Global InformationList of places of worship in Horsham District information
There are more than 110 current and former churches and other places of worship in the district of Horsham, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The town of Horsham, the district's administrative centre, has 88 places of worship in use as of 2024, and a further 28 closed churches and other former religious buildings which, although still standing, are no longer in religious use. The area has a long history of Christian worship, in both the main population centres (Horsham, Billingshurst, Henfield, Pulborough, Steyning and Storrington) and the surrounding villages and hamlets. Many Anglican churches are of Anglo-Saxon or Norman architecture. Roman Catholic places of worship include chapels within convents and priories, including England's only Carthusian monastery, as well as modern churches. Protestant Nonconformity has been well established since the 17th century. Plymouth Brethren are well represented in the north of the district; Baptists, Methodists and United Reformed Church worshippers have many churches; William Penn lived and preached in the area, which still has a strong Quaker presence;[1] and one of eight chapels belonging to a now vanished local sect, the Society of Dependants, still stands at Warnham. There is also a mosque in the town of Horsham.
English Heritage has awarded listed status to nearly 50 current and former church buildings in the district of Horsham. A building is defined as "listed" when it is placed on a statutory register of buildings of "special architectural or historic interest" in accordance with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.[2] The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, a Government department, is responsible for this; English Heritage, a non-departmental public body, acts as an agency of the department to administer the process and advise the department on relevant issues.[3] There are three grades of listing status: Grade I, the highest, is defined as being of "exceptional interest"; Grade II* is used for "particularly important buildings of more than special interest"; and Grade II, the lowest, is used for buildings of "special interest".[4] As of February 2001, there were 38 buildings with Grade I status, 60 with Grade II* status and 1,628 with Grade II status in the district of Horsham.[5]
- ^ Coppin 2006, p. 75.
- ^ "Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (c. 9)". The UK Statute Law Database. Ministry of Justice. 24 May 1990. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
- ^ "History of English Heritage". English Heritage. 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ "Listed Buildings". English Heritage. 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "Images of England — Statistics by County (West Sussex)". Images of England. English Heritage. 2007. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013.