Horsham: Economic history

ECONOMIC HISTORY.

Agriculture.

In Saxon and medieval times, as noted above, much of the parish was detached swine pasture for manors in the south of the county. (fn. 1) Seasonal pannage was perhaps still taken in the mid 13th century, when tithes of pannage were mentioned at Crockhurst. (fn. 2)

As such seasonal settlements became permanent, each acquired its own arable land. By the mid 14th century, for instance, Nutham manor had 150 a. of demesne arable, described as unproductive, (fn. 3) and by the end of the century Coltstaple manor had 180 a. (fn. 4) Assarting for arable was recorded in the 13th century at Crockhurst (fn. 5) and Marlpost, (fn. 6) both in the south of the parish. Shaws, or belts of woodland surrounding closes, which survived in many parts of the parish in 1982, may sometimes represent the original woodland from which medieval assarts were made. Medieval assarting is also reflected in the many 'clearing' names in the parish, of which Shortsfield is an example. (fn. 7) Further, some modern farms named from surnames recorded in the parish in the 13th and 14th centuries may themselves have existed by that period; examples are Curtis's, Bulls, Kings, Pilfolds, Griggs, and Benhams farms. (fn. 8) Benhams farm apparently indicates the cultivation of beans at some earlier date; (fn. 9) other crops mentioned in the Middle Ages were wheat and oats. (fn. 10)

Common fields are not certainly known to have existed in the parish, but may be indicated by some medieval references. Land apparently lying in a field called Westfield was the subject of a grant by William at Denne in 1331, (fn. 11) and land in Broadfield 'at the windmill' was mentioned as held of Tarring Marlpost manor in 1427. (fn. 12) There is a reference of 1315 to 2 a. in a field called the Tyghe at Roffey, (fn. 13) and another of 1336 to a field called the Hill. (fn. 14) Closes called Northfield and Streetfield recorded in the later 14th century and in 1813 respectively may once have been common fields. (fn. 15) Common pasture rights were mentioned at Marlpost c. 1285, when they could be exercised all year round except at the season of pannage, or 'danger'. (fn. 16) There was waste land belonging to Marlpost manor in Bishopric and at Tower Hill in later times. (fn. 17) An estate which seems to have been the Nutham manor demesne farm had pasture for 100 sheep in 1347, (fn. 18) but where is unknown. There was presumably common pasture, as later, on Broadbridge Heath in the west of the parish, which is apparently recorded from the late 13th century, (fn. 19) and on Horsham common, north and east of the town, mentioned from 1305-6. (fn. 20)

Besides the demesne lands of Nutham and Coltstaple mentioned above, there were 163 a. of demesne land at Crockhurst in 1254 (fn. 21) and 80 a. of demesne arable at Chesworth in 1326. (fn. 22) About 1400 the Chesworth demesne appears to have been managed jointly with that of Wiston; (fn. 23) in 1427, however, it was being farmed. (fn. 24)

Tenants are recorded in the Middle Ages of most of the manors which then existed in the parish. Several small holdings of Sele priory at Crockhurst were recorded in the mid 13th century, (fn. 25) there were tenants of Rusper priory, presumably of the rectory estate, in 1375, (fn. 26) and at least 7 free and bond tenants held land of what was apparently Nutham manor in 1347. (fn. 27) Fixed rents of Chesworth (fn. 28) and Coltstaple (fn. 29) were also mentioned in the 14th century. Marlpost manor had at least 25 tenants in 1426; (fn. 30) Needles farm near Horsham town was held of it in 1487. (fn. 31) The free and copyhold tenements of Shortsfield recorded in the 15th century included Langhurst farm in the north of the parish. (fn. 32) Some tenants held land of more than one manor: two brothers in 1278, for instance, held lands jointly or severally of three lords, (fn. 33) and Walter Burgess of Horsham town c. 1325 held lands in the parish from Fécamp abbey, William de Braose, and John Covert. (fn. 34)

Only at Marlpost is anything known in detail about medieval conditions of tenure. About 1285 the c. 25 tenants there, both free and customary, held their lands at money rents, paying heriots and, in the case of customary tenants, hens at Christmas and Easter. Though some labour services had been commuted others were then still owed: some tenants, for instance, had to carry firewood from Marlpost to West Tarring when the lord himself came there. Ploughshares and horseshoes could be rented by tenants from the lord. (fn. 35) At Shortsfield the tenants of Steyning manor had commuted some or all of their services by 1338. (fn. 36) In 1476, however, Richard Farnfold, possibly as lessee of the Shortsfield estate, was attempting to treat as serfs tenants who claimed to be free. (fn. 37) At the end of the 15th century tenants of both Marlpost and Shortsfield could let their holdings. (fn. 38)

Between the 16th and 18th centuries much land continued to be held freehold or copyhold of manors within the parish. South of the town lay tenements of Chesworth, Denne, Marlpost, Nutham, and Hewells manors. Chesworth had 52 freeholds in Horsham parish in 1608; (fn. 39) tenements held of it in 1650 included Jackrells farm near Southwater. (fn. 40) Despite engrossing or enfranchisement there were still many tenements of the manor in the parish c. 1780. (fn. 41) There were also freeholds of Denne manor in 1650 (fn. 42) and later. (fn. 43) Marlpost manor had 16 freeholds in Horsham in 1659, besides 22 copyholds; several were over 40 a. in area. (fn. 44) The custom of freebench obtained on copyholds there in 1503, (fn. 45) and copyholds descended by borough English in the later 16th century. (fn. 46) About half the c. 20-25 tenements of Nutham recorded in the 18th century lay in Horsham parish; (fn. 47) similarly, 34 of the 42 freeholds of Hewells manor recorded in 1734 lay in Horsham. (fn. 48)

Shortsfield manor west of the town had both free and copyhold lands in Horsham and elsewhere in the 16th and 17th centuries, including Griggs farm near Southwater and Coolhurst south-east of the town. (fn. 49) Despite engrossing, evidenced in 1646, (fn. 50) there remained roughly the same number of tenements in 1776; only a quarter, however, lay in Horsham parish. (fn. 51) North-east of the town much land was held of Roffey manor, which was said in 1615 to have both free and copyhold tenements, (fn. 52) though only freeholds were mentioned later. About 1700 there were 57, (fn. 53) but by 1783 there were 64, which mostly lay in Horsham parish. (fn. 54) The neighbouring Hawksbourne manor also still had tenants in the 18th century. (fn. 55) No tenants of Coltstaple were mentioned after 1500, and neither Hills manor nor Stammerham is ever recorded as having tenants. Manors outside the parish which had tenements within it in the 18th century were Washington, (fn. 56) Denne in Warnham, (fn. 57) Knepp in Shipley, (fn. 58) and Magdalen College, Oxford's manor of Sele or Sela in Upper Beeding, whose tenements in 1789 included the Cock inn at Southwater. (fn. 59)

As free and copyhold tenements were engrossed, the demesnes of the various manors increased in size. Marlpost farm, for instance, had 109 a. c. 1650; (fn. 60) at the same date the Chesworth manor demesnes included 10 farms of up to 63 a. in size. (fn. 61) The Roffey manor estate comprised Newhouse, Wimland, and Hurst farms, besides several others, in 1750, (fn. 62) while the estates of Edward Tredcroft of Hewells included Hawksbourne farm and at least four other farms in 1762. (fn. 63) Easteds farm, the Nutham manor demesne farm, had 130 a. in 1714. (fn. 64) Demesnes were often let, for instance at Hewells between 1539 and 1608, (fn. 65) at Coltstaple (fn. 66) and Chesworth in the mid 17th century, (fn. 67) and at Chesworth in 1780. (fn. 68) Parcels of the Roffey demesnes, including Wimland farm, were leased in 1579 for periods of between 10 and 21 years. (fn. 69) Other farms too were often leased, for instance Benhams farm for 21 years in 1599, Langhurst farm for 21 years in 1609, and Coolhurst in 1642. (fn. 70) Farms leased in the later 18th century included North Heath (fn. 71) and Bulls farms (fn. 72) and part of Nutham farm, the last named for 14 years in 1774. (fn. 73) Other farms recorded before 1800 which survived until the 19th or 20th centuries were Pondtail, Parthings, and Whitesbridge farms, (fn. 74) and Blakes farm at Southwater. (fn. 75)

