Heritage Forum members’ programmes
Events/meetings organised by members of the Forum 2019 and 2020
Barns Green and Itchingfield Local History Society
Programme of meetings to be added.
Beeding and Bramber Local History Society
Meetings are usually held at 7:45pm in Beeding and Bramber Village Hall on the first Wednesday of the month. The talks cover a wide range of subjects relating to the history and natural history of the local area and Sussex in general.
Visitors are welcome for a £3 entrance fee.
Wednesday 4 September 2019
“The Women’s Land Army” by Ian Everest
Wednesday 2 October 2019
“Littlehampton ships and boats on postcards: sail, steam and The Black Rabbit” by Tony Pratt
Wednesday 6 November 2019
“An archaeological childhood in Sussex” by Dr Janet Pennington
Billingshurst Local History Society
Meetings are held at the Billingshurst Community Centre at 7.30 pm. Everyone welcome. Visitors £5 Annual sub £20.
Thursday 10 October 2019
Short AGM followed by an illustrated talk about Lancing College chapel by Jeremy Tomlinson(retired School Registrar.
Thursday 14 November 2019
“Legend and lore of the Lewes Bonfire Night” by Andy Thomas
Thursday 12 December 2019
Social and Raffle including refreshments and homegrown entertainment.
Thursday 9 January 2020
“Famous local Edwardian Writers” by members of the Horsham Writers Circle.
Thursday 13 February 2020
“Roman Sussex” by Dr David Rudling, Director Sussex School of Archaeology
Thursday 12 March 2020
“The story of the Belle Tout Lighthouse” by Rob Wassell
Thursday 9 April 2020
A film about the restoration of the Blue Idol.
Cowfold Village History Society
Meetings now take place in The Allmond Centre at 7:45pm for 8:00pm.
Everyone welcome. Members free and non-members £3.50 including refreshments.
Friday 20 September 2019
“Cowfold in WW2” by Michael Burt
Friday 22 November 2019
“The What-ifs of History” by Mark Perry-Nash
Henfield History Group
Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month at 8 pm (doors open from 7.40 pm) in the Free Church Hall, High Street, Henfield, BN5 9HP (via the side entrance in Coopers Way).
Everyone welcome. Admission £3 Non-Members (Members by Subscription)
Enquiries to Maureen Fletcher, Tel. 01273-492194.
Tuesday 10 September 2019
“A sporting history of Sussex from the Amazing to the Bizarre” by Matthew Homewood
Tuesday 8 October 2019
“Lives interrupted: ten young officers in the Great War” by Dr Frances Hurd
Tuesday 12 November 2019
“Fire at Uppark House” by Ken Lloyd
Tuesday 10 December 2019
Members only event. “Camisoles, Rissoles and Dover Soles” by Dan Quinn and Ian Kearney
Tuesday 14 January 2020
“Malice Aforethought- a famous English trial” by Peter Blood
Tuesday 11 February 2020
“Sussex scrapbook No 2- Miscellany of Sussex history, anecdotes and folklore” by Chris Horlock
Tuesday 10 March 2020
“An archaeological childhood” by Dr Janet Pennington
Tuesday 14 April 2020
AGM followed by a talk TBA.
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Horsham District Archaeology Group
The Group meets regularly to carry out research into the history of Horsham and the surrounding West Sussex/Surrey countryside. New members are always welcome, with or without archaeological experience. All talks start at 7.30 pm and are at the Brighton Road Baptist church, Horsham RH13 5BD. Non-members £3.
For further information on these events please contact: horshamarch@hotmail.co.uk or 01903 872309
Wednesday 18 September 2019
Minepits, Mud and Mayhem, Recent Archaeological Work at Horam, East Sussex.
Simon Stevens, Senior Archaeologist with ASE.
A recent archaeological excavation on a site at Horam in the Weald of East Sussex has revealed a landscape pockmarked with deep minepits, used for the extraction of iron ore. This is an illustrated talk on these discoveries and their place in the ongoing study of the Wealden iron industry.
