Horsham Drill Hall
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The History of Horsham Drill Hall
Horsham Drill Hall opened on 10 December 1927 as both a home for the local volunteer Battalion of the 4th Royal Sussex Regiment, serving as a military headquarters for ‘proper training of territorials’, and as a social centre for the town. There was a miniature firing range, baths and other recreational facilities. The Hall was seen as a focal point to keep the Territorials ‘more closely together and inculcate in them the spirit of comradeship and esprit de corps.’
The Hall was designed by Lt Col G R B Godman who also designed the town’s war memorial. It continued playing host to a varied programme of military, social and sporting events including, in the summer of 1928, to the Association Of Sussex Artists exhibition which, with a few breaks, has continued here ever since.
The opening of the Drill Hall, with the largest wooden sprung dance floor in Sussex at that time, gave a large boost to dancing in Horsham. The hall and its superior floor attracted events by large Sussex organisations as well as local clubs and societies. It provided a welcome venue for a growing number of bands and orchestras, as the account from the County Times relates:
‘. . . the Crawley and Horsham Hunt Ball was a remarkable success. There was an attendance of nearly seven hundred and many folk who wished to take part in what is easily the largest social function of the season in this part of the county were unable to obtain tickets.’
The account went on to describe the Drill Hall as follows:
‘The spacious and magnificent ball-room in itself requiring little adornment, was tastefully decorated with large hanging baskets of red carnations and foliage down the centre, whilst the platform represented a grove of palms, enhanced with foliage and white chrysanthemums. Southwick’s band rendered the music.’
Events were hosted across the social spectrum, from the Crawley & Horsham Hunt Ball to the weekly dances where, on closing, the entertainment would move from the dance floor to the street outside for the regular fights!
The Hall was also popular for political meetings, the most notorious of which involved the British fascist leader Oswald Mosley in the 1930s.
Horsham Drill Hall continued to be used by both military and social functions until the 1960s.
With the disbandment of the Regiment and its replacement by the Territorial Army the building began to be used less and in 2001 the site was declared redundant in a Ministry of Defence re-organisation. It was bought by Horsham District Council in part to use as a stop gap whilst the Arts Centre was refurbished to become The Capitol Theatre.
Part of the site was sold to West Sussex County Council to provide a care home and the former Quarter Master's store was developed as a rehearsal and recording studio which is now a successful space for local musicians, QM Studios.