Sheep farming was practised in the parish in 1556, when a shepherd was recorded, (fn. 76) and in the 1720s one farmer, possibly at Stammerham, had c. 70 ewes. (fn. 77) Wheat, oats, and barley were grown in the 17th century, as well as peas (fn. 78) and possibly some hemp and flax. (fn. 79) In the 18th century farming seems to have been predominantly pastoral. More oats than wheat were grown in the 1740s (fn. 80) and in 1801. (fn. 81) Fodder crops were often mentioned too: peas in the 1740s, (fn. 82) turnips and clover seeds at Chesworth farm in 1780, (fn. 83) and potatoes grown as horse fodder on the Denne estate in the late 18th century. (fn. 84) One parishioner was described as a haymaker in 1750. (fn. 85) In 1801 over 1,500 sheep were recorded in the parish, 857 cattle, and nearly 1,200 pigs, a large number. (fn. 86) Barley was mentioned in the 1740s, (fn. 87) but only 44 a. were listed in 1801 despite the existence of two breweries in the town. (fn. 88) In the late 18th century yields of both wheat and barley were said to be much lower than on the downs. (fn. 89)

One other crop often mentioned in the 17th and earlier 18th centuries was hops. Two or three hopgrowers are recorded between 1640 and 1653, one of whom had a hop garden apparently in the town. (fn. 90) Fruit was also being grown in 1717. (fn. 91)

Common pasture rights were important in the parish between the 16th and 18th centuries. Broadbridge Heath in the west part provided pasture for tenants of Broadbridge manor in Sullington and Drungewick in Wisborough Green. (fn. 92) The chief commonable area, however, was Horsham common north and east of the town, of c. 750 a., (fn. 93) where pasture rights belonged to the burgesses of Horsham borough, (fn. 94) and to tenants of Roffey, (fn. 95) Hawksbourne, (fn. 96) Marlpost, and Shortsfield manors. (fn. 97) Waste land belonging to Denne manor in Warnham was mentioned as adjacent to Horsham common in 1798. (fn. 98)

The common had been subject to encroachment at least since the 17th century, both for economic exploitation and for settlement. (fn. 99) During the 18th century the practice became very much more widespread, (fn. 100) the land taken out being leased to the squatters by the duke of Norfolk as lord of Horsham borough, (fn. 101) often without the necessary consent of the borough corporation. (fn. 102) After 1787 efforts were made to control encroachments, at the instance of the bailiffs and burgesses of the borough and of the homage of Roffey manor. (fn. 103) Disputes over encroachment continued (fn. 104) until 1812-13, when the duke of Norfolk, having recently bought the Irwin interest in the borough, with the common rights attached, (fn. 105) engineered the common's inclosure by Act of Parliament, (fn. 106) partly in order to consolidate further his electoral interest. (fn. 107) Surviving roadside waste, for instance at Roffey, was dealt with under the same Act, besides the common proper. Older encroachments were ratified, but those made during the previous 20 years were disallowed. (fn. 108) The area to be allotted was divided between Horsham borough and three of the four manors whose tenants had pasture rights there, Roffey, Hawksbourne, and Marlpost; over two thirds of the land went to the borough, to be allotted in proportion to burgage rents paid, (fn. 109) and between a fifth and a quarter to Roffey manor. Excluding land sold to pay costs, the duke of Norfolk received 486 a., the largest allotment (333 a. as burgage-owner, and the rest as lord of the borough and for his rights in the three other manors), Robert Hurst of Horsham Park 68 a., including 45 a. as impropriator, and Sir Henry Fletcher 47 a., while the remainder (63 a.) was divided between the 52 other commoners. (fn. 110) The two borough bailiffs claimed extra allotments in right of their office but were refused. (fn. 111) Half an acre at Roffey was allotted as a stone and gravel pit for road repair. (fn. 112)

The inclosure came under the censure in 1823 of Cobbett, who complained that the land had been spoiled and disfigured, and 'the labourers all driven from its skirts'. (fn. 113) Some recompense was provided by the foundation in 1837, supported by subscriptions, of a branch of the national Labourers' Friend Society, which aimed to rent allotments to the poor. About 1844 there were allotments in three areas, east, north-east, and north of the town, rented from three landlords. The branch still existed in 1854. (fn. 114) There were still allotments east of the town in the 1870s. (fn. 115)

The common rights of Shortsfield manor on the common had been intended to be commuted under the Act of 1812, but the lord of the manor declined the option. (fn. 116) About 20 a. of land at Trafalgar Road west of North Parade therefore remained uninclosed until at least 1844; (fn. 117) it was afterwards inclosed privately and built over, and in 1982 the common was represented only by a small piece of land by the Dog and Bacon inn in North Parade. The greater part (32 a.) of Broadbridge Heath, meanwhile, was inclosed in 1858. Matthew Stanford, lord of Broadbridge manor in Sullington, received 10 a., and 2½ a. were allotted as a recreation ground for the parishioners of Horsham, Warnham, and Sullington detached, the remainder being divided between the lord of Drungewick manor in Wisborough Green and the surviving commoners, tenants of Broadbridge and Drungewick. (fn. 118)

Most of the manors in the parish continued to have free or copyhold tenants in the 19th century, and some in the 20th, for instance Roffey; which still had 60 tenants, some of urban property, in 1911. (fn. 119) There were also still tenements of Knepp manor in Shipley, (fn. 120) Denne manor in Warnham, (fn. 121) and Sele or Sela manor in Upper Beeding in the parish in the 19th century. (fn. 122)

By the earlier part of the century, however, landholding in the parish was dominated by five great estates divided into leased farms. One was the Tredcroft estate, including Hawksbourne and Hewells farms. (fn. 123) The Norfolk estate, chiefly at Roffey, comprised over 1,000 a. in the parish, including five farms over 100 a. in size, in 1813. (fn. 124) The Denne estate south of the town included Chesworth farm of 325 a. and four other farms of over 100 a. c. 1821. (fn. 125) In the south-west the Fletcher estates included Southwater Place farm of 154 a., leased for 12 years, and at least four other leased farms of between 56 a. and 141 a. (fn. 126) The Hurst estates both north and south of the town included seven farms in the 1820s, of which the largest were Parsonage and Park farms, of c. 300 a. and 145 a. respectively. (fn. 127) Those five large estates, together with the Shelley family's estate west and south-west of the town, continued to dominate c. 1844, when there were 70 farms over 50 a. in area. The Hurst estate then included Park, Pond, Parsonage, Comptons Brow, Moated House, and Pilfolds farms, all over 100 a. On the Denne estate were Chesworth farm of 282 a., and Easteds, Blakes, Coltstaple, and other farms over 100 a. The Norfolk estate at Roffey at the same date comprised four farms over 150 a., and the Tredcroft estate had two farms over 200 a. and two more over 100 a. The Fletcher estate had four farms over 100 a. in area, and the Shelley estate three. As before, most farms were leased, though the chief landowners were nearly all resident; farmers generally held only one farm. (fn. 128) Leases of 7, 14, or 21 years had been recorded in the period 1809-21, (fn. 129) but leases for a year were also common, for instance at Chesworth farm in 1849 (fn. 130) and on farms at Southwater at the same period. The Charmans, who farmed at Greathouse farm in Southwater from 1825, were still there in 1982. (fn. 131)

