History
Burgess Hill—now a town of about 30,000 people—did not exist until the mid-19th century, when the London and Brighton Railway built a railway line across St John's Common, an area of common land divided between the parishes of Clayton and Keymer. [1] [2] The line and Burgess Hill railway station opened in 1841, and rapid population growth led to the building of an Anglican church, St John the Evangelist's, in the early 1860s and the creation of an ecclesiastical parish in 1863. [2] [3]
One of the most important early residents was Frederick Hoadley. In 1857 he founded a department store on a prominent site near the railway station; it was so successful that other branches were opened elsewhere in Sussex. [4] In 1875, together with fellow resident Eli Ashdown, he formed a trust to fund the establishment of a Strict Baptist place of worship in the town. [5] St John's Park, a 6.5-acre (2.6 ha) recreational area in the town centre, was presented to the town in 1871 as a memorial to a local philanthropist. [6] Hoadley and Ashdown bought a site on Park Road, with a southward view across the park, in 1875 and commissioned architect Simeon Norman to design a chapel. [5] [7] It was registered for marriages on 20 June 1876. [8] There were already other Nonconformist places of worship in the town: a Congregational church of 1829 predated the railway-influenced development, and congregations of both Plymouth Brethren and General Baptists were founded in 1870. [2] [7] [9] [10] Methodists, Congregationalists and the Salvation Army also had a presence by 1900. [11]
Simeon Norman's chapel continued to serve the Strict Baptist community throughout the 20th century, [7] but attendances gradually fell. It was therefore sold in 1999, and has been converted into a family home and renamed Providence House. [9] [11] [12]
The Providence Strict Baptist Chapel was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 27 November 1975; [13] this defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest". [14] As of February 2001, it was one of 958 Grade II listed buildings, and 1,028 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Mid Sussex. [15] It is within the St John's Common Conservation Area designated by Mid Sussex District Council. [5] [16]
Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, 39 mi (63 km) south of London, 10 mi (16 km) north of Brighton and Hove, and 29 mi (47 km) northeast of the county town, Chichester. It had an area of 3.7 sq mi (9.6 km2) and a population of 30,635 at the 2011 Census, making it the fourth most populous parish in the county and the most populous in the Mid Sussex District. Other nearby towns include Haywards Heath to the northeast and Lewes, the county town of East Sussex, to the southeast.
St John the Baptist's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Kemptown area of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It was the first Roman Catholic church built in Brighton after the process of Catholic Emancipation in the early 19th century removed restrictions on Catholic worship. Located on Bristol Road, a main road east of the city centre, it is one of 11 Catholic churches in Brighton and Hove. The Classical-style building, which was funded by Maria Fitzherbert and completed in 1835, has been listed at Grade II* by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance.
Hove Methodist Church is one of five extant Methodist churches in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Founded on a site on Portland Road, one of Hove's main roads, in the late 19th century by a long-established Wesleyan community, it was extended in the 1960s and is now a focus for various social activities as well as worship. The red-brick building has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage in view of its architectural importance.
St Richard's Church is an Anglican church in the town of Haywards Heath in the district of Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The present reinforced concrete and brick structure replaced a temporary building which was a daughter church to Haywards Heath's parish church, St Wilfrid's; the new church soon became parished in its own right to reflect the rapid population growth in the northern part of the town. English Heritage has listed the 1930s building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
St John the Evangelist's Church is the Church of England parish church of Burgess Hill, West Sussex, England. It is a Gothic Revival church built of local bricks. It was consecrated in 1863 and was the town's first Church of England church. Since then it has administered several other churches in the town as either mission chapels or daughter churches, but all have either closed or been given their own parishes. The church is a Grade II* Listed Building.
West Street Baptist Church is a Baptist church in East Grinstead, a town in the district of Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Founded in 1810 as a chapel linked to the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, it was the first Nonconformist place of worship in East Grinstead; the town's subsequent development made it a local centre of both Protestant Nonconformity and alternative religions. The red-brick building is still used by a Baptist community, and is protected as a Grade II listed building.
Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican church in the village of Cuckfield in the district of Mid Sussex; one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It was founded in the 11th century and was in the possession of Lewes Priory by 1090. The present structure dates from the mid-13th century but was extended in the 14th century and heavily altered and restored during the Victorian period, with much interior work by Charles Eamer Kempe and stained glass by both Kempe and the Clayton and Bell firm. The church's spire was replaced in 1981 following a fire. Former chapels of ease in outlying hamlets have closed, and the church now serves a large rural area in the centre of Sussex. It is protected as a Grade I listed building.
