'really horrible front'" width=295 height=130 border=0 align=left></A></TD> </TR> <TR><TD><P class=c> <A HREF="/66/railway.htm">Horsham Railway Station's</A> 'really horrible front'</P> </TD></TR> </TABLE> <P>Ian Nairn co-wrote <B>The Buildings of England - Sussex</B> with Nikolaus Pevsner. Only four pages were written about Horsham and the nearest relevant photo is that of Christs Hospital Railway Station</P> <P>The book was published in 1965 and so represents a bygone Horsham when St Mark's Church still overlooked the Carfax and traffic still coursed through the centre of the town. Perhaps sharing a view with many Horsham residents Nairn expressed views supporting the bypassing of the town and replacing on street parking with a multi-storey car park</P> <TABLE CLASS=nairn WIDTH=200 ALIGN="RIGHT"> <TR><TD><P><B>Carfax</B><BR> 'Mostly a depressing jumble of buildings...'</P> </TD></TR></TABLE> <P>Nairn's often barbed but cruelly accurate descriptions of Horsham have been added to this site to give an independent view of times gone by, see internal links below and the boxouts on this feature. Nairn's comments are often positive and these too are referenced. His summary of the town opens with 'An exasperating, traffic-laden, half-realized town'. Nairn died in 1983 at which time the town would not have changed except for the A24 bypass. But, had he been alive when this feature was written (Oct 2008), Nairn would have seen the improvements that he requested, perhaps even initiated in the sub-conscious, of those who influenced, steered and otherwise enabled Horsham's town centre redevelopment</P> <TABLE CLASS=nairn WIDTH=200 ALIGN="LEFT"> <TR><TD><P><B>St Mark's Church</B><BR> 'The transition from tower to spire is pure fun...it is a relief....to come across something so unaffectedly of its time without any worries about what the <I>Ecclesioligist</I> might say'</P> </TD></TR></TABLE> <P>Traffic no longer locks up the town centre, discouraged by speed restrictions and encouraged to use the inner ring road. In addition to the multi-storey car parks (two, not one) there is the <TABLE CLASS=nairn WIDTH=200 ALIGN="RIGHT"> <TR><TD><P><B>Causeway</B><BR> 'As an anthology of cosy Wealden buildings it would be hard to beat'</P> </TD></TR></TABLE> park and ride. Perhaps now the town has been fully 'realized'. Coincidently, the story of the realization has been recorded in A Journey Through Horsham's Changes by the late John Buchanan and Dr Annabelle Hughes, see external links below</P> <P>In the short piece on Horsham Nairn reports that one of Horsham's best features is the amount of 'worth-while open space in and around the town' but then describes the Carfax as 'disjointed and gap-toothed'. A recent <A HREF="/68/2008a.htm">four page feature</A> commenting on Horsham's architecture in the context of 2008 appears on this site</P> <TABLE CLASS=nairn><TR><TD><P> <B><A HREF="/35/townhall.htm">Town Hall</A></B><BR>'Central crowstepped gable, octagonal corner turrets, three panels containing well-carved arms (a judicious each-way bet; Royal, Duke of Norfolk's, Civic). On the ground floor arcading whose genesis was the neo-classical design of someone like Mylne but which has gone Norman for novelty's sake'</P> </TD></TR></TABLE> <BR> <TABLE CLASS=nairn><TR><TD><P> <B><A HREF="/18/parkhouse.htm">Park House</A></B><BR> 'This has a blunt take-it-or-leave-it East front, Wren style, locally done. Nine bays, central pediment, central door-case just as Wren used at Winslow, Bucks, banded rustication, not quoins, and segment-headed windows, dour concessions to the English Baroque'</P> </TD></TR></TABLE> <BR> <TABLE CLASS=nairn><TR><TD><P> <B><A HREF="/46/brunswickplace.htm">Brunswick Place</A></B><BR> 'Stepped uphill, an effect which the designer chose to ignore when he equipped it with pilasters. The effects are extraordinary, with no two houses the same. They culminate in No. 55, where a pilaster sits firmly on the lintel of a doorcase which has for jambs Doric half-columns with a pronounced taper. Was this man a joke, or one for whom nothing would ever come right?'</P> </TD></TR></TABLE> <BR> <TABLE CLASS=nairn><TR><TD><P> <B><A HREF="/81/hewellsmanor.htm">The Manor of Hewells</A></B><BR> '..the MANOR HOUSE, a design of 1704 by <I>Nathaniel Tredgold</I> as blank as the other Georgian houses in Horsham. Seven bays, three storeys, a pediment and quoins. Nice stables on the garden side'</P> </TD></TR></TABLE> <BR> <TABLE CLASS=nairn><TR><TD><P> <B><A HREF="/90/collyers.htm">Collyers School</A></B><BR> 'Further along COLLYERS SCHOOL, founded in 1532, moved here from Denne Road in 1892. Neither the C19 buildings (<I>Arthur Vernon</I>)' nor the 1961 additions (<I>Godman & Kay</I>) are much fun.</P> </TD></TR></TABLE> <BR> <TABLE BORDER=0 width=610 class=info > <TR><TD><P>Internal Links:</P> <P><A HREF="/35/townhall.htm"> Town Hall</A></P> <P><A HREF="/18/parkhouse.htm"> Park House</A></P> <P><A HREF="/66/railway.htm">Horsham Railway Station</A></P> <P><A HREF="/46/brunswickplace.htm"> Brunswick Place</A></P> <P><A HREF="/81/hewellsmanor.htm"> Manor of Hewells</A></P> <P><A HREF="/90/collyers.htm"> Collyers School</A></P> </TD></TR> </TABLE> <BR> <TABLE BORDER=0 width=610 class=info > <TR><TD><P>External Links:</P> <P>Wiki:<A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Nairn" target="_blank"> Ian Nairn</A></P> <P>The Horsham Society:<A HREF="http://www.horshamsociety.org/changes.htm" target="_blank"> A Journey Through Horsham's Changes</A></P> </TD></TR> </TABLE> <H3><A HREF="/87/creditcrunch.htm" class=opac><IMG SRC="/images/back.gif" alt="click for the previous image" border=0></A><A HREF="/89/horshamlibrary.htm" class=opac><IMG SRC="/images/fwd.gif" alt="click for the next image" border=0></A></H3> <HR> <P>Contributions, comments and suggestions are welcomed. 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