By 1861 much of the north part of the parish had come to be a solid block of land belonging to the Hurst estate. (fn. 132) Henry Michell the brewer occupied 300 a. in 1867. At the same date it was noted that some labourers had to travel three or four miles to work, because of the scattered distribution of farms. (fn. 133) The parish remained under the domination of great estates until the mid 20th century. (fn. 134) In 1909 there was nearly twice as much rented as owner-occupied land; 176 holdings were then listed, three of which exceeded 300 a. (fn. 135) By 1982, however, great estates were less important, though in 1974 Christ's Hospital had had 1,200 a. of land around the school, much of it tenanted. (fn. 136) In 1975 most holdings listed were of less than 50 ha., though one was over 500 ha. (fn. 137) The expansion of the town during the 20th century engulfed some farms on its outskirts, including Spencer's and Parsonage farms on the north side and Needles farm on the south. (fn. 138)

Much farming was still backward in the earlier 19th century; of seven farms on the Hurst estate in the 1820s, for instance, only three were said to be in good condition, while another was described as ill managed, and the two largest were in need of underdraining, insecurity of tenure being an obstacle to improvement. (fn. 139) The Arundel and Bramber Agricultural Association held ploughing and stubble cutting competitions at Chesworth farm in 1841, (fn. 140) and another 'improving' society, the Horsham Agricultural Society, held Christmas exhibitions in the town c. 1866. (fn. 141)

Nonsuch and clover were grown at Stammerham farm in 1808. (fn. 142) About 1844 over half the parish was apparently arable land, and only a quarter meadow or pasture. (fn. 143) Much of the former common had become arable by 1861. (fn. 144) After the mid 19th century, however, arable steadily gave way to pasture, to supply the demand for milk from the growing urban populations of London and of nearer towns. (fn. 145) Between 1875 and 1909 the number of cattle listed increased by half, the area of permanent grassland doubling from 2,632 a. to 5,230 a. (fn. 146) Milk production was said to be the chief type of farming in the parish in 1933. (fn. 147) The largest dairying establishment in the later 19th century was at Stammerham farm, bought in 1885 by the Aylesbury Dairy Co. In 1887 various breeds of cattle were kept there, besides other livestock. The very large milking sheds built by the company survived in 1982; their scale seems to have contributed to the company's bankruptcy, which resulted in the sale of the estate in 1892 to Christ's Hospital. (fn. 148) By 1933 there were 1,418 dairy cattle on farms in the parish, milk being supplied to London, the north Surrey suburbs, and the coastal towns. (fn. 149) Meanwhile the acreage of wheat had fallen from 1,493 a. listed in 1875 to 300 a. in 1933, and that of oats from 1,040 a. to 262 a. in the same period. (fn. 150)

There had been 663 pigs in the parish in 1875, (fn. 151) and in 1933 there were said to be still very many. (fn. 152) Sheep were less popular: few had been kept at Southwater in the mid 19th century, (fn. 153) and numbers were not high in the parish in later times. In 1875 only 1,781 were listed, and in 1909 only 1,129; (fn. 154) in 1933 there were said to be very few. Beef production was also said to have declined by 1933. (fn. 155)

The growth of London and other towns also led to the development of poultry farming, fruit growing, and market gardening. Southwater had been noted for its geese in the earlier 19th century. (fn. 156) Much poultry was being reared near Horsham for the London market in 1831, (fn. 157) and geese were again mentioned c. 1837. (fn. 158) A poultry breeder and a poultry farmer were listed in 1903, (fn. 159) and 30 years later poultry farming, especially for eggs, was said to be on the increase and perhaps the most up-to-date branch of local agriculture. (fn. 160) There were 30 a. of orchards in the parish, growing especially apples, in 1909; (fn. 161) in 1934 fruit growing was said to be a minor though popular feature of agriculture south-west of the town. (fn. 162) About 1945 there were four market gardens around the town. (fn. 163)

Pastoral farming remained the chief kind in Horsham after 1945; in that year, despite the wartime expansion of arable land in the county, there were said to be no purely arable farms in the parish, nor many where arable predominated. (fn. 164) There were three dairy farms on the Denne estate in 1948. (fn. 165) In 1975, when 3,200 cattle were listed in the parish, 12 of the 74 holdings listed specialized in dairying and 3 others were mainly concerned with it; (fn. 166) in 1981 one of them, the Christ's Hospital home farm, of c. 280 a., had as its chief purpose the supply of milk to the school. (fn. 167) There was much more grassland than arable in 1975, while barley was a much more common crop than wheat. Poultry remained very important at the same date, with 50,000 head listed, chiefly for egg production, while there were also 27 ha. of horticultural crops, including hardy nursery stock. (fn. 168) In 1981 beef cattle were being raised at Amiesmill farm and at the Denne Park home farm south and south-east of the town. (fn. 169)

Mills.

The mill belonging to Rusper priory's rectory estate in 1231 (fn. 170) may have stood immediately south-west of the church, where there was a waterfall in 1982. In later times the town's chief mill, called the town mill, (fn. 171) stood a little further downstream; it seems to have succeeded to the other, since it belonged to Hewells manor, apparently an offshoot of the rectory estate. (fn. 172) It is not certain on which of the two sites was the mill mentioned in 1375 (fn. 173) or that leased from the priory by Richard Michell in 1524. (fn. 174) The mill was called Horsham mill in 1593 and 1737. (fn. 175) It was rebuilt, new machinery being installed, in 1867. The mill continued to grind until 1969, latterly by electric power, but by 1975 was derelict. It was restored in 1982 as a house. (fn. 176)

At Chesworth, upstream of the town, a mill was mentioned in 1326. (fn. 177) There is a possible site immediately south-east of Chesworth House; alternatively the mill may have been on the same site as the later Ashley's or Amies mill, ½ mile (0.8 km.) to the east. (fn. 178) Ashley's mill, recorded from 1404, (fn. 179) was rebuilt shortly before 1650 to comprise two water wheels under one roof. In that year it was held with 54 a. of land. (fn. 180) It was in good repair in 1717, (fn. 181) but no later reference to a mill on the site has been found.

Fulling mills were referred to apparently at Hornbrook south-east of the town in 1288, (fn. 182) and at Chesworth between 1427 and 1608. (fn. 183) There were other medieval mills at Crockhurst, (fn. 184) Hawksbourne, (fn. 185) and Nutham, (fn. 186) besides a windmill on Marlpost manor. (fn. 187) There was perhaps also a medieval mill at Stammerham, where a waterfall existed in 1982.

Millers were often recorded in the parish in the 16th century and later. (fn. 188) From the earlier 17th century there were windmills on the higher ground of Horsham common north and east of the town, (fn. 189) one of which the miller of Warnham mill agreed to lease in 1733. (fn. 190) In 1795 there were at least two, (fn. 191) and by 1831 four, besides another at Littlehaven. (fn. 192) One south of the Star inn in Roffey, beside the modern Comptons Lane, may have been built in 1756. (fn. 193) Another north of Crawley Road, called the new mill c. 1844 (fn. 194) and later the Star windmill, was in the hands of Weston Bros., steam millers and bakers, in 1895; (fn. 195) it was taken down soon afterwards. (fn. 196) In 1801 there were 7 wind and 2 water corn mills in the parish, (fn. 197) and in the early 1830s seven millers were listed. (fn. 198) The windmill at Cripplegate in the south of the parish existed by 1813. (fn. 199) In 1895 the miller there was also a corn and oilcake merchant, and steam was used to supplement wind power. (fn. 200) The mill was burnt down in 1914. (fn. 201)

A steam mill below the town mill at Tan Bridge was built in 1861 and sold in 1872 to W. Prewett, who also in 1874 had Warnham mill. (fn. 202) The mill was later much enlarged. (fn. 203) In 1905 the firm of W. Prewett worked a dairy farm, Spencer's farm, along with the mill, and had engineering, electrical, and motor works at the mill site. (fn. 204) In 1945 c. 42 men were employed, (fn. 205) and there were 60 in 1962. (fn. 206) The mill was powered by electricity from c. 1940; c. 1955, when the firm also worked the town mill, it exported stone-ground flour to Africa and Canada as well as all over England. The engineering works was sold in 1948 and closed in 1957. (fn. 207) In 1975 stone-ground flour was still being produced. (fn. 208) The mill was closed in 1978, (fn. 209) and converted into offices in 1983. (fn. 210) There was another steam mill by 1869 in Denne Road, which had ceased to be used by 1896, (fn. 211) a bus depot being built on the site after 1935. (fn. 212)

Markets and fairs.

