On this Day – Biplane lands in Horsham

On this day – April 21 – in 1914 Horsham residents had a surprise visit! A biplane landed at Chesworth Meadow, near Denne Road, at around 6.30pm. The first aircraft to land in the town.

The aviator was William H. Elliott, the son of a well known Horsham tradesman Mr T.H Elliott. William had been flying for about ten months and ran a flying school at the Shoreham Aerodrome, along with Mr B.H. England, the son of a Slinfold resident.

The plane made three circuits of the town before landing. Such was the interest in this event, around 1,000 people arrived to look at the plane! The County Times likened it to the excitement raised by the fire-bell.

William said this was the first cross-country trip of length that he had made and the landing was a bit bumpy due to some technical problems.

The trip from Shoreham to Horsham had taken around 20 minutes and included a dramatic 200ft drop at one stage when they hit an air pocket!

The plane was a Henry Farman biplane, with a Gnome engine and weighed about 1,000lbs.

Interestingly, two men were left in charge of the plane overnight for, according to the paper, fear of militant suffragettes causing damage!

The journey home was set for around 5am on the 22nd and hundreds of people got up early to watch the scene. Photographs were taken and there was much interest.

In fact, as the plane skirted the field before taking off there were so many people in the way one man had to dive to the ground to prevent being hit by the wing of the aircraft!

At half past six the plane finally took off and returned to Shoreham.

This was the third plane to land in the district, the other two ending up at the Golf Club in Broadbridge Heath and Ends Place in Warnham. So, the paper announced, it was good that a Horsham man was the first to land in Horsham.

A series of ten photographs were produced as souvenirs by the well known Queen Street, Horsham, photographer Bon Marche and went on sale at 1d each.