Wednesday 23 October 2019
The Location of Later Bronze Age Metalwork in South-East England
Dr. David Dunkin’s talk will focus on the results.
A new field study by Dr Dave Dunkin, Dr Dave Yates and Professor Richard Bradley has recently been completed. The study looked at the placement of 333 metalwork sites in SE England. This will undoubtedly lead to a better understanding of the deposition of artefacts during this period.
Wednesday 13 November 2019
A talk by Dr Simon Elliott on the Septimius Severan campaigns in Scotland
Dr Elliott’s Book, Septimius Severus in Scotland tells the story of the epic but ultimately unsuccessful campaigns to conquer Scotland in AD 209 and AD 2010 when the great warrior Emperor deployed an army of 50,000 men in the far north of Britain, the largest force to ever to campaign here.
Horsham Society
The Society publishes articles in its own newsletter and has also contributed articles to the West Sussex County Times since February 2008.
Parham House and Gardens
See Parham House web site for entrance fees.
Sunday 1 September to Sunday 15 September 2019
Gordon Rushmer One Man exhibition : “Accents on the Landscape”. As part of the celebrations for Horsham Year of Culture, Parham will be hosting a Watercolour Exhibition on local painter, Gordon Rushmer on 1- 15 September. An award-winning landscape painter, Rushmer’s work has been exhibited in collections at Tate Britain, the Imperial War Museum, The National Library of Wales and more. The Seed Room 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm.
Rudgwick Preservation Society
Meetings are held in Rudgwick Village Hall at 7:30pm.
All welcome (Free for members and £2 entry for non-members).
Monday 25 November 2019
“It shouldn’t happen to a Curator- Stories from Horsham Museum” by Jeremy Knight
Rusper Chronicle
Shipley Local History Society
Meetings are held in the Andrew Hall, commencing at 7.30 pm.
Membership dues remain at £10.00 per person for the entire season. Visitors are always welcome at £3.00 per person.
August 2019
Summer visit to a local place of historical interest is being planned. Full details to be published in the Spring.
Southwater Local History Group
Our meetings are held at 7.30pm on the first Monday of each month in the Beeson House, Lintot Square. Everyone Welcome . Non Members £3 please.
Steyning History Society
Visitors are welcome at all our meetings, for a small entrance fee of £3.00. The annual membership fee is £10 per person (and the Society year runs from September through to May).
The meetings are held in the Saxon Room, Steyning Centre, Fletcher’s Croft, Steyning, commencing 7.45 pm and running until approximately 9.30 pm with a refreshment break in the middle; we ask for a £1 donation per person at each meeting towards tea, coffee and cake, in the interval.
THE STEYNING SCANDAL WALK
Secrets of a Sussex Market Town, 1547-1947
Sunday, 25th August 2019 10 a.m. – 12.30 pm with Dr Janet Pennington.
Meet at the Steyning Centre car park (NOT the Library car park), opposite the church of
St Andrew & St Cuthman, Church Street, Steyning, BN44 3XZ
Discover who did what, where and with whom! Steyning’s attractive timber-framed buildings
and flint cottages hide many secrets from the past – come and discover some of them if you dare. We will be exploring the streets and twittens of Steyning with many scandalous stories, all researched through local documentary sources. There are plenty of stops, and dogs on leads are welcome. If you are easily shocked, this is not the walk for you.
Fee payable on the day – £5.00.
(The walk will be repeated on Sunday 15th September 2019, same time)
THIS WALK IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN
Wednesday 11 September 2019
“The Pubs and Breweries of Steyning” by Dr Janet Pennington
Wednesday 9 October 2019
“Secret Sussex Resistance” by Stewart Angell
Wednesday 13 November 2019
“From Sussex oxen to Fordson Major” by Ian Everest
Wednesday 11 December 2019
“A Policeman’s lot” by Neil Sadler
Wednesday 8 January 2020
“Folk songs in Sussex” by Mark Norman
Wednesday 12 February 2020
“Warrior Queens” by Tony Turner
Wednesday 11 March 2020
“Human and animal locomotion (including the photographic career of Eadweard Muybridge 1830-1904)” by Sarah Green
Wednesday 8 April 2020
“Brides, booty and battles”- the Tudors and the golden age of Spain” by Helen Pool
Wednesday 13 May 2020
AGM followed by “The historic story behind The Race- based on the book by Ian Ivatt” by Ian and Mary Ivatt.