William de Braose, later Lord Braose, lord of Horsham borough, was granted as a minor in 1233 the right to hold a three-day fair at the feast of the Translation of St. Thomas Becket (7 July), (fn. 213) and in 1279 he claimed the right to hold markets on Wednesday and Saturday too. (fn. 214) The borough bailiffs had an interest in the markets by 1350 when they were apparently trying to prevent Horsham being bypassed by local goods going direct to London. (fn. 215) By the later 14th century the tolls of the July fair and of the markets were being farmed by the bailiffs and burgesses, (fn. 216) as they continued to be later. (fn. 217) The borough fair and markets were evidently then held in the market place, i.e. the modern Market Square and Carfax, (fn. 218) again as later. (fn. 219) The archbishop of Canterbury was granted in 1449 the right to hold a market on Monday, and also two three-day fairs, one at the feast of St. Edmund the archbishop (16 November), and the other beginning on the Monday before Whitsun. The place of holding of the archbishop's market and fairs was described as West Street, (fn. 220) evidently the later Bishopric, which formed part of the archbishop's manor of Marlpost, (fn. 221) and where markets and fairs were held later. (fn. 222)

Of the three medieval markets only the Saturday one is recorded later. (fn. 223) Its hinterland included Slinfold and Wisborough Green in the later 16th and earlier 17th centuries, (fn. 224) and had a radius of perhaps 20 miles in 1756. (fn. 225) In 1610 the market was described as 'indifferent', (fn. 226) but in 1673 it was said to be thriving, poultry being bought by higglers in large quantities for the London market. (fn. 227) Poultry continued to be bought at Horsham for sale in London during the 18th and 19th centuries. (fn. 228) Meanwhile in 1703 the brewer John Wicker obtained evidently for the bailiffs and burgesses a grant of another market, for cattle, to be held monthly on Tuesdays; the claim made in his petition that the market would benefit London as much as Sussex shows how far Horsham had become part of the capital's hinterland. (fn. 229) The market was only rarely held in 1723 (fn. 230) and later lapsed, to be revived by the bailiffs, again for cattle, in 1790; then, and presumably before, it was held in Carfax. (fn. 231) About 1800 the market was said to be very large, (fn. 232) and it continued to be held in 1836, (fn. 233) though it is not heard of later.

In 1756 the Saturday market was in decline, owing to the activities of forestallers and regrators, (fn. 234) who had also been a problem earlier; (fn. 235) it was claimed that local farmers and butchers were sending meat directly to London and elsewhere, so that only poor meat at high prices was available at Horsham. To deal with the problem a group of prominent tradesmen undertook to buy only commodities which had first been offered in open market, and to prosecute offenders. The scheme was successful for a time, at least for small commodities including poultry, (fn. 236) but by 1800 the problem had returned. (fn. 237) By 1787, however, the turnpiking of the Horsham-Dorking road had enabled the Saturday market to attract much of Dorking's corn trade. (fn. 238)

Inns were already apparently being used as auxiliary market places in 1756. (fn. 239) In 1793 the Black Horse in West Street had granaries and other facilities for the use of the corn market, (fn. 240) and c. 1798 'corn rooms' were mentioned at the Swan, also in West Street. (fn. 241) Both the Black Horse and the Swan continued to be used for market purposes in the mid 19th century. At that period the Saturday market specialized in corn, supplying London, while a Monday market, recorded from c. 1832, specialized in poultry. A new Wednesday cattle market had meanwhile been established in Bishopric c. 1852; in 1853 it was held monthly, (fn. 242) and in 1868 fortnightly. (fn. 243) The greater popularity of the Wednesday market led to the transfer of the corn market too to Wednesdays in 1862; the agreement by which the transfer was achieved was signed by, among others, farmers from Ashurst and Pulborough, and merchants and other traders from as far afield as Brighton, Lewes, and Petworth. (fn. 244) The Saturday market afterwards lapsed. In 1866 a corn exchange of three bays and two storeys in Italianate style was built by a private company in West Street next to the Black Horse inn. (fn. 245) After it ceased to be used in the earlier 20th century it was incorporated in the inn, (fn. 246) and it was demolished with that in or after 1964. (fn. 247)

By 1882 the poultry market had moved to the Swan inn, being transferred later to the Black Horse; (fn. 248) as a result Carfax was no longer used for markets. In 1883 the local board of health acquired the markets, leasing the tolls in 1884 for £5 a year. (fn. 249) In 1883 the corn market was apparently one of the chief of its kind in Sussex. (fn. 250)

The Monday and Wednesday markets were still held in 1887, for poultry and corn respectively, cattle being sold on alternate Wednesdays. (fn. 251) Selling by auction was introduced in the later 19th century. (fn. 252) Between 1907 and 1913 the corn and stock markets were each held every other Wednesday. (fn. 253) The Monday market also survived in 1912, (fn. 254) but had ceased by c. 1921. (fn. 255) In 1913 the market was taken over by a private company, the Horsham Market Co. (fn. 256) By 1918 the corn market had been transferred from the corn exchange to a new site near the station, (fn. 257) where the cattle market from Bishopric was also moved about the same date. (fn. 258) From 1924 the market was held every Wednesday, (fn. 259) but by 1929 it no longer had any great importance, its volume of livestock sales being less than a quarter of those at Chichester, Lewes, or Steyning markets. (fn. 260) Only cattle were being sold by 1934. (fn. 261) The market was conducted between the 1920s and the 1950s by the firm of H. Smith & Son. (fn. 262) In the 1930s an average of 10,000 dozen eggs a week were sold at auction, chiefly for consumption in London or Brighton. (fn. 263) There was still a general weekly market in 1945, at which cattle, poultry, eggs, and farm equipment were sold. (fn. 264) In 1962 it served a ten-mile radius, but not very effectively, and Horsham was then said to be no longer regarded as a market town by progressive farmers. (fn. 265) The market closed in 1966, its site, in Nightingale Road, being sold for light industrial development. (fn. 266)

An annual Christmas fat stock show was held from 1853, apparently always on a Wednesday in December. In 1864 some exhibits were said to be second only to those shown at Smithfield. At first held in or near Bishopric it was later transferred to the new market site by the railway. It ceased in 1967. (fn. 267)

The Central Market building, on the north-east corner of Carfax, which survived in 1982, was patronized between c. 1932 and c. 1966 by travelling salesmen, mostly from London, selling miscellaneous goods. (fn. 268) A women's institute weekly produce market was started before 1945, apparently the first of its kind. (fn. 269)

The July fair, sometimes called St. Thomas's fair, (fn. 270) continued to be held in Carfax between the 16th century and the 19th. (fn. 271) In 1784 and 1831 it was chiefly for sheep. (fn. 272) As a borough fair, its tolls were paid to the bailiffs and burgesses, later called the corporation. (fn. 273) After the latter's demise in 1835 the last borough beadle continued to receive them for his own use, but despite their trifling value (fn. 274) the duke of Norfolk in 1877 claimed them as successor to the lords of the borough. (fn. 275) At the change of the calendar in 1752 the date of holding the fair was moved to 18 July. By the end of the 18th century the fair extended between that date and the following Saturday, so that it could last up to eight days. In the 19th century, however, only the first day was devoted to business, the rest being merely a pleasure fair. (fn. 276)

