English Martyrs' Catholic Church, Goring-by-Sea

Last updated

English Martyrs Catholic Church, Goring-by-Sea
Church of the English Martyrs, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing.jpg
The church from the northeast
English Martyrs' Catholic Church, Goring-by-Sea
50°48′57″N0°25′40″W / 50.8158°N 0.4277°W / 50.8158; -0.4277
Denomination Roman Catholic
Website https://english-martyrs.co.uk/
History
Status Parish church
Dedication English Martyrs
Consecrated 1970
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architectural type Church, utilitarian [1]
Completed1968
Specifications
Width13 metres (44 ft) [2]
Administration
Province Southwark
Diocese Arundel & Brighton
Deanery Worthing
Clergy
Priest(s) Fr Liam O'Connor
Deacon(s) Gary Bevans

English Martyrs' Church is in Compton Avenue, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, West Sussex, England. It is an active Roman Catholic parish church in the diocese of Arundel & Brighton and the Worthing deanery. Hand-painted by Gary Bevans over five and a half years, English Martyrs' Church has the only known reproduction of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, [3] [4] which has been described as "a marvel" [1] and "astonishing". [4]

Contents

Reproduction of Sistine Chapel ceiling

Following a visit with his wife and children to the Sistine Chapel in Rome for the beatification of the English Martyrs in 1987, sign-painter Gary Bevans was inspired to paint a copy of the Sistine Chapel frescoes on the ceiling of English Martyrs' Church. [5] The frescoes painted by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel from 1508 are regarded as one of the major artistic accomplishments of human civilisation. [6] [7] Bevans realised that English Martyrs' Church is the same width as the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and slightly shorter in length. [5] Bevans had already produced works of art for the church. These included images of two of the English Martyrs - St Thomas More and St John Fisher, and a painting of the Last Supper which unusually includes Mary on Jesus' left, a young child and a Yorkshire Terrier. [8]

Having secured the backing of the parish priest he received permission from the bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Cormac Murphy-O'Connor [9] and began work later in 1987. Bevans completed the painting of the ceiling in 1993, five and a half years later. Bevans completed the works by himself, working in the evening and at weekends, in addition to his full-time job. The painted area is on a wooden vaulted surface fixed to the church roof, painted white, with frescos painted in acrylic paint. [4]

The church also has a stained glass west window, by Annie Goodman, installed in 1990, as well as Irish coloured glass in the clerestory. [1]

Adjoining barn

Next to the church lies the barn that is used as a church hall. Built in 1771 for George Jupp, a local farmer, the barn with its outbuildings was designated as a Grade II listed building on 31 January 1989. [10] In December 1937 the barn was in a derelict state when it was bought with adjoining land and turned into a chapel, with priests from St Mary of the Angels in the centre of Worthing saying mass. When the new parish was created in 1952 the barn was used as a church until it was replaced by the present church building. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelangelo</span> Italian artist, architect and poet (1475–1564)

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art. Michelangelo's creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci. Given the sheer volume of surviving correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences, Michelangelo is one of the best-documented artists of the 16th century. He was lauded by contemporary biographers as the most accomplished artist of his era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sistine Chapel</span> Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City

The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna, the chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and 1481. Since that time, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today, it is the site of the papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected. The fame of the Sistine Chapel lies mainly in the frescoes that decorate the interior, most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment, both by Michelangelo.

<i>The Creation of Adam</i> Fresco by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel

The Creation of Adam, also known as The Creation of Man, is a fresco painting by Italian artist Michelangelo, which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted c. 1508–1512. It illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives life to Adam, the first man. The fresco is part of a complex iconographic scheme and is chronologically the fourth in the series of panels depicting episodes from Genesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goring-by-Sea</span> Suburb of Worthing, West Sussex, England

Goring-by-Sea, commonly referred to simply as Goring, is a neighbourhood of Worthing and former civil parish, now in Worthing district in West Sussex, England. It lies west of West Worthing, about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Worthing town centre. Historically in Sussex, in the rape of Arundel, Goring has been part of the borough of Worthing since 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sistine Chapel ceiling</span> Cycle of frescoes by Michelangelo

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes</span> 20th-century art conservation project

The conservation-restoration of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel was one of the most significant conservation-restorations of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Worthing</span> Human settlement in England

West Worthing is a neighbourhood of Worthing in West Sussex, England that was developed within Heene and later expanded beyond Heene's boundaries. Intended as an exclusive resort, the township of West Worthing was developed from around 1864 and merged with the formerly separate township of Worthing in 1890, when Worthing gained borough status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Joseph's Church, Brighton</span> Church in Brighton and Hove , England