West Grinstead Local History Group
Public meetings with a guest speaker are held on the third Tuesday of alternate months (January, March, May, July, September and November), commencing at 7:30pm, and take place in Partridge Green Village Hall, High Street, Partridge Green RH13 8HP unless otherwise stated. Members £3.50, non-members £5.00.
Tuesday 17 September 2019
“The Gatwick story” by John King
Tuesday 19 November 2019
“The Weald iron industry” by Jeremy Hodkinson
Museum Events
Christ’s Hospital Museum
Welcome to 460 Years of History!
The Museum has a remarkable collection of some 35,000 artefacts and archives dating from 1552 to present day. Paintings, photographs, prints, china, sculpture, costume, social history, books, medals, coins, ephemera and much more chart the history of our unique school from its founding and 350 years in London, through its time at Hertford and finally Horsham since 1902. We are staffed by a small team of curators and volunteers who regularly respond to numerous research and family history enquiries, donations, conservation and exhibitions on and off site, learning sessions for pupils across all academic departments, tours for staff, public visitors and Verrio tours.
Extensive displays occupying what used to be the old isolation wards for the Infirmary or “Sicker” allow you to explore the school’s illustrious history, boasting patronage from all British monarchs dating back to Edward VI, links with important historical figures such as Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, Captain Cook, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Lamb, Edmund Blunden and Barnes Wallis. Yet perhaps the most interesting areas celebrate the day-to-day life at Christ’s Hospital for its many generations of pupils and staff. Where else at CH can you marvel at a perfectly preserved 1902 Nurse’s Kitchen, a “Lav End” or observe how the uniform and customs at the school have changed, yet equally some remain unchanged for over four and a half centuries?
If you’ve no idea what a “Beadle” did and you’ve never seen the “Punishment Bands” for Hertford girls, or indeed realised the devastating impact two World Wars had on CH in the 20th century or the harsh reality of life for pupils in the past….then you need to visit the Museum!
Our opening times are: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am – 4pm
View by prior arrangement: 247444; chmuseum@christs-hospital.org.uk
Current Exhibition at CH Museum: Brangwyn’s Cartoons at Christ’s Hospital
23 April 2019 – 27 April 2020
This ground-breaking exhibition is the culmination of Horsham District Council’s Year of Culture 2019 project to restore seven beautiful cartoon drawings for the mural cycle in Christ’s Hospital Chapel. Click on the left hand image to find out more. Brangwyn’s Cartoons at Christ’s Hospital also feature on Horsham District Council’s Year of Culture Events webpage: https://www.hdculture2019.co.uk/events/
In celebrating Horsham District’s Year of Culture 2019, the exhibition, Brangwyn’s Cartoons at Christ’s Hospital, displays these hidden treasures now that they have been conserved and stabilised for future generations to enjoy.
Museum Curator, Laura Kidner, says “this exhibition reveals the splendour of the cartoons to new audiences from the Horsham District and beyond. To see them in the context of the mural sequence is to understand and fully appreciate the grand scale of Brangwyn’s achievement”.
The conservation process, as carried out by a Sussex based Paper Conservator and Framer, involved careful surface cleaning of the vulnerable cartoons, their original mounts, frames and old glass as well as interleaving acid-free barrier board.
This pioneering exhibition invites comparison between the figurative, subtle sketches and the rich and decorative murals. It inevitably encourages fresh interpretation and discussion about Brangwyn’s renowned work and career. Important loans from private collections referencing the CH designs alongside original photos and letters from Brangwyn and a film about his later life serve to enrich the display.