The pre-Whitsun fair and the fair of 16 November also continued until the 19th century, (fn. 277) the latter also changing its date of holding in 1752. Welsh cattle were sold at the November fair in 1609 and perhaps had been in 1587. (fn. 278) In 1784 the November fair was for cattle and the pre-Whitsun fair for sheep; (fn. 279) in 1831 both were for cattle and horses. (fn. 280) By the early 19th century there were three other fairs in the town besides. One held on 25 July was only a pleasure fair c. 1832. (fn. 281) Another held on 5 April is said to have been illegally established shortly before 1830; (fn. 282) it was for sheep, and was alternatively known as Teg fair. (fn. 283) The third was St. Leonard's fair, transferred from St. Leonard's Forest before 1794 (fn. 284) and held on 17 November, for the sale of Welsh cattle. (fn. 285) At first held on the common east of the town, (fn. 286) it was moved at inclosure in 1813 to a site near the Queen's Head inn on the Brighton road just outside the town. (fn. 287)

Provisions for the household of Princess Mary (d. 1533), who lived at Waltham in Essex, were bought at Horsham, presumably at one of the fairs, in 1522. (fn. 288) The pre-Whitsun fair in 1717 was patronized by an inhabitant of Hurstpierpoint north of Brighton. (fn. 289) Wives are said to have been sold at both the July and November fairs in the earlier 19th century. (fn. 290)

By 1874 the fair held on 25 July had evidently ceased. (fn. 291) In that year the pre-Whitsun fair was described as worn out, (fn. 292) and it ceased soon afterwards. At the same date the July fair in Carfax, which had begun to be a nuisance to the townspeople, was limited to a single day after local agitation. (fn. 293) In 1877 its ownership passed from the duke of Norfolk to the local board, (fn. 294) and in 1887, when it had become almost entirely a pleasure fair, it was abolished. (fn. 295) It was restarted before 1889 in Bishopric, under the aegis first of the local board (fn. 296) and then of the urban district council; (fn. 297) later it was moved to Jew's meadow nearby, where it remained until the site was built over c. 1934. (fn. 298) The fairs of 5 April, and 17 and 27 November, also still survived c. 1921. (fn. 299) In 1909 the July fair was chiefly for sheep, the two November fairs being the chief cattle fairs. (fn. 300)

A pedlary fair was held at Southwater from 1784 or earlier on 8 July. It survived in the mid 19th century, when it was held at Southwater Street, near Blakes Farm, but had ceased by 1888. (fn. 301)

Trade and industry.

A draper was mentioned at Horsham c. 1230 (fn. 302) and there were at least two drapers or cloth merchants in 1262-3. (fn. 303) Other merchants were recorded in the later 13th century, including Walter Randolf, who dealt in cloth, wine, and wool, and had property in Findon and Ashurst as well as in Horsham. (fn. 304) The surname Marchant occurs in the earlier 14th century, as does Chaloner, apparently indicating a dealer in blankets. (fn. 305) Merchants continue to be recorded in the later Middle Ages: a spicer apparently in 1362, (fn. 306) drapers in 1433 and 1474, (fn. 307) a chapman in 1438, (fn. 308) and apparently a cloth merchant in 1456. (fn. 309) In 1429 one inhabitant who was presumably a merchant had luxury goods in his house including a silver girdle worth £1, three gowns worth £2, and a drinking cup worth 6s. 8d. (fn. 310)

Horsham presumably also possessed the usual complement of tradesmen found in small medieval towns. Surnames recorded before 1350 and apparently indicating the practice of trades included Baker, Cooper, Glover, Turner, Salter, and Skinner. (fn. 311) The tanner apparently mentioned at Marlpost manor c. 1285 presumably lived in Bishopric. (fn. 312) In the later 15th century the usual food trades were represented, (fn. 313) and in 1538 there were at least five brewers in the town. (fn. 314)

From the early 14th century there are indications of economic links with London. A Horsham man owned property in a London suburb in 1328, (fn. 315) and debts of Horsham men to London tradesmen are mentioned in 1401 and 1433. (fn. 316) The case of Richard Collyer, moreover, was probably not unique. A native of the town, in the later 15th or earlier 16th century he went to London to make the fortune as a mercer which enabled him to found the town's grammar school. Collyer's bequest of money to repair two portions of the road to London suggests regular economic links between Horsham and the capital. (fn. 317) Trading ties with central southern England are also recorded in the later 15th century: a fuller or tucker was described in 1459 as late of Horsham, Wilton, Wimborne, and other places, suggesting a connexion between Horsham and the West Country cloth trade. (fn. 318) There are indications of wider trade too. A tenant of Marlpost manor, presumably at Bishopric, was surnamed Fleming c. 1285, (fn. 319) and two residents in the parish in 1378 were surnamed French. (fn. 320) In 1436 natives of the Netherlands and of Cologne were living in the town. (fn. 321)

Between the 16th and 18th centuries Horsham had the usual complement of tradesmen of any middling country town. (fn. 322) The leather trades were apparently particularly important in 1524. (fn. 323) The Waller family participated in them between the late 15th century and the early 18th; (fn. 324) other families involved in the 17th and 18th centuries included the Foyces, (fn. 325) who had been Horsham residents since the 15th century, (fn. 326) the Groombridges, (fn. 327) the Popes, (fn. 328) the Osmers, (fn. 329) and the Graces. (fn. 330) Four tanners were listed at Horsham in 1794, besides a currier, a fellmonger, and two harness makers. (fn. 331) The cloth industry meanwhile was represented by drapers, (fn. 332) clothiers, (fn. 333) a haberdasher, (fn. 334) weavers, (fn. 335) feltmakers, (fn. 336) and a sherman; (fn. 337) fulling was practised in the 16th and earlier 17th centuries, (fn. 338) and one parishioner was licensed to trade in yarn in 1702. (fn. 339) A more unusual occupation connected with the clothing trade was that of maker of cards for combing wool, recorded in 1618. (fn. 340) The presence of aliens in the town in the earlier 16th century may indicate continuing trading links with Europe. Two Frenchmen and a 'Dutch', i.e. German, carver in wood or stone ('cerver') were recorded in 1524, (fn. 341) and other Frenchmen and Flemings in the 1540s and 1550s. (fn. 342)

Already by the 16th century there were representatives of more specialized trades, reflecting the high social and economic status of many of the town's residents: an armourer, a barber, a cutler, a foyster or maker of saddle trees, a hat dresser, a last maker, a painter, and makers of buckets, pins, points (i.e. fastenings for clothes), scythes, baskets or trugs, (fn. 343) and shovels. (fn. 344) During the 17th century the trades of pommel maker, (fn. 345) tallow chandler, tobacconist, (fn. 346) glazier, (fn. 347) and locksmith (fn. 348) were recorded. Trades to which references have been found first during the 18th century are, in chronological order of occurrence; lathmaker, (fn. 349) pipemaker, (fn. 350) distiller, (fn. 351) clockmaker, ironmonger, (fn. 352) bodice maker, flaxdresser, (fn. 353) mantua maker, (fn. 354) hop merchant, (fn. 355) wigmaker, (fn. 356) plumber, (fn. 357) staymaker, (fn. 358) gunsmith, timber viewer, upholsterer, (fn. 359) wine merchant, and jeweller. (fn. 360) In 1784 sacks and hats were said to be made in the town; at the same date there was a stationer and printer. (fn. 361) In 1794 food retailers in the town included 8 butchers, 7 bakers, a fishmonger, and a tea dealer, but were outnumbered by those in the clothing trades, who included 6 shoemakers, 6 tailors, 4 wigmakers, 2 milliners, and 2 hatters. Tradesmen in building or decorating then included 4 stonemasons, a bricklayer, 8 carpenters, and a surveyor, while among representatives of the more specialized or 'luxury' trades were a china dealer and 2 hairdressers. (fn. 362)

