St Augustine's Church is a former Anglican church in Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is close to the Preston Park and Round Hill areas in the central northern part of the city. Built in 1896 and extended in 1914, its parish was extended after a nearby church closed, but in 2003 it was declared redundant itself. The building, which is listed at Grade II in view of its architectural importance, for a few years from 2004 the building was leased by the Elim Pentecostal Church. The Pentecostal congregation made free-standing internal changes to create internal spaces which could be heated in winter, but did not touch the fabric of the building. It is now the St Augustine's Community Arts Centre, encompassing a cafe, exhibition space, offices, and other rooms.
Brighton and Hove, which were then separate towns, experienced a surge in churchbuilding during the Victorian era, but St Augustine's church was a relative latecomer. Its construction was a consequence of the gradual development of housing around Preston Village—an ancient village about 1.5 miles (2.4km) north-northwest of central Brighton.[1] It was surrounded by large estates whose land was owned by families such as the Stanfords. The village became popular with daytrippers from Brighton in the early 19th century, with its large park, tea-rooms and other attractions, but residential development did not start until the 1860s, when the Stanford estate began to be broken up and sold.[1]
The family imposed conditions on the type and quality of development allowed. For about 40 years from the mid-1860s, streets of large villas, middle-class terraced houses and larger detached houses were built,[1] moving steadily southwards and eastwards from the old village centre towards the northern boundary of Brighton itself. One of the main roads in the area was Stanford Avenue, laid out in the 1880s. Semi-detached villas were built first, followed by other larger houses over the next 20 years. There were no Anglican churches in the vicinity, so architect Granville E. Streatfield was appointed to design and build one.[1]
A church hall was added on the north side in 1901.
The church was built in two parts—in 1896 and 1914—and a church hall was added separately as well.[1][2] Streatfield started by building a long nave with aisles and a clerestory; the church opened in this form in 1896.[2][3] A hall, commemorating Queen Victoria, was added on the north side in 1901, and Charles Eamer Kempe, a prolific Victorian stained glass designer, provided some stained glass windows for the church at the same time.[2][3] The church was completed in 1913–14 by Streatfield, this time with Sir Thomas Graham Jackson acting as a consultant;[3] Streatfield was a pupil of Jackson's.[2] This project added a chancel and apse, a large ambulatory and a Lady chapel.
St Saviour's Church was a slightly earlier church which stood (at 50°50′10″N0°08′02″W / 50.8360°N 0.1339°W / 50.8360; -0.1339) on Ditchling Road in the Round Hill area of Brighton, southeast of St Augustine's. It was built by local architects Edmund Scott and Frank Cawthorn in 1886 in the Early English style, in flint, stone and red brick.[4] It was extended in 1889, but a proposed tower was never built.[5] Declared redundant and closed in 1981, it was demolished in 1983 and replaced by flats. The former parish was then absorbed by that of St Augustine's Church.[6] The Diocese of Chichester in turn declared St Augustine's redundant as from 22 January 2003,[7] and it officially closed in 2003.[3] It has stood empty since then. The parish, now called St Augustine and St Saviour, was added to that of St John the Evangelist's Church, the parish church of Preston Village, whose parish was renamed "Preston, St John the Evangelist with Brighton, St Augustine and St Saviour" accordingly.[8]
In the early 2000s, the Immanuel Community Church in the Hanover area of Brighton merged with the former Elim Pentecostal church near Preston Park and consolidated their services on the Hanover site. That church was destroyed by fire, and the former St Augustine's Church was offered to the community. They worshipped there until 2009 before moving to the Fountain Centre in Patcham. The church has purchased the site of St Augustine's and intends to redevelop the building and move back.[9]
St Augustine's Church was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 22 May 1995.[2] 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.[10]
As of 2014 the church building is undergoing conversion into The St. Augustine's Centre, a multi-purpose community development including apartments, coffee lounge, bistro/cafeteria, and offices.[11]
Architecture
The church has an apsidal end with flying buttresses.
