Going on one of the historical walks organised by our town's Society a few weeks ago brought new hitherto unknown little gems to my attention. Mr GBT, as ever, has been a little star and kindly photographed all them for me.
Surely the biggest fountain pen in the town. It forms one of the supports for the notice board slap bang in the centre of the town. I, of course, have never clapped eyes on it!
This unusual shaped window sits quietly unnoticed above a local shop. Opened in 1911, it was once The Electric Theatre and is the very place one Michael Caine made his professional debut. It closed in 1956.
Nowadays these aren't on a church. Badly effected by the building of a dual carriage, St Mark's became isolated and congregation numbers plummeted. Made redundant in 1988, it was a local political hot potato when the decision was taken to pull it down to make way for offices. With the likes of the Victorian Society wading in a compromise was reached and the spire was left intact. Part of the decision was based upon the fact that the it had been dedicated to Mary, the only daughter of Canon A H Bridges in 1870. A replacement church with the same dedication has been built on the far side of the town.
New dragons. Horsham has a long folkloric association with these beasts and this is the second panel I've found this year. These two are subtly different.
As for this last one...well what can I say. Who knew there was a rather moth eaten looking stuffed owl hidden away high up in the rafters in our parish church. I have the verger to thank for this one. You'd never see it unless you knew it was there. I must admit that I was expecting to see a carved one....certainly not this! It's a bit of a mystery why it's doing...possibly to scare the bats. Seeing as the church has a thriving colony of Pipistrelles one can only assume it's not fit for purpose! Not my loveliest find ever I have to be honest, but then I should have learnt to expect the unexpected by now!
Arilx
Surely the biggest fountain pen in the town. It forms one of the supports for the notice board slap bang in the centre of the town. I, of course, have never clapped eyes on it!
This unusual shaped window sits quietly unnoticed above a local shop. Opened in 1911, it was once The Electric Theatre and is the very place one Michael Caine made his professional debut. It closed in 1956.
Nowadays these aren't on a church. Badly effected by the building of a dual carriage, St Mark's became isolated and congregation numbers plummeted. Made redundant in 1988, it was a local political hot potato when the decision was taken to pull it down to make way for offices. With the likes of the Victorian Society wading in a compromise was reached and the spire was left intact. Part of the decision was based upon the fact that the it had been dedicated to Mary, the only daughter of Canon A H Bridges in 1870. A replacement church with the same dedication has been built on the far side of the town.
New dragons. Horsham has a long folkloric association with these beasts and this is the second panel I've found this year. These two are subtly different.
As for this last one...well what can I say. Who knew there was a rather moth eaten looking stuffed owl hidden away high up in the rafters in our parish church. I have the verger to thank for this one. You'd never see it unless you knew it was there. I must admit that I was expecting to see a carved one....certainly not this! It's a bit of a mystery why it's doing...possibly to scare the bats. Seeing as the church has a thriving colony of Pipistrelles one can only assume it's not fit for purpose! Not my loveliest find ever I have to be honest, but then I should have learnt to expect the unexpected by now!
Arilx
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That poor stuffed owl looks a bit worse fro wear!
ReplyDeleteI love a historical walk around a city, I always sign up when I'm in India. xxx
Me too. We went on one in London earlier this year and it was fascinating.
DeleteArilx
Ewww....manky x
ReplyDeleteYes 'tis indeed a bit grim!
DeleteArilx