Horsham’s historic hailstones

The Great Storm of 1987 is remembered for its ferocity, but what about the ‘awful and magnificent storm’ of September 5 1958?

That one made Horsham famous as the town still holds the record for the largest hailstone to fall in the UK (140 grams).

However, it wasn’t just hail the size of tennis balls that did the most damage!

It was also the hurricane force wind and tropical rain that caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

In fact, the winds were only evident in a ‘corridor’ that encompassed a large part of Horsham and some surrounding villages, such as Faygate and Wisborough Green.

Hundreds of houses were damaged, crops destroyed, telephone lines wrecked, roofs ripped off and glass smashed.

The miracle was that no one was seriously hurt, apart, sadly, from a budgie that died of fright!

The previous two days had seen an oppressive jungle-like heat.

Then it turned dark as night and rain, strong winds, lightning and hailstones arrived.

Cottages in Roffey were severely damaged, trees all around were uprooted or snapped in half and sheets of corrugated iron flew through the air.

Three people were treated for slight injuries, including one woman who was hit on the head by hail while rescuing her pet rabbit, with the other two being cut by flying glass.

Horsham Fire Brigade had 50 calls in two hours to sort out flooding and dangerous structures.

At Codmore Hill Nurseries in Pulborough 13-14,000 panes of glass were smashed 

Similar tales of destruction were recorded in numerous villages.

However, others such as Rusper remained unscathed!