Remarkable Rolls-royce founder is remembered
A special ceremony had been held to remember the ‘remarkable’ co-founder of Rolls-royce Motor Cars, Sir Henry Royce, at his home in West Wittering.
Every year, the local section of the Rolls-royce Enthusiasts’ Club (RREC) marks the anniversary of the death of Sir Henry Royce on 22 April 1933 with a special ceremony at Elmstead, his beloved home in the village of West Wittering.
The house, where Royce spent the last 16 years of his life, just eight miles from the present-day Home of Rollsroyce at Goodwood.
This year’s event had an added local significance, since it coincides with the centenary of West Wittering Memorial Hall, which was built during Royce’s time at Elmstead.
As both neighbour and engineer, Royce would have taken a keen personal and professional interest in the construction work and would have observed its progress when he walked the 200 yards or so between the house and his design studio, located on the corner opposite the site.
Andrew Ball, head of corporate relations at Rollsroyce Motor Cars, said: “One of the reasons Goodwood was originally chosen as the site for the Home of Rolls-royce was its proximity to Sir Henry
Royce’s home and design studio at West Wittering.
“That emotional connection with our founder, who spent his happiest and most productive years there, is something we all feel very deeply.”
RREC members walked in his footsteps retracing his short journey from the Memorial Hall to Elmstead for the commemoration ceremony in a unique opportunity to place themselves in a world that Royce himself knew.