St Joseph's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Elm Grove area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is one of eleven Roman Catholic churches in the city. The church was built in several stages beginning in 1879, and outstanding debts meant that its official dedication did not take place until 1979. It has been listed at Grade II* by English Heritage in view of its architectural importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Peter's Church, Aldrington</span> Church in England

St Peter's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Aldrington area of Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is one of three Roman Catholic churches in Hove and one of eleven in the wider city area. Built between 1912 and 1915 in a red-brick Romanesque style, its tall campanile forms a local landmark. It has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage in view of its architectural importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Goring-by-Sea</span> Church in West Sussex , United Kingdom

St Mary's Church is an Anglican church in the Goring-by-Sea area of the Borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The late Norman parish church of the ancient village of Goring retains some architectural elements from that period, but Decimus Burton's comprehensive restoration of 1837 has given the church its present Gothic Revival exterior appearance. German artist Hans Feibusch, who worked extensively in the Diocese of Chichester, provided a mural in 1954: it is considered impressive, but caused controversy at the time. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.

<i>Prophet Jonah</i> (Michelangelo) Fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

The Prophet Jonah is one of the seven Old Testament prophets painted by the Italian High Renaissance master Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican Palace of Vatican City.

<i>Prophet Jeremiah</i> (Michelangelo) Fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

The Prophet Jeremiah is one of the seven Old Testament prophets painted by the Italian High Renaissance master Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Sistine Chapel is in Vatican Palace, in the Vatican City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and English Martyrs, St Leonards-on-Sea</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

The Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and English Martyrs is the Roman Catholic church serving St Leonards-on-Sea, a town and seaside resort which is part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. The present church, which combines a plain, unadorned Gothic Revival exterior with a lavishly decorated interior featuring extensive early 20th-century paintings by Nathaniel Westlake, is the third building used for Roman Catholic worship in the seaside resort. James Burton's new town of 1827, immediately west of Hastings, was home to a convent from 1848; public worship then transferred to a new church nearby in 1866. When this burnt down, prolific and "distinguished" architect Charles Alban Buckler designed a replacement. The church remains in use as the main place of worship in a parish which extends into nearby Hollington, and has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Edmund Church, Godalming</span> Church in Surrey , United Kingdom

St Edmund's Church is the Roman Catholic parish church of Godalming, a town in the English county of Surrey. It was built in 1906 to the design of Frederick Walters and is a Grade II listed building. The church stands on a "dramatic hillside site" on the corner of Croft Road just off Flambard Way close to the centre of the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Wilfrid's Church, Hailsham</span> Church in East Sussex, England

St Wilfrid's Church is a Roman Catholic church serving the town of Hailsham in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The present building was completed in 2015 and is the third church to serve the town; it stands between its predecessors, a small hall opened in 1922 and a larger church of 1955, on a site which had belonged to a Catholic family since the 19th century. The Hailsham area was historically supportive of Protestant Nonconformist beliefs and had few Catholics, and for many years worshippers had to attend Mass in basic premises: rooms in private houses and, from 1917, a subdivided loft in the stables of a brewery. Numbers grew rapidly after the first permanent church opened, and after six decades of being served from Our Lady of Ransom Church, Eastbourne, Hailsham became an independent parish in 1957. The town's rapid postwar growth and an increasing Catholic population prompted the construction of the larger new church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St George's Church, Polegate</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

St George's Church is a Roman Catholic church of the parish of Hailsham and Polegate serving the town of Polegate in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Worthing</span> Timeline of the history of Worthing, West Sussex, England

The following is a timeline of the history of the borough of Worthing, West Sussex, England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Williamson et al. 2019 , p. 748
  2. "Learn how Worthing church's reproduction of Sistine Chapel ceiling came about at special exhibition". Worthing Herald. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  3. "Welcome to The Sistine Chapel Reproduction United Kingdom". Sistine Chapel UK. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Jones, Jonathan (14 January 2020). "The Sistine Chapel in Sussex – painted by the Michelangelo of Goring-by-Sea". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  5. 1 2 Rule, Sheila (27 March 1989). "Worthing Journal; Sign-Painter's Sistine Ceiling: Acrylic on Plywood". New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  6. Gardner 1970 , p. 469
  7. Coughlan 1966 , p. 116
  8. Schweitzer, Louise (30 August 2016). "A Look Inside Goring's Sistine Chapel". Sussex Life. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  9. Hughes 2017
  10. "Jupps Barn". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  11. "The Barn". English Martyrs Catholic Church. Retrieved 2 March 2020.

Bibliography