In the 19th and 20th centuries retail trades and services expanded in step with the growth of the town. At the beginning of the period Horsham, like other country towns, was still closely involved in agriculture: 23 families in the urban area, or one in nine of those in work, were chiefly supported by it in 1811. (fn. 363) Among tradesmen those who made or sold clothing and food still dominated in 1851, when there were 44 boot and shoemakers in the town, 22 tailors, 14 bakers, and 15 butchers. (fn. 364) New specialized or luxury trades recorded by 1820 were those of cabinet-maker and coachmaker. (fn. 365) In the 1830s there were 6 fruiterers, 3 spirit merchants, 2 straw hat makers, 2 china and glass dealers, a furniture broker, 3 booksellers and stationers, and a silversmith. At the same date the leather trades remained strong, with 3 saddlers, 2 curriers, and a fellmonger, besides the tanners mentioned below. (fn. 366) In the earlier 20th century employment in the town was dominated by building and related trades, which accounted for a quarter of the urban district's male workforce of 2,790 in 1901. Another 154 then worked on the railways. (fn. 367) Trades and services ancillary to agriculture naturally remained common in 1912; but the great expansion of middle-class suburban Horsham by the same date is evidenced by the several musical instrument dealers and piano tuners then in the town. (fn. 368)

In 1921 Horsham's shops were said to serve a large district, (fn. 369) and the town remained an important shopping centre in 1971 despite the growth of Crawley. (fn. 370) In 1982 the shops provided by the two towns were complementary, with Horsham having the smaller, more specialized ones. The first multiple store in the town had been opened in 1923. (fn. 371) In 1982 there were two department stores. A shopping precinct between West Street and Carfax, opened in 1976, contained 40 shops c. 1979, including two large stores. (fn. 372)

The only medieval industry recorded in the town apart from those using agricultural products was glassworking, practised on a site north of the church. (fn. 373) The industry apparently continued later in the parish. (fn. 374) A branch of the Eldridge family's bellfounding business existed in the town, also near the church, in the early 17th century. (fn. 375) One millwright was recorded in the town in the 1620s, (fn. 376) and others in 1693, 1794, and 1798. (fn. 377)

The chief urban industries in the 17th and 18th centuries, however, were brewing and tanning. Brewers who flourished in the town before 1600 are mentioned above, and others were recorded in the 17th and 18th centuries. (fn. 378) In the 1790s there were apparently only two breweries in the town: Rawlison's, recorded from 1784, which occupied premises on the west side of Worthing Road, (fn. 379) and the Fountain brewery of Richard Thornton in Carfax. Thornton in 1796 contracted to supply beer to the new barracks; in the 1820s, however, he went bankrupt. (fn. 380) Henry Michell, who came to Horsham in 1834, first leased the Carfax brewery, and then moved to Rawlison's brewery in 1841, afterwards amassing a fortune in brewing and other activities, including brickmaking and coal dealing. (fn. 381) In 1852 he bought the Carfax brewery, which had latterly belonged to the Gates family, and which by that date had 14 tied houses and two beershops. (fn. 382) He later acquired other public houses in the county, (fn. 383) and manufactured mineral water as well as beer. (fn. 384) In 1867 he also farmed 300 a. in the parish. (fn. 385) Michell's brewery was bought in 1911 by the Rock brewery of Brighton, (fn. 386) and ceased operation in the following year. (fn. 387)

Meanwhile two other breweries, (fn. 388) in North Parade and the modern Queen Street, had been separately acquired in the 1860s and 1870s (fn. 389) by the firms which in the earlier 20th century were known as King & Sons and Barnes & Co.; (fn. 390) King & Sons' premises were in Bishopric. The two firms united in 1906, and after 1912 the brewery of King & Barnes in Bishopric was the only one in the town. It remained a family firm in 1982. In 1962 there were c. 50 employees. (fn. 391) With the renewed interest in traditional beer during the 1970s output doubled, and by 1981 there were c. 65 employees. In that year there were 59 tied houses in Sussex and Surrey, and the firm also manufactured soft drinks and traded in wine and spirits. (fn. 392) Malting, too, was important in Horsham in the 19th century; by c. 1850 the town's malthouses had become very large, (fn. 393) and the industry remained important in 1912. (fn. 394) King & Barnes continued to have their own maltings until 1960. (fn. 395)

The early prominence of the leather trades in Horsham has been mentioned. In the mid 18th century there were still tanneries west of the town near Tan Bridge, as there had been in the 15th century. (fn. 396) The chief area for tanning in the later 18th and 19th centuries, however, was on the common east of the town. The 'lower tanyard' south of the Brighton road existed by 1719, (fn. 397) and from the later 18th century was occupied successively by the Ansells, the Killicks, and the Moons. (fn. 398) It closed between 1832 and c. 1844. (fn. 399) The 'upper tanyard' on the north side of the Brighton road existed by 1787 (fn. 400) and survived until c. 1911, having passed by 1899 to the firm of Gibbings, Harrison and Co., which also had premises at Chichester. (fn. 401) The weatherboarded building which later remained there bears the date 1842, but had been brought from another site, probably at Bermondsey in south London, between 1875 and 1896. It was taken down in 1982 and re-erected at the Chalk Pits Museum, Amberley, in 1983. (fn. 402) A third tannery, sited on the same stream as the other two, but further north beyond Depot Road, was recorded in 1831, (fn. 403) and ceased operation apparently between c. 1844 and 1876. (fn. 404) In 1911, shortly before the closure of the upper tanyard, there were still 33 inhabitants of the urban district employed in the leather trades. (fn. 405)

The older industries of the town were supplemented by new ones in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially after the arrival of the railway in 1848. A coachmaker had been mentioned in 1820; (fn. 406) c. 1832 there were three. (fn. 407) In 1866 there were a carriage factory and another firm of coach builders, and in 1913 two firms which built carriages or motor cars. (fn. 408) A soap factory was recorded in East Street c. 1844 (fn. 409) but had gone by 1855. (fn. 410) An ironmonger who was also a gunsmith and brazier flourished in East Street in 1847 and later. (fn. 411) There was an ironfounder and agricultural implement maker in Carfax in 1855, (fn. 412) and one in East Street in 1866. (fn. 413) In 1882 two firms were described as ironfounders, agents for or makers of agricultural machinery, and millwrights. (fn. 414) An ironfounding and engineering business in Foundry Lane north of the railway station was taken over c. 1897 by the firm which became Lintott Engineering Ltd. (fn. 415) The foundry operated continuously thereafter, supplying much ironwork for the urban district council, until c. 1960, but the firm meanwhile diversified. In 1912, besides making agricultural machinery, it installed and serviced electric lighting plants, water supplies, and heating systems for country houses. After 1939 it was much involved in munitions work, and after 1945 in precision engineering. In 1962 there were over 650 employees, and at its peak annual turnover exceeded £4½ million. The company closed in 1980 as a result of the economic recession. (fn. 416) The firm of W. Prewett at the Tan Bridge mill had also diversified into engineering by 1905, and c. 1910 claimed to have the largest stock of agricultural implements and machinery in Sussex. (fn. 417) About 1921 it too, like Lintott's, installed water supplies and electric lighting. (fn. 418)

