Horsham District


Horsham is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It is named after the town of Horsham, which is its largest settlement and where the council is based. The district also includes the surrounding rural area and contains many villages, the largest of which are Southwater and Billingshurst. The district includes part of the South Downs National Park and part of the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty of High Weald. At the 2021 census the district had a population of 147,487.
The neighbouring districts are Crawley, Mid Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Adur, Arun, Chichester, Waverley and Mole Valley.
WWW Official Site

History

Horsham itself had been an ancient borough from the thirteenth century, but lost its borough status in the 1830s. The town had been made a local government district in 1875, which became Horsham Urban District in 1894.
The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of seven districts within West Sussex. The new district covered the whole area of three former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:
The new district was named Horsham, after its largest settlement.

Governance

Horsham District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by West Sussex County Council. Much of the district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.
In the parts of the district within the South Downs National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the South Downs [National Park Authority]. The district council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 27-person National Park Authority.

Political control

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since the 2023 election.
The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2001 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election, and subsequent by-elections up to April 2025, the composition of the council was:
The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 22 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

The council is based at Albery House on Springfield Road in Horsham. The council moved into the building in 2025.
Between 2015 and 2025 the council shared a building called Parkside on Chart Way with West Sussex County Council. Prior to 2015 the council was based across several buildings, including Park House, an eighteenth century house on North Street which had served as the headquarters of the old Horsham Urban District Council since 1928.

Towns and parishes

The central part of the Horsham urban area, roughly corresponding to the pre-1974 Horsham Urban District, is an unparished area. The rest of the district is divided into civil parishes. None of the parishes has been formally designated a town by its parish council, although Billingshurst, Henfield, Pulborough and Steyning are post towns.
Within the Horsham District are the following civil parishes:
ParishTypeArea Population Pop Density /Hectare
AmberleyParish Council1179.375330.45
AshingtonParish Council805.1523512.91
AshurstParish Council1009.412260.22
BillingshurstParish Council3219.3165312.03
BramberParish Council719.067571.05
Broadbridge HeathParish Council215.64302114.01
ColdwalthamParish Council893.138450.95
ColgateParish Council2243.6711190.50
CowfoldParish Council1925.5718640.97
HenfieldParish Council1734.7550122.89
HorshamUnparished1170.632369820.24
ItchingfieldParish Council1091.0614771.35
Lower BeedingParish Council1845.0610010.54
North HorshamParish Council1094.772134819.50
NuthurstParish Council1696.7617111.00
ParhamParish Council1586.232140.13
PulboroughParish Council2098.3146852.23
RudgwickParish Council2468.9827911.13
RusperParish Council2588.5613890.54
ShermanburyParish Council775.154540.59
ShipleyParish Council3125.6010750.34
SlinfoldParish Council1694.8116470.97
SouthwaterParish Council1400.20100257.16
SteyningParish Council1574.0958123.69
Storrington and SullingtonParish Council1199.6960745.06
ThakehamParish Council1170.6317941.53
Upper BeedingParish Council1877.4837982.02
WarnhamParish Council1980.2119580.99
WashingtonParish Council1275.9019301.51
West ChiltingtonParish Council1732.5433151.91
West GrinsteadParish Council2583.6529341.14
WistonParish Council1359.672210.16
WoodmancoteParish Council848.724780.56
HorshamTotal53096.211220882.30

Education

The Rikkyo School in England, a Japanese boarding school, is located in the Rudgwick community in Horsham District.