Granville Streatfield designed St Augustine's in the Perpendicular Gothic style using red brick with stone dressings.[3] The brick is laid in a Flemish bond pattern, and the roof is tiled.[2] The nave has 5½ bays, and the later chancel is also quite long (four bays). It terminates in an ornately designed apse at the east end; in contrast, the plain west end was never completed and the tower planned for that end by Streatfield was not built.[2]
The entrance is at the west end, in a small porch above which are two lancet windows and a central arched window.[2] There is another porch on the south side (facing Stanford Avenue), with a sundial bearing the inscription the light cometh when no man can work. The nave has pairs of lancets all the way round, separated by brick pilasters. There is a series of flying buttresses around the exterior wall of the chancel, which also has lancet windows with tracery work. The Lady chapel has similar features.[2]
All Saints Hove is an Anglican church in Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It has served as the parish church for the whole of Hove since 1892, and stands in a prominent location at a major crossroads in central Hove.
St Leonard's Church is an Anglican church in Hove, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is on New Church Road in the Aldrington area of Hove, which was previously a separate village, and it serves as Aldrington's parish church. The church was on Church Road but now stands on New Church Road, renamed in reference to the other church which was started in 1894 as a chapel of ease.
All Saints Church is the Anglican parish church of Patcham, an ancient Sussex village which is now part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. A place of worship has existed on the hilltop site for about 1,000 years, but the present building has Norman internal features and a 13th-century exterior. Several rounds of restoration in the Victorian era included some structural additions. A wide range of monuments and wall paintings survive inside, including one commemorating Richard Shelley—owner of nearby Patcham Place and one of the most important noblemen in the early history of Brighton. The church, which is Grade II* listed, continues to serve as the Anglican place of worship for residents of Patcham, which 20th-century residential development has transformed from a vast rural parish into a large outer suburb of Brighton.
St Philip's Church is a Church of England parish church in Hove, in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. It was opened in 1895 and consecrated in 1898 on New Church Road, near Aldrington's parish church of St Leonard's. It has come under threat of closure but is still active as of 2012. It is a Grade II listed building.
St Mary's Church is an Anglican church in the Kemptown area of Brighton, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The present building dates from the late 1870s and replaced a church of the same name which suddenly collapsed while being renovated. The Gothic-style red-brick building, whose style resembles Early English revival and French Gothic revival, is now a Grade II* listed building, and remains in use despite threats of closure.
St John the Evangelist's Church is an Anglican church in the Preston Village area of Brighton, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The Grade II listed building, designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield, was started in 1901 but did not take its present form for another quarter of a century. In the meantime, the nearby parish church of Preston was severely damaged by fire, and the new church was granted the parish church status which it still retains.
St Peter's Church is a former Anglican church in the Preston Village area of Brighton, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The 13th-century building, standing on the site of two older churches, was restored in the late 19th century and again after a serious fire in 1906. It was the parish church of Preston until 1908, when the newly built St John the Evangelist's Church gained this status. The Diocese of Chichester declared St Peter's redundant in 1990, and it is now owned by the Churches Conservation Trust. It has Grade II* listed status, reflecting its architectural and historical importance.
St Wilfrid's Church is a former Anglican church in the Elm Grove area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Designed and built in the 1930s to replace a temporary building in the densely populated Elm Grove area, its unusual design—not conforming with architectural norms of the era—was widely praised. It was declared redundant after less than 50 years as a place of worship, and was converted into sheltered housing with minimal alteration to the exterior. Shortly after its closure, it was granted Grade II listed status.
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.
St Mary Magdalen's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Montpelier area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene, it is one of six Roman Catholic churches in Brighton and one of eleven in the city area. Built by ecclesiastical architect Gilbert Blount in a 13th-century Gothic style to serve the rapidly expanding residential area on the border of Brighton and Hove, it has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage in view of its architectural importance. An adjacent presbytery and parish hall have been listed separately at Grade II.
