Horsham
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The
market
town of
Horsham
is rich
in Shelleyana.
Many sites
that would
have been
familiar
to Shelley
still exist:
among them
are Park
House,
Springfield
Park, and
the Manor
House.
South of
Horsham
along the
A24, the
West Grinstead
Parish
Church in
which Timothy
Shelley
and Elizabeth
Pilfold
were married
still holds
the eighteenth
century
pews from
which their
relatives
viewed
the ceremony.
In
the Horsham
town center,
one can
find Angela
Conner's
Shelley
memorial, "Rising
Universe" (it's
right
next
to the
McDonald’s;
we immediately
rechristened
it the "McMemorial").
Unveiled
in
November
1997,
it
was
(according
to
the
KSMA
Newsletter
of
March
1998)
immediately
dubbed
by
locals
as
a "split
pea,"
a "mammoth
ice lolly," and
a "lychee
in a
potato
skin."
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| But
Horsham offers
a good deal
more than
the memorial.
The best
local source
of information
is the Horsham
Tourist Information
Centre (9,
The Causeway,
Horsham,
West Sussex
RH12 1 HE,
phone: 01403
211661, fax:
01403
215268, museum
phone: 01403
254959),
which sells
several
Shelley-related
books and
pamphlets,
including "Shelley’s
Horsham." It
is open
from 10
AM to
5
PM Tuesday
through
Saturday,
and is
housed
in
a sixteenth
century
timber
framed
house
on the
ultra-fashionable
Causeway,
where
Shelley’s
father
owned
the property
shown
here. |
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| Arun
House, the "cottage" that
Shelley’s
grandfather
preferred
to his £80,000
Castle Goring,
can be found
on Denne road,
privately
owned by the
Rooney family.
Contemporary
gossip hinted
that Sir Bysshe
must have
been a bit
mad to live
in such relative
squalor—although
to modern
eyes, the
snug home
seems a good
deal more
appealing
than a drafty
fortress.
Next to the
cottage is
the cemetery
where Tom
Medwin (Shelley’s
boyhood friend
who turned
into an incredibly
boring Italian
houseguest)
is buried. |
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| Another interesting Horsham site is the Church of Saint
Mary’s at the foot of the Causeway. The exterior is much
as it was in Shelley’s time, although the interior has been
completely redone. The family vault of Shelley’s father,
mother, and grandfather are here, along with a memorial
plaque to Percy Bysshe. |
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| Outside
of Horsham,
between the
A264 and A281
motorways,
one can find
Saint Leonard’s
Forest, one
of Shelley’s
favorite
rambles, and
a favorite
subject for
the wild tales
he told his
sisters and
brother. It
is of course
the home of
the legendary
Great Snake,
and even today
remains rather
wild and
delightfully
Romantic. |
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