Originally a Norman church occupied the spot and remains of this church are to be found in the tower, the west door and the north- west wall. A new church dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, was completed in about 1247. At the time the church was consecrated Horsham was a rapidly expanding market town and this very spacious building not only provided for the spiritual needs of the people and a focus for the community but reflected their civic pride and increasing prosperity. Over succeeding centuries townspeople have worked to maintain and enrich the church, and their tombs and memorials show how important this relationship has always been.
Despite alterations and additions the Church has remained substantially the same since the early 13th century and is unusual for the period in having a uniform style of architecture known as Early English. A particular characteristic of the building is that the nave and chancel are of equal width, and, in the late 13th century, the roof with a continuous ridge was raised to its present height, involving some easily detectable changes to the tower. The Church largely escaped the worst desecration common during the upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries.
As it stands today the exterior of the Church, despite some changes, would be easily recognisable to our forbears. The interior, however, has been altered more frequently to reflect fashion and need. In the 18th and early 19th centuries the church fabric became dilapidated and the building unstable. According to the Parish Magazine of June 1869 it had 'threatened to bury the worshippers in hideous ruin', despite various rescue measures adopted to make it secure. Photographs of 1864 show an overloaded and rather derelict church, filled with wooden galleries and high box pews - the renting of which had caused many bitter disputes. In one case, when the owner of a pew died with no heirs to take it over, the Vicar and one churchwarden (of which, unusually, there have always been three) immediately rented the pew out to another family. However, the following Sunday a member of the original family took her place in the pew: there was a great furore and the dispute became something of a public cause célèbre.
In 1865 under the guidance of the architect, S. S. Teulon, a remarkable feat of engineering secured the structure, the galleries were taken down and the east window was rebuilt, financed, as the West Sussex Gazette of November 16th, 1865, explained by a "fund got together by the untiring exertion and perseverance of the ladies' committee". In addition a new south aisle was added to compensate for the loss of the galleries and the interior restored.
This is my very first Wherigo cache. The cache is not at coordinates, but is the starting point which is along the beautiful road leading to St Mary's Church. This is a very simple Wherigo and I am using it as a test to see how it goes, please leave any feedback and let me know if you have any problems. For further information on Wherigo's please visit wherigo.com
To download the Wherigo, please click here
The cache is only a short walk away, so please find it and replace as found.
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication
To view the church micro stats page, please click here