Madina Mosque is a mosque in the centre of Horsham, an ancient market town in the English county of West Sussex. It has served the Muslim community of the town and the surrounding district of Horsham since 2008. The plain stuccoed building in which it is housed was originally a Baptist chapel—one of several in the town, which has a long history of Nonconformist Christian worship. The former Jireh Independent Chapel was in commercial use until Muslims acquired it after a lengthy search for a permanent space. The organization, 'Muslims in Britain' classify the Madina Mosque as, "Deobandi".
St Leonard's Baptist Church is the Baptist place of worship serving St Leonards-on-Sea, a town and seaside resort which is part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. The elaborate building was designed by the architectural firm of Thomas Elworthy, responsible for many churches in late-Victorian era Sussex, and serves the residential hinterland of St Leonards-on-Sea—an area which grew rapidly after its early 19th-century founding by James Burton. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
Horsham Unitarian Church is a Unitarian chapel in Horsham in the English county of West Sussex. It was founded in 1719 to serve the large Baptist population of the ancient market town of Horsham—home of radical preacher Matthew Caffyn—and the surrounding area. The chapel's congregation moved towards Unitarian beliefs in the 19th century, but the simple brick building continued to serve worshippers drawn from a wide area of Sussex. It is one of several places of worship which continue to represent Horsham's centuries-old tradition of Protestant Nonconformism, and is the town's second oldest surviving religious building—only St Mary's, the parish church, predates it. English Heritage has listed the chapel at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
Bethel Baptist Chapel is a Strict Baptist place of worship in the village of Wivelsfield in East Sussex, England. The cause was founded in 1763 by members of a chapel at nearby Ditchling; Henry Booker and other worshippers seceded and began to meet at Wivelsfield after hearing a sermon by George Whitefield. Although some members of the new church soon returned to the Ditchling congregation, the cause thrived under Booker's leadership, and the present chapel—a building of "quiet and unassuming elegance" set in its own graveyard—was erected in 1780. It has served the Strict Baptist community continuously since then, and members founded other chapels elsewhere in Sussex during the 18th and 19th centuries. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.
Ditchling Unitarian Chapel is a Unitarian chapel in Ditchling, a village in the English county of East Sussex. A congregation of General Baptists began to meet in the 17th century in the village, which was a local centre for Protestant Nonconformist worship, and by the time the present simple Vernacular-style chapel was constructed in 1740 a large proportion of the population held Baptist beliefs. Along with other General Baptist chapels in Sussex, the congregation moved towards Unitarian views in the mid-18th century; this caused a schism which resulted in a new chapel being formed at nearby Wivelsfield. The character of the Ditchling chapel was wholly Unitarian by 1800, and it has continued under various names since then. People associated with the chapel include William Hale White, Henry Acton, Adrian Boult—who was married there—and G. K. Chesterton. The chapel is set back from Ditchling's main street and has an adjoining house and graveyard, all of which contribute to the character of the conservation area which covers the centre of Ditchling village. English Heritage has listed the chapel at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
St Wilfrid's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Burgess Hill, West Sussex.
Montpelier Place Baptist Church, originally known as the Baptist Tabernacle, is a former Baptist church in the Montpelier area of Brighton, part of the English seaside city of Brighton and Hove. It opened in 1967 to replace a 140-year predecessor on West Street in central Brighton, but was closed in 2012 and demolished over the 2017–2018 Christmas and New Year period. Houses and flats now occupy the site; the development was completed in December 2019.
Galeed Strict Baptist Chapel is a Strict Baptist place of worship in the North Laine area of Brighton, part of the English seaside city of Brighton and Hove. It was built in 1868 in an "austere Neoclassical" style for members of a newly formed church who had been worshipping in a hired building nearby since seceding from another chapel elsewhere in Brighton in 1867 as a result of doctrinal differences. The chapel, which has changed little since it opened, remains in use by Gospel Standard Strict Baptists and is the only such place of worship remaining in the city. It is situated in a conservation area and is a locally listed building. People associated with Galeed Chapel include the founders of the Evangelical Library and the Gospel Standard Baptist Library, several editors of the Gospel Standard magazine, and the author of a definitive history of the Strict Baptist movement. Regular services are held on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