In the 20th century there were two firms of motor engineers in the town. Jackson Bros., started c. 1890 as a cycle hire and repair business, later turned to motor cycle and cars, closing after 1955. (fn. 419) Rice Bros., which began in 1895 as a firm of saddlers, later became coachbuilders and dealers in agricultural machinery as well as motor engineers. In 1965 the firm had a staff in Horsham and elsewhere of nearly 300. (fn. 420) A major new firm in the town from 1937 was CIBA, which manufactured medical and chemical products. The firm's modernistic brick factory building of 1939 near the railway station was enlarged after 1945, (fn. 421) the number of employees rising from 110 in that year (fn. 422) to over 300 by 1962, (fn. 423) over 500 by 1965, in which year a research unit was opened, (fn. 424) and over 750 in 1982. (fn. 425) After the Second World War there was a great expansion of light engineering in the town; the urban district council, which had been encouraging firms to come to Horsham in the 1930s, (fn. 426) provided industrial estates east and west of King's Road after c. 1946. (fn. 427) Many small firms also existed behind Brighton Road in 1962. (fn. 428) In 1979 many different products were made at Horsham, including plastics and fertilizers. (fn. 429)

A timber merchant was recorded in the town in 1784, (fn. 430) and another in the 1790s. (fn. 431) In the early 19th century William Longhurst sent timber as far afield as Croydon and Camberwell in Surrey. (fn. 432) A timber and hoop merchant was mentioned in 1855. (fn. 433) The firm of J. & S. Agate moved from Warnham c. 1860 to the site by the station which it still occupied in 1982. In 1886 it dealt chiefly in oak from a radius of 12 miles, and had contracts with various railway companies, besides van, wagon, and boat builders. Its sawmill was then powered by steam. By 1902 foreign timber too was being processed, and the firm also dealt in building materials generally, both wholesale and retail. (fn. 434) In 1961 the main sawmill was moved to Faygate in Rusper, so that by 1981 the Horsham yard was used chiefly as a softwood depot. (fn. 435) In 1962, when timber was sent all over England and Scotland, 50 to 60 full-time staff were employed. (fn. 436) By 1981 there were c. 45-50 at Horsham and Faygate together. (fn. 437)

Professional men are recorded in Horsham from the later 16th century. From 1579 until his death in 1618 James Alleyn, the master of the grammar school, acted as a notary public. (fn. 438) There was another attorney in the early 17th century, (fn. 439) and thereafter there was apparently usually at least one in the town, (fn. 440) the assizes and sessions providing business. In 1784 there were three, (fn. 441) and in 1794 six. (fn. 442) In the later 18th and earlier 19th centuries the lawyer T.C. Medwin acted also as agent for the duke of Norfolk and other local landowners; (fn. 443) he was dismissed from the duke's service in 1812, and replaced by another Horsham attorney, D. Stedman. (fn. 444) A surgeon was recorded in Horsham in the mid 16th century, (fn. 445) and James Alleyn the schoolmaster also acted as a physician in 1595. (fn. 446) Two surgeons, a physician, and two practitioners in bloodletting were mentioned in 1640. (fn. 447) Several doctors and surgeons were recorded in the later 17th and earlier 18th centuries, (fn. 448) one physician practising in Horsham for 50 years until 1737. (fn. 449) An apothecary was recorded in 1685. (fn. 450) During the 18th century there was always apparently at least one surgeon and one apothecary in the town. (fn. 451) In 1784 there were four surgeons, (fn. 452) and in 1794 six medical persons. (fn. 453) A bank was established in Horsham before 1780 or 1781, when its promoter went bankrupt. (fn. 454) Another was set up in 1791 by Thomas Harben, of the Lewes bank, in partnership with John Lanham and others, but failed two years later. (fn. 455) There was an auctioneer in the town by 1794. (fn. 456)

Numbers of professional men increased greatly in the town in the 19th and 20th centuries. At least two early 19th-century banks, one involving the ill-fated John Lanham, were shortlived, (fn. 457) but a savings bank established at the town hall in 1819, which was open for an hour on Saturday evenings in 1824, survived till at least 1905. (fn. 458) Henty and Co.'s bank of Worthing had a branch in 1840, (fn. 459) and by 1855 there was another bank besides. (fn. 460) From 3 in 1912 (fn. 461) the number of banks in the town rose to 4 by c. 1925 and 5 by c. 1950. (fn. 462) Besides doctors and lawyers throughout the period (fn. 463) the town had a vet by 1813. (fn. 464) By 1832 there were 8 insurance agents. (fn. 465) There was at least one auctioneer or estate agent throughout the period; (fn. 466) in 1832 there were three, (fn. 467) and by 1979 as many as twelve. (fn. 468) The firm of Churchman and Sons, estate agents, was founded in 1884, and after amalgamation in 1967 with H. J. Burt of Steyning (fn. 469) survived as Churchman, Burt & Son in 1982. The Horsham Permanent Benefit Building Society was established in 1856, as one of the first in the country. (fn. 470) By 1874 it had become the Horsham and Crawley Building Society; (fn. 471) after liquidation in 1914 (fn. 472) it was reformed to survive in 1982 as the Horsham Building Society. A branch office in Billingshurst was opened in 1978. (fn. 473)

The 20th century also saw the growth of commercial offices as a new ingredient of the town's economy. In 1901 only 52 out of 2,790 employed males in the urban district were clerks in commerce or business, besides 15 females. (fn. 474) By 1931 the proportion of the male workforce of the urban district in commerce had risen to 23 per cent. (fn. 475) The chief employer of office workers in 1982 was the Sun Alliance Insurance Group which moved part of its headquarters to Horsham in 1964. In that year it had c. 370 staff in the town; after enlargement of its premises in 1972 it employed c. 1,500 in 1982. (fn. 476) The R.S.P.C.A. national headquarters was moved to the town in 1973, and in 1981 had c. 160 administrative jobs. (fn. 477)

Meanwhile, since the Middle Ages the rural part of the parish had supplied the raw materials for three extractive industries: ironworking, stone quarrying, and brickmaking. A bloomery existed at Roffey (fn. 478) apparently between 1327 and 1347. At the earlier date 1,000 horseshoes were sent to Shoreham to be shipped to the king's army in the north. In 1338 six thousand arrows for crossbows were bought at Horsham to be taken to London, (fn. 479) and 9 years later the sheriff obtained another 150 sheaves of arrows there. (fn. 480) The surnames Bowyer and Fletcher were recorded in the town in the 1330s, (fn. 481) and a bowyer with a possibly foreign surname was mentioned in 1460. (fn. 482) Iron ore may have been dug in the parish c. 1583. (fn. 483) The ironworks in St. Leonard's Forest provided work for Horsham parishioners in the later 16th and earlier 17th centuries. (fn. 484)

Stone for roofing and flooring was presumably being quarried in the parish by the later 14th century, when the term 'Horsham stones' was already applied to the characteristic roofing slabs of the district; (fn. 485) the name was later to be transferred to the geological formation that produced them. (fn. 486) There were quarries on Shortsfield manor and possibly on Chesworth manor in the 15th century, (fn. 487) and a 'stoneheler' was recorded in the parish in 1450. (fn. 488) A stone digger was mentioned in 1574, (fn. 489) and other stonehelers, including one at Southwater, in the 16th and earlier 17th centuries. (fn. 490) The right to dig for stone on Chesworth manor was leased by the Crown in 1583. (fn. 491) Stone was being dug before 1592 at Marlpost, (fn. 492) where three quarries were recorded c. 1650. (fn. 493) By the latter date the stone that cropped out on the surface of Horsham common had begun to be dug, (fn. 494) as it continued to be, often illegally, throughout the 18th century. (fn. 495) Quarries near the town were mentioned in the 1730s, (fn. 496) and another is recorded in 1794, (fn. 497) perhaps at Stammerham where one existed by 1809. (fn. 498) The Stammerham quarry, in Itchingfield parish, was still being worked in 1896, (fn. 499) and supplied stone for building Southwater church in 1850. (fn. 500) The pavement of Causeway was said in 1868 to be made of stones from Stammerham, (fn. 501) some of which remained in 1982. By 1911, with the declining use of the stone for roofing, the Stammerham quarries were no longer used. (fn. 502) Another quarry at Tower Hill south-west of the town existed between 1830 (fn. 503) and 1868, (fn. 504) but was disused by 1876. (fn. 505)

