This church, situated just off the seafront in Waterloo Street, was made redundant in 1991 and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was designed in 1827 by the well known architect, Sir Charles Barry, who had already built St Peter's Church in Brighton just three years earlier.
The design is in the Italian Renaissance Style. There is a separate page for the windows of this church, here.
The building was erected as a proprietary chapel to serve Brunswick Town on land separate from the development of the estate owned by the Rev. Edward Everard, perpetual curate of St Margaret's Chapel in Cannon Place. He was granted an Act of Parliament in 1828 which allowed him to erect a privately owned chapel and which allowed him to keep two thirds of the income which would arise from pew rents and fees for christenings and burials, but not from weddings. The building was not licensed for marriages for another one hundred years. The remaining third of the income would go to the Vicar of Hove, in whose parish the chapel stood.
Here is a view of the inside looking towards the ecclesiastical west.
The church was extended in the 1880s, with the addition of a chancel, and further aggrandised in 1925 when Randoll Blacking added baldacchinos for the altar and font to meet the wishes of the parish priest that the church should become "a little but of Italy in Waterloo Street". Here is a view of the font with its canopy. It seems as if the lid isn't on quite straight!
Click here to view the stained glass windows behind the font and in the rest of the church.
Here is a view looking east towards the sanctuary. The fine proportions of the building and elegant design make this a truly impressive space. The sanctuary is set behind Ionic columns and is panelled with nine round-headed arches. The dome is painted with gold stars on a blue ground and is lit by a lunette window.
The octagonal wooden pulpit with Baroque sounding board was given by Fr Kirkley as a memorial to his brother Frank who was killed in the First World War.
For some reason there was an incense burner hanging on a step ladder in the chancel during my visit.
Click here to view the stained glass windows in the nave and in the rest of the church.
The organ case, to the north of the sanctuary, is sadly empty. It is however an impressive architectural component and sports carvings of passion flowers, lilies and honeysuckle. It dates from 1882. The organ was enlarged in 1925 by the local company, Smith of Brighton, when a separate console was installed on the south side of the chancel. The connections between the organ and console ran between the specially raised floor.
The case, given in memory of Thomas William Wing, partially conceals an attractive window depicting angels, seen on the right of this picture.
Click here to view the stained glass windows in the chancel and in the rest of the church.
I am grateful to John Vigar for historical information presented on this page.
Digital photographs
Visitors to this album since June 2003
If you found this page using a search engine or other link, please use the icons below to link to one of the main sections of the Roughwood web site:
Please do not reproduce or store any of the pictures on this site without asking first.
