History
Carlton Hill is a long, steep road on high ground known as the East Cliff, north of the Kemp Town development and south of Hanover. Following Brighton's rapid growth in the early 19th century, it became established as one of its most deprived slum areas. [2] [3] Henry Michell Wagner, the Vicar of Brighton from 1824 until his death in 1870, was committed to providing free churches for Brighton's poor people, at a time when pew-rents were standard in Anglican churches. He used his large fortune to build six churches [4] in which most of the seats were free rather than subject to pew-rents. The need for such action was urgent in the early years of his curacy: by 1830 about 18,000 poor people lived in the town, representing nearly half the population, but only 3,000 rent-free pews were available in the existing churches. [4] [5]
St John the Evangelist was the third church built under Wagner's curacy, after All Souls Church in Eastern Road—built between 1833 and 1834, and demolished in 1968—and Christ Church in Montpelier Road (built between 1837 and 1838, and demolished in 1982). [5] [6] The architects and builders of Christ Church, Brighton-based firm Cheesman & Son, were employed again; George Cheesman Jr. was responsible for the design, and his father George Cheesman built it. [3] Unlike its Gothic-inspired predecessor, however, St John the Evangelist was designed in the Classical style. [6] The foundation stone was laid on 15 October 1838. [7] The church cost £4,660 (equivalent to £447,600 in 2022) [1] (including £908 (£87,200 in 2022) [1] for the purchase of the site), and was consecrated on 28 January 1840 by Robert James Carr, a former Vicar of Brighton who had become the Bishop of Worcester. [3] He was visiting Brighton at the time, and stood in for the unwell Bishop of Chichester. More than half of the 1,200 seats were free. [8]
The church always found it difficult to attract a large congregation; reasons claimed for this include its awkward location, the attraction of cheap taverns and gin shops in the area and the controversial introduction of a Ritualist, High church style of worship in the 1860s and 1870s. A further problem was a long and expensive closure in 1879 for structural repairs. [9] It was declared redundant by the Diocese of Chichester on 11 November 1980 and sold to the Greek Orthodox Church on 13 December 1985. [10] Before this, it was announced in June 1982 that one of four bidders for the franchise for Brighton's new commercial radio station wanted to buy the building and convert it into a broadcast studio. The bid, by a company called Southdown Radio and supported by actress Judy Cornwell, was beaten by that of Southern Sound—predecessors of Southern FM. [11]
Since the Greek Orthodox community acquired the building, some interior alterations have been made, including the installation of a new altar screen. [12] It has been licensed for worship in accordance with the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 and has the registration number 79056. [13]
2010 fire
The church was badly damaged by fire in July 2010. In the early afternoon of Sunday 4 July, fire spread from the ground floor through to parts of the roof. There were no casualties. Although there was no structural damage, [14] [15] the entire interior was gutted causing £500,000 worth of damage. The fire is being treated as arson, with a £10,000 reward (funded by public donations) for the conviction of the arsonist. [16] [17]
After initially using a marquee in the grounds of the fire-damaged building, [15] the congregation used St. Michael and All Angels church [16] until restoration work was completed.
Architecture
Built in brick (in a Flemish bond pattern) with some stone dressings, the church has a stuccoed southern frontage, facing Carlton Hill; [7] none of the other elevations are easily visible. A deep central recess is flanked by two prominent wings with entrance doors [12] and large stone pilasters, above which is a pediment with an embedded clock. The large crucifix above the entrance is a recent addition. [6] [18] The Georgian-style front elevation, which was improved in 1957 by L.A. Mackintosh (whose personal monogram is on the wall above the left entrance door), [3] has been described as "strangely bleak". [19]
The frontage is divided into three parts by tall grey pilasters. The left and right bays are further forward than the wider central bay, and have matching entrance: each has a lintel featuring a triglyph and metope pattern, smaller white pilasters and a pediment. Above the left (west) entrance is Mackintosh's crown monogram; above the right is a monogram of an eagle, the symbol of John the Evangelist. [7] A large grey entablature, with prominent triglyph and metope work, sits above the three bays. Over the recessed centre bay is another pediment embedded with a blue clock and topped by a cross. [7]
The church was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 20 August 1971. [7] It is one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove. [20]
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Amon Wilds was an English architect and builder. He formed an architectural partnership with his son Amon Henry Wilds in 1806 and started working in the fashionable and growing seaside resort of Brighton, on the East Sussex coast, in 1815. After 1822, when the father-and-son partnership met and joined up with Charles Busby, they were commissioned—separately or jointly—to design a wide range of buildings in the town, which was experiencing an unprecedented demand for residential development and other facilities. Wilds senior also carried out much work on his own, but the description "Wilds and Busby" was often used on designs, making individual attribution difficult. Wilds senior and his partners are remembered most for his work in post-Regency Brighton, where most of their houses, churches and hotels built in a bold Regency style remain—in particular, the distinctive and visionary Kemp Town and Brunswick estates on the edges of Brighton, whose constituent parts are Grade I listed buildings.
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Carlton Hill is an inner-city area of Brighton, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. First developed in the early and mid-19th century on steeply sloping farmland east of central Brighton, it grew rapidly as the town became a fashionable, high-class destination. Carlton Hill's population was always poor, though, and by the early 20th century the area was Brighton's worst slum: overcrowding, crime and disease were rife. Extensive slum clearance in the mid-20th century introduced high-density tower blocks, but some old buildings remain: in 2008, Brighton and Hove City Council designated part of Carlton Hill as the city's 34th conservation area. The area now has housing of various styles and ages, large offices and small-scale industry; there are also churches, a school and some open space.
St John the Evangelist's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the cathedral city of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Built in 1812 to the design of James Elmes as a proprietary chapel, the octagonal white-brick "evangelical preaching house" reflects the early 19th-century ideals of the Church of England's evangelical wing before High church movements such as the Cambridge Camden Society changed ideas on church design. The Diocese of Chichester declared it redundant in 1973. Although worship no longer takes place in the building, its theatre-like design has made it a popular venue for concerts and musical events. The church is a Grade I Listed building.
Palmeira Square is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. At the southern end it adjoins Adelaide Crescent, another architectural set-piece which leads down to the seafront; large terraced houses occupy its west and east sides, separated by a public garden; and at the north end is one of Hove's main road junctions. This is also called Palmeira Square, and its north side is lined with late 19th-century terraced mansions. Commercial buildings and a church also stand on the main road, which is served by many buses.
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