Laura Kidner said: “Let’s not forget that Brangwyn never intended these cartoons drawings to be revered in the same way as his finished murals. They do, however, offer insight into Brangwyn’s working practices and how he interpreted and changed his
designs and subjects within the process of making. It is remarkable how they have survived so well.”
Henfield Museum and Friends 
Henfield Museum
Horsham Museum and Art Gallery 
Splashes of Artistic Excellence Ian Hadley, Alison Ingram & Cherry Parsons
This event runs from 5th July 2019 to 3rd January 2020
Small, bright, vibrant Splashes of artistic excellence are on show this year in the temporary exhibition space on the ground floor. Showcasing recent work by:
Ian Hadley: 5 July – 31 August https://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/ian-hadley
Alison Ingram: 3 September – 28 September
Cherry Parsons: 8 November – 3 January http://cherryparsonsart.com/
A Garden of Botanical Art: Celebrating Original Works by Horsham District’s Leading Botanical Artists
This event runs from 6th July 2019 to 31st August 2019
For summer 2019 the Museum is bringing the garden indoors as it celebrates the artistic talents of some of this country’s leading botanical artist. All of the nine artist live and work in the district, but their art has in some cases travelled the globe, finding root in world famous collections.
Botanical art is part of the DNA of the garden as the art form that becomes science as exact colour rendition and description enabled the flora of the world to inspire and excite professional nurserymen, so populate the garden. Now that flora is inspiring a new generation of botanical artists to create a stunning visual record of the fleeting beauty of the plant.
Heritage of the District in 100 Objects
This event runs from 3 August 2019 to 12th October 2019
A major exhibition that will use objects to explore the fascinating and largely unknown heritage of the District. Ranging from a silver desk set awarded for the best sheep, a symbol of the agricultural revolution, the flag of the unknown warrior, to a Saxon buried without Christian symbols. Combining objects, photographs and paintings, it will be a real eye opener even for those who think they know the District well.
The exhibition is based on the accompanying book produced by the Horsham District Heritage Forum.
Humphrey Ocean RA – Horsham Are You Receiving Me?
This event runs from 27th July 2019 to 21st September 2019
Horsham Museum & Art Gallery are delighted that, Hardham born, artist Humphry Ocean RA is holding a solo exhibition at the Museum after his successful show Birds, Cars and Chairs at the Royal Academy this year. The exhibition will showcase some of his most recent work.
A Collector’s Passion – Scottish Oils in a Private Collection.
This event runs from 7th September 2019 to 26th October 2019
Every now and then the opportunity occurs when Horsham Museum & Art Gallery can showcase work that you will never get the opportunity to see again. This is one such event; a private collector is very kindly lending the best of his collection of Scottish oil paintings. It is different, interesting and colourful and not what you would expect in a Sussex museum – but that is what makes the exhibition exceptional in this Year of Culture.
Be Surprised – the Multi-Coloured District by Sarah Duffield
This event runs from 28th September 2019 to 14th December 2019
One of the highlights of the year will be the beautiful exhibition by Sarah Duffield whose paintings have captured in her unique way, the colour, vibrancy and picturesque scenery of Horsham District. Showcasing in public for the first time will be the four specially commissioned views of the District along with paintings and prints for sale. It follows the very successful debut show in 2017 at Horsham Museum & Art Gallery.
Post War Euphoria
This event runs from 9th November 2019 to 11th January 2020
Post War Euphoria?
2019 marks the centenary of the end of World War One. Using dress, paintings, posters, photographs and objects this exhibition looks at how Horsham District marked the end and look forward to a new beginning. Was the hope realised or crushed?
This unusual exhibition will help answer the question by revealing what went on when the bullets stopped and peace had a chance.
Alongside the exhibition a new book will be launched by local author Gary Cooper: Collyers Horsham Grammar School casualties in two World Wars. It will be sold at Horsham Musuem and a book signing event will take place, with dates to be confirmed in due course.
Steyning Museum