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Sign of the times (a story from
Horsham Museum)
At the beginning of
2006 one area of Horsham was gripped by public
concern. Grubb Hill area, it was suggested, would be
the ideal place for a sex shop, or rather a shop
selling Adult material. Ironically in 18th century
London Grubb Street, later known as Fleet Street, was
the place for journalists, hack writers, prostitutes
and adult pleasure.
A vigorous campaign to reject this proposal brought a
former local trader to Horsham's attention as
L H Mills, butcher, traded from the premises in
Barrington Road earmarked for the adult shop.
Fortunately for Horsham Museum a descendant of Mr L H
Mills asked if the Museum would like the old trade
sign of the butchers shop. So, in June, the Museum
became owner of this magnificent trade sign,
resplendent in pale blue, following in the Victorian
and Edwardian tradition.
However, although the Museum is grateful for the sign,
it stretches some 15 feet across and now hangs in the
Wealden Farmer display, together with the story of the
butchers together with some brilliant photographs of
the business provided by the family. The sign, which
complements others in the Museum's expanding
collection of trade signs, captures the sense of pride
in the business, the idea of tradition, service to the
community and an idea of dependability. But the story
of the butchery shows how patterns of shopping have
changed and why such shops no longer exist.
The story begins with Lionel Harry Mills Snr opening
his shop in 1929 taking over one of the Hammond
Butcher shops. Lionel had a son, also named Lionel
Harry, who wanted to work in the ironmongery trade but
was persuaded to work in the butchery business with
his father. Lionel Jnr took over the shop in 1936 at
the age of 25 when his father retired, only to join
the RAF three years later leaving his father to come
out of retirement to deal with rationing and the black
market. The shop originally had its own abattoir but
later used others in the town, including Horsham Pork
& Bacon.
Lionel Jnr married, had four sons, the oldest also
being called Lionel Harry. Lionel Jnr expanded the
business gaining a regional reputation that was
rewarded when elected President of the Master Butchers
for the South of England. By the mid 1960's there were
11 independent butchers in Horsham alone. Lionel Jnr's
son, Lionel (grandson) took over a now changing
business - it was the early 70's and supermarkets were
muscling in to the meat market. By the 1980's trade
had declined so substantially that running the
butchery became more and more uneconomic. Lionel
(grandson) also had a son named Lionel
(great-grandson) who worked as a butcher/slaughter man
at Horsham Bacon in Foundry Lane, helping out at the
shop on Saturdays. In November1999, however, the
business closed its doors for the last time.
It wasn't until the spectre of an adult shop hung over
the locality that the sign and its history were
presented to the Museum; a realisation that times are
changing with the trend towards supermarkets rather
than specialist local traders. Fortunately for the
museum and the history of Horsham one such specialist
business has had its past captured.
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