One brickmaker was recorded in the parish in 1555. (fn. 506) Two brick kilns were erected on Horsham common by 1709, (fn. 507) and a bricklayer was mentioned in 1736. (fn. 508) Sand and clay continued to be dug on the common during the 18th century and three more brick kilns were erected before 1787, one of which made bricks for building the new gaol begun in 1775. (fn. 509) In 1831 there were two chief brickworks on the former common north-east of the town. (fn. 510) One, which was afterwards called the Lambsbottom brickworks, had greatly expanded by 1876, but was closed not long after 1896. The other, north of Depot Road, still existed in the 1930s. (fn. 511) Another brickmaker was recorded on the common in 1832, besides seven bricklayers there and elsewhere in the town. (fn. 512) Other brickworks sprang up around the town in the mid and later 19th century as required by building development. (fn. 513) One north of East Street near the railway, belonging to Henry Michell the brewer, provided ½ million bricks for the Crystal Palace in 1852. (fn. 514) In 1911 in the urban district there were 62 workers in brickmaking and related trades, and in 1931 in the enlarged urban district there were 200. (fn. 515) All the brickworks near the town had however gone by c. 1939. (fn. 516)

Meanwhile bricks were being made at Southwater on a site north of the railway by 1874. (fn. 517) In 1895 the firm of Charles Weller made bricks, tiles, and drainpipes there. Within a few years the brickworks had moved across the railway, where it expanded greatly during the 20th century. A brickworks was also set up in the north of the parish west of Warnham station by 1896, which before 1909 moved east of the railway; some semidetached houses for brickworkers were built near the station by 1896, and by 1909 there was a row of ten. The Warnham brickworks too were much enlarged in the 20th century. In 1903 the Sussex Brick & Estates Co. was formed to take over the Warnham brickworks, and in 1907 it took over the Southwater firm as well. In the earlier 20th century the company's products were used at Victoria station in London, at Christ's Hospital, and at the Kursaal in Worthing. By 1912 the total area of its two brickfields was c. 150 a. In 1926 the company had other sites in Lingfield (Surr.) and Tonbridge (Kent), (fn. 518) and in 1935 it was joined by a Dorking firm to become the Sussex & Dorking United Brick Cos. Ltd. After 1958 the company's title changed again to Redland Bricks Ltd. In 1962 the Warnham works, whose output was the largest in south-east England, employed c. 300 men, and the Southwater works 100. In the mid 20th century bricks were sent all over southern and eastern England, being used, for instance, at Guildford cathedral. (fn. 519) In 1974 the Southwater brickworks had 80 or 90 men and produced 18 million bricks a year, for use both in Britain and abroad. (fn. 520) Two further sites besides the Warnham brickworks had been opened in the north of the parish by 1980, when the total workforce was 250, and 1½ million high quality facing bricks were produced weekly. The brickworks at Southwater was closed in 1982, its site being zoned for industrial and recreational use. (fn. 521)

The common north and east of the town also supplied the raw material for broom making, recorded in the parish in 1767 and 1784. (fn. 522) The trade continued after inclosure in 1812-13; (fn. 523) in 1862 six out of the 23 brush and broom makers in the county lived in the parish. (fn. 524) Land north and east of the town including former common land was also the site from the earlier 19th century of several nurseries for trees and other flora. Allman's nursery, on the corner of Park Street and East Street, was founded in 1828 and comprised 10 a. in 1866, growing forest trees, ornamental trees and plants, and exotics. (fn. 525) It closed between c. 1875 and c. 1895. (fn. 526) Two other nurseries existed on the corner of Brighton Road and St. Leonard's Road c. 1844, (fn. 527) and other short-lived nurseries were recorded elsewhere in the later 19th and 20th centuries. (fn. 528) The firm of Riley Scott, nurserymen, seedsmen and florists, was founded in 1866 north-east of the railway station, and in 1912 raised fruit, flowers, and exotics on over 16 a., with a large staff. In addition the firm undertook contract work in floral displays and garden layouts. (fn. 529) The nursery survived in 1971, when there were other nurseries in the parish besides. (fn. 530)

A smith was recorded at Southwater in 1346, (fn. 531) and two weavers in 1665. (fn. 532) In the 19th and 20th centuries the hamlet had many tradesmen. The business of wheelwright and blacksmith for long run by members of the Piper family flourished between 1789 and the mid 20th century; after its closure the forge building was re-erected in 1971 at the Open Air Museum at Singleton near Chichester. (fn. 533) In the earlier 20th century the Pipers made wagons and dealt in timber. (fn. 534) Other trades recorded at Southwater during the period were chiefly the usual village ones, for instance those of grocer, butcher, shoemaker, and saddler. A coal merchant was recorded in 1895 and there were two in 1922. There was a steam threshing machine proprietor in 1878 and an auctioneer in 1895. A firm of builders was recorded in 1909, and a vet and two insurance agents in 1922. (fn. 535) In 1867 the parishioners of Southwater were said to travel long distances for seasonal barking and hoop shaving. (fn. 536) From the earlier 20th century the largest number of local jobs were in the brickworks. Meanwhile increased traffic on the London-Worthing road had brought a garage by 1922, and by 1938 two haulage contractors, a firm of caravan builders, and five tea or refreshment rooms. (fn. 537) In 1980 there were a garage and a transport café. There were still many different trades in the hamlet in the 1950s. (fn. 538) In the 1970s an industrial estate was laid out near the site of the railway station, where by c. 1979 several light engineering firms had premises. (fn. 539) The lack of adequate shopping facilities for the fast-growing hamlet was supplied by the erection of a group of shops in the same area c. 1977. (fn. 540)

A smith was recorded in the old rural hamlet of Roffey in 1344, (fn. 541) and a tailor in 1722. (fn. 542) The growth of the suburban settlement called by the same name and of Littlehaven nearby was accompanied by the provision of shops and services. By 1882 there were the usual non-agricultural occupations of a village, besides some more urban ones, such as those of dressmaker and music teacher. In 1895 there were a watchmaker, a photographer, and an insurance agent. (fn. 543) In the 20th century Crawley Road, the spine of the settlement called Roffey, became the chief suburban shopping centre in the town. (fn. 544) A large parade of new shops was built west of the Star inn in the 1960s or 1970s. Shops and businesses similarly came to serve Broadbridge Heath as it grew from the late 19th century onwards. In 1851 there had been a blacksmith, carpenters, and a 'tinman'; (fn. 545) in 1897 there were a grocer and a wheelwright, (fn. 546) and in 1903 three grocers, a carpenter, and a laundress. (fn. 547) Between the 1930s and 1970s trades mentioned included those of draper, coal merchant, builder, plumber, and cabinet-maker. (fn. 548) Shops serving the hamlet in 1982 included a general store, a newsagent, and an ironmonger. An industrial estate was under construction west of the hamlet in the same year.

A large government establishment for armament research and development was set up at Langhurst in the north of the parish during the Second World War. There were 137 resident employees in 1951, and 250 employees in 1962. (fn. 549) The site was bought from the Ministry of Defence in 1982 by Horsham district council. (fn. 550)

There were riding stables in Kerves Lane in the south-east part of the parish in 1965, (fn. 551) and a stud farm at Whytings farm on the Nuthurst border between 1968 and 1975. (fn. 552) Another stud farm at Broadbridge Heath bred thoroughbreds for export in 1974. (fn. 553) A smithy in London Road was still working in 1978.