Horsham Museum reveals its new look after opening for the first time in 18 months

The 600-year-old building in Horsham’s Causeway has undergone a complete refurbishment along with a realignment of its precious objects - ranging from 150,00-year-old stone tools and dinosaur bones to unopened full beer bottles.

The refurbishment took over three months just to empty the rooms before the work could begin.

And on Saturday and Sunday the public were invited back inside to see the big reveal.

The museum will now be open 10am-4pm from Thursdays to Saturdays throughout the rest of 2021 with a view to extending its opening hours in spring 2022.

The building’s facelift has made rooms more open, creating a Covid-comfortable space and the building’s original features have now been revealed after lying hidden behind display cases for many years.

The ground floor aims to tell Horsham district’s story, the things that unite this 200 square miles of Sussex, stories that reveal a common thread from Steyning to Rudgwick, Amberley to Billingshurst.

There is an emphasis on the objects, rather than complex narratives. New colourful panels guide and encourage visitors to discover objects seen afresh in brightly lit display cases, from medieval Horsham hoards, medieval tiles with a knight on horseback from Pulborough, or the unique fossil dragonfly wings, or even a dinosaur and a 7,000 year old stone flint named after the town, to a Southwater-made WWII chess set.

Upstairs there is a gallery about the written word that tells the district’s rich literary history by showing published books including pamphlets written by a farmer from Sullington - Richard Hains - published in 17th century in London, on economics and work houses.

There is also a new costume gallery with new specially made glass display cases that allow visitors to enjoy a 360 degree view of the costumes.

Horsham District Council cabinet member for leisure and culture Roger Noel said: “My thanks go out to our team who have worked so hard to make sure that the museum is reopening refreshed with such amazing new displays, collections and exhibitions.

“The museum reopening is all the more poignant as it also marks the retirement of our long serving curator Jeremy Knight after over 33 years’ service to the council.

“The museum refresh marks the last major project by Jeremy who used the knowledge built up over his long tenure to design, research, select, and display the exhibits to tell the story of the district’s heritage and to enable new stories to be told with ease.

“Over his long tenure Jeremy has shaped Horsham Museum and Art Gallery into the unique cultural facility that we have today, and it is this legacy which will stretch far into the future for generations to enjoy. I join many others in wishing Jeremy a long, happy and healthy retirement.

“I would urge as many people as possible to come along and pay a visit to enjoy all the hard work that has gone into this refurbishment.”

Newly recruited to the role of associate curator is Nikki Caxton who joins from the V&A Museum in London.