Horsham to Slinfold

In 1823 William Cobbett, political journalist who furthered the freedom of the press, parliamentary reform and who launched the reporting of proceedings in Parliament (later to become Hansard), visited Horsham and described it as:

"a very nice, solid, country town. Very clean, as all towns in Sussex are ....Sussex women are very nice in their dress and in their houses". 

What would he say if he could see us now in our bright cagoules and clumpy walking boots, I wonder?

The trail begins in Horsham at the junction of West Street and Bishopric where 'Rising Universe'  a large kinetic sculpture better known as the 'Shelley Fountain', stood until 2016. It commemorated one of the most well-known English Romantic poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley. A radical thinker, with strong political and social views, Shelley did not live to see success but was posthumously much admired by other great luminaries such as Robert Browning, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and Karl Marx amongst others. 

Two years ago the fountain was in such a state of disrepair that the council decided it was time to dismantle it and replace the fountain with modern seating set around a ring of silver birch trees. 

BBC news report on Shelley fountain

This is the start of our walk along the Weald and Downs.

Horsham's ring of silver birch trees

Adjacent to the trees is West Street where a simple stone plaque commemorating Shelley can now be found.

Stone Plaque, West Street, Horsham

We shall return later to the great poet's connection to the area, but before then, mention of one or two other literary links to our town. 

Arthur Beckett (1871-1943) was born in Yorkshire but came to Sussex as a child and grew to love the county. He described Horsham as "a place meet for high adventure" and he became the first President of the South Downs Society, a journalist and the founder and editor of the Sussex County Magazine which remained in publication until 1956.

Georgette Heyer, prolific writer of historical romance and detective fiction (some with Sussex settings) opened a sports shop in Bishopric in 1928 with money borrowed from her aunts. The shop was run by her husband and brother whilst Heyer devoted herself to becoming the main breadwinner, turning out novels annually throughout most of her 50 year career.

Georgette Heyer

Leaving Horsham town centre, the trail takes us through the local park, past the Human Nature garden, illustrating links between plants and people,

Hitting the trail in Horsham Park

Human Nature Garden

Before long we pass under the busy A24 towards Warnham Deer Park. The estate is owned by the Lucas family who made their fortune in 19thC engineering projects such as the Aswan Dam, the Royal Albert Hall, Covent Garden Opera House and Charterhouse School.

As a group we walk quietly through the deer paddocks at Bailing Hill Farm, knowing all too well that these stud deer are of world renown and their genes are 'disseminated' worldwide.

Warnham Park deer

Bailing Hill Farm dating back to 1375 but unsympathetically 'modernised'

Shelley was born in nearby Field Place (now privately owned) and the area round here was his childhood stomping ground. Just a short distance along the road from the farm (but not on our route) is the church where Shelley was baptised on 7 September 1792 and the certificate is displayed there. Shelley reputedly often played around Warnham Mill Pond and with his sisters, exploring the surrounding woods and fields  as far away as Strood House, now known as Farlington School.

We reach the brow of a hill giving us views of Horsham and the South Downs then continuing our walk, we skirt the beautiful 33 acres of Farlington School.

Farlington School

Taking our lives into our hands, we cross the A281 Horsham to Guildford road to pass old timber-framed farms with heavy Horsham stone roofs and the fledgling River Arun, one of the fastest flowing rivers in England and tidal as far inland as 25 miles from the coast.

Rowfold Farm covers 170 acres and the owners have introduced many conservation measures to increase wildlife including growing RSPB recommended crops next to hedges that provide suitable habitats for birds, and the building of an otter holt by the riverbank. Unfortunately, no otters were to be seen on the day of our walk!

Soon we are walking downhill to the parish church of St Peter in the old fashioned village of  Slinfold.

St Peter's Church and lychgate

A lovely church brass to the right of the altar dated 1533

In 1932 Georgette Heyer rented a house in Slinfold and it was here that she wrote one of her most famous books, Regency Buck. I wonder if there's a copy in the village's telephone box library?

Slinfold Library

We pause on the path between the gravestones where a trestle table is set up, to buy a few tomato plants and seedlings but unfortunately we are too late for a cuppa and we're forced to retreat to the Red Lyon to quench our thirsts!

Disappearing into the Red Lyon in Slinfold

Finally, to end the first section of our walk, a fairy story:
It is said that there is a boggy hollow near Slinfold which contains a sunken bell from the church. Long ago some villagers, hoping to retrieve the bell, sought advice of a witch. She told them that it could only be retrieved, in silence, by use of 12 white oxen, at midnight. The oxen were used, but one villager broke the witch's instructions by shouting 'hurray', and the bell sank back into the bog.