The West Sussex town of Horsham, lying on the River Arun in the Weald,
has given its name to the famous Horsham stone, a sandstone quarried
locally and used since the Middle Ages for roof tiles and paving slabs.
The area was known for its fossils in Victorian times and rival
collectors of the day made important discoveries in and around Horsham,
including three iguanodons. St Leonard's Forest on the edge of Horsham
has also shaped the town, with iron smelting taking place there from
Roman times, as well as charcoal and brick making. In this book author
Maggie Weir-Wilson reveals the hidden history of Horsham. Unsavoury
tasks such as public hangings were banished to the common on the edge of
town, along with leather tanning, while the town centre was the home of
several weekly markets and annual fairs. A dragon was reported to be
stalking the area in 1614 and is now a symbol of the town. The area was
also the home of the young Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife, as
well as William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, and the radical poet
Percy Bysshe Shelley. There are tales of ghastly crimes and punishment,
the impact of wars at home and abroad, famous and notorious characters,
writers and artists, poverty, industry, wealth and more in Secret
Horsham as the author explores the little-known history of this West
Sussex town.
