Looking back – 1948: ancient Horsham thoroughfare closes to traffic

It’s hard to believe these days, but Middle Street in the heart of Horsham was once open to traffic!

Butchers Row, as it was once known, is a very short street linking East and West Streets. It was well placed for meat arriving from the cattle market in the Carfax, hence its original name.

It’s also likely the bodies from bear baiting, again in the nearby Carfax up to the early 19th Century, would have been brought here.

By 1948 traffic was growing substantially across the UK and Horsham was no different. While motor cars were narrower than today they still created problems on the town’s roads that simply weren’t built for the amount of vehicles.

So, in December 1947 Horsham Urban Council decided to close Middle Street from motor vehicles as from January 1 1948.

Horsham Museum’s featured archive photo shows West Street, Horsham, looking west, on the first day of the new one-way system.

By mid-January workmen were still working on converting the former street into a paved walk for shoppers.