Shelley remembered in 2022

The entrance to the Warnham Local Nature Reserve was transformed by the creation of the Shelley Wildlife Garden, featuring a new pond and pollinator-friendly planting scheme, in time for it to flourish by spring of 2022.

Symbolic tree planting

A symbolic tree was planted near the Wildlife Garden as it was indicated to us that Shelley often sat under a specific chestnut tree near the Reserve’s Millpond in the late 18th and early 19th century, and this is where he took a lot of his inspiration for this work.

Time for tea and poetry

An outdoor commemorative tea party and poetry readings by the poet took place beside the Millpond on 8 July – the actual bicentenary of his death.

Morag Warrack, Chair of Trafalgar Neighbourhood Council recited Shelley’s ‘The Cloud’ and Simon Packham from the Shelley Memorial Project read ‘To a Skylark’.

New Shelley Cycle Path declared open

Shelley’s death was further commemorated by the opening of a new cycle path on the Warnham Park Estate in his honour. The Shelley Cycle Path was declared open as some 20 cyclists completed a special cycle ride.

The cycle ride, stopped off at Shelley’s favourite haunts, starting at Poets’ Corner in Horsham Park and finishing in Warnham village.

Shelley died on 8 July 1822 as a result of a boating accident in Italy at the age of 29.