The Church of the Good Shepherd is an Anglican church on Dyke Road on the border of Brighton and Hove, constituent parts of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Although just inside Brighton, most of the parish is within the boundaries of Hove, and the official name of the parish reflects the fact that it was originally part of the large ecclesiastical parish of Preston—a village north of Brighton. The building, designed by Edward Prioleau Warren in a simple Gothic style in the 1920s, has been given Grade II listed status in view of its architectural importance.
St Mark's Church is a former Anglican church in the Kemptown area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Originally intended as the private chapel of the adjacent St Mary's Hall school, it was partly built in 1838 at the request of Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol; but arguments over whether or not it should also be open to the public delayed its completion for more than 10 years. It became the parish church of Kemptown in 1873, but declining attendances resulted in a declaration of redundancy in 1986. At that time it was taken over by the school and became its chapel, nearly 150 years after this was first proposed. The Early English-style stone and concrete structure has been criticised by architectural historians, but has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage 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.
St Michael and All Angels Church is an Anglican church in the town of Southwick in the district of Adur, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Some Saxon-era structural work is still visible despite rebuilding work in the 12th and 13th centuries and in more recent times; and a church may have existed on the site as early as the 10th century—before the ancient settlement of Southwick even took that name. The church has been damaged by fire and bombing, but is still in active use as the area's parish church. English Heritage has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
St George's Church is an Anglican church in the East Worthing area of the borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Built in 1867–68 to serve new residential development in the southeast of the town, the Decorated Gothic-style structure was extended later in the 19th century, and expanded its reach further by founding three mission halls elsewhere in Worthing. English Heritage has listed it at Grade C for its architectural and historical importance.
St Matthew's Church is an Anglican church in the Silverhill suburb of Hastings, a town and borough in the English county of East Sussex. The present building, a large brick structure of 1884 by ecclesiastical architect John Loughborough Pearson, replaced a much smaller church founded in 1860 when Silverhill began to grow from an agricultural area with scattered cottages into a suburb of the increasingly fashionable seaside resort of Hastings. Although a planned tower was never built, the "imposing" church dominates its steeply sloping site; and although its architect—a leading Gothic Revivalist—considered it one of his lesser works, it has been described as "outstanding" and "architecturally inventive". English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
St Mary Magdalene's Church is a Greek Orthodox place of worship in St Leonards-on-Sea, a town and seaside resort which is part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene and built in 1852 for Anglican worshippers in the growing new town of St Leonards-on-Sea, a seaside resort which had been laid out from the 1820s, the church's prominent position on the skyline overlooking the town was enhanced in 1872 by the addition of a tower. No longer required by the Anglican community in the 1980s, it was quickly bought by the Greek Orthodox Church and converted into a place of worship in accordance with their requirements. The alterations were minimal, though, and the building retains many of its original fittings and its "archaeologically correct Gothic" exterior which reflected architectural norms of the early Victorian era. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
St Leodegar's Church is the Anglican parish church of Hunston, a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. The dedication—rare in England and unique in Sussex—has also been spelt St Ledger historically. A ruinous church dating from the 12th century was dismantled and rebuilt by prolific ecclesiastical architect Arthur Blomfield in 1885, but some old features were retained. The building, an Early English Gothic Revival structure of stone, was criticised by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner but was built on a "generous" budget and has some elaborate structural features such as a double belfry.
All Souls Church is a former Anglican church that served the Clive Vale suburb of Hastings, a seaside resort town and borough in the English county of East Sussex, between 1890 and 2007. The "large [and] serious town church" has been described as one of the best works by prolific ecclesiastical architect Arthur Blomfield. Built almost wholly of brick, inside and out, it dominates the streetscape of the late Victorian suburb and has a tall, "dramatic" interior displaying many of Blomfield's favourite architectural features. The church also has Heaton, Butler and Bayne stained glass and an elaborate reredos. Falling attendances and high maintenance costs caused it to close after a final service in November 2007, and the Diocese of Chichester officially declared it redundant soon afterwards. English Heritage has listed it at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
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