NEWS RELEASES
Horsham Celebrates Sussex Day
30th May 2007
It is Thursday 16 June 2107 and the Curator of Horsham Museum has decided to hold an exhibition marking the centenary of Sussex Day, that day when the County of Sussex promotes itself as being different, of taking away from Yorkshire that epithet of being “Heaven on Earth.” Going through all the newspaper cuttings and files, souvenirs and celebratory memorabilia, the story of how Horsham celebrated the very first Sussex Day was revealed.
The Curator of 2107 discovered that on that day, Saturday 16 June 2007, Horsham Museum held a Free Sussex Day trail where visitors to the museum could discover things that made Sussex special, from its local marble through to its notable characters; where visitors could look at Sussex’s greatest adopted son Hillaire Belloc’s original manuscript history of the County; as well as see works inspired by the County’s greatest poet, Percy Shelley. The museum in 2007 went out of its way to reveal what a special place Sussex was and how rich its history and landscape is. Being Horsham though the trail concentrated on the town and District’s contribution to Sussex with some unusual and quirky facts, such as Horsham was the first place in the County to have traffic signs.
The files also revealed that after a very cold and wet Whit bank holiday weekend the public were encouraged to visit the Horsham District heritage sites, those places that were distinctive and notable—from the hammer ponds in St. Leonard’s forest to Parham House, the birth place of the Pippin apple; from Southwater to see the iguanodon dinosaur, to Steyning the great Saxon settlement born in the early days when the area was full of South Saxons.
The research also showed visitors were encouraged to come that day to the Museum to take advantage of special reductions on books on local history and heritage as well as postcards that portrayed the county. Some people argued that this was just a marketing ploy and had no real meaning, but the truth was in the “Sussex pudding,” as the people of Sussex took on board the simple meaning of the day, to take pleasure and pride in Sussex.
The Curator also found that the local press of the day were interested in the story and the events of Sussex Day but wanted a local angle, after all 16th June was St. Richard’s Day, a Sussex saint who was bishop of Chichester. But Chichester wasn’t Horsham. However betwixt Small Dole and Henfield lies the ruin of Steatham Manor, a Bishop’s Palace and one time home of Saint Richard who died in 1253, whilst Amberley was a hunting lodge owned by the Bishops of Chichester and thus by St. Richard.
So the Curator decided in 2107 to replicate the offers of Sussex Day 2007: the free Horsham Museum’s Sussex day trail, the discount on history books, the postcard specials as well as promotion of the then District heritage trail, hoping as no doubt the museum staff did 100 years ago, that people would flock to the museum and mark this special day.
For further information please contact Jeremy Knight, Curator.
Horsham Museum
9 Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1HE
Tel: (01403) 254959 Fax: (01403) 282594
Email: museum@horsham.gov.uk
http://www.horshammuseum.org/