1853: Congregation established at Providence Villa 1857: Silverhill Independent Chapel opened 1862: Chapel extended 1920s: Dedicated to St Luke 1972: Became part of United Reformed Church 1987: Building damaged in the Great Storm
St Luke's Church is a United Reformed church in the Silverhill suburb of Hastings, a town and borough in East Sussex, England. The congregation was originally independent (not linked to any Christian denomination) before taking up Presbyterianism, and worshipped in a private house from its founding in 1853 until a permanent church was provided in 1857; this was one of the oldest Presbyterian places of worship in southeast England. The growth of the community has resulted in several extensions since then, and severe damage caused by the Great Storm of 1987 was quickly repaired—except for the loss of the building's distinctive spire. The church, along with most other Presbyterian congregations, joined the United Reformed Church when that denomination was formed in 1972. It is one of four United Reformed Churches in the borough of Hastings.
The manor of Stone was one of several medieval land divisions in the area now covered by Hastings. Its land covered a large, thinly populated area northwest of the ancient fishing port of Hastings. Ecclesiastically, it was a prebend linked to the collegiate church of St Mary-in-the-Castle in the grounds of Hastings Castle.[2][3]
Much of the land in the manor was part of a single farm. Originally named Cildetona (farm of the heirs or children), the name became modernised to Childerton and later Chillington Farm, before being recorded as High Ridge Farm in 1714 (around the time it was bought by the Town Clerk of Hastings),[4] Salver Hill Farm in 1785 and Silver Hill Farm before 1815.[5][6] Around this time, Hastings and the high-class neighbouring planned development of St Leonards-on-Sea had begun to develop rapidly as fashionable seaside resorts, helped by better transport connections and royal patronage.[7] New turnpikes were built northwards to Sedlescombe in 1837 and Battle the following year to reduce the road distance from Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea to London; the roads met at Silver Hill Farm,[6] and the area began to develop as a suburb, with a windmill, hotel (the Tivoli) and tearooms.[8] By 1839, a combined pottery and brickworks building and cottages for its workers also existed.[9]
Despite this development, by 1853 Silver Hill Farm was still a working farm. Francis Smith owned it[10] and a local shopkeeper, George Street, was its tenant.[11] Street employed a tutor, William Boyd, for his son. Boyd was a member of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and had recently studied theology. Realising there were no churches (either Anglican or Nonconformist) nearby—the closest were the ancient Church in the Wood at Hollington and the new St Leonard's Church, the centrepiece of James Burton's St Leonards-on-Sea development—he decided to found one of his own. The resident of Providence Villa, a new house near the Tivoli Hotel, allowed Boyd to use one of his rooms for preaching. Boyd's mission was so successful that by 1855, the congregation was too large for the house and the meetings had to move to a public building (believed to be the hotel itself) nearby.[11]
The meetings were "independent" (not linked to any denomination), and the congregation attended them instead of going to the Anglican churches at Hollington or St Leonards-on-Sea. In 1856, the vicars of both churches visited the meeting and spoke individually to members of the congregation, making clear their opposition:[12]
In harsh language he [the vicar of St Leonard's Church] rebuked them for attending the meeting, and threatened to deprive them of the charities of the [Anglican] church if they persisted in going ... the vicar of Hollington was appraised of the meetings last week by his brother of St Leonard's, and called upon to exercise his authority in preventing some of his flock from attending. [...] I will not repeat the offensive epithets applied, nor describe the manifestations, which the cottagers in this part of St Leonards [i.e. Silverhill] heard or saw.
—Anonymous writer, credited as "Observer", to The Hastings & St Leonards News, 1856
Despite this opposition, Boyd decided to build a permanent chapel. By this time, his studies were nearly complete and he was about to be ordained into the Presbyterian Church, but the chapel was still intended to be primarily independent and non-denominational.[13] A committee of eight trustees was drawn from the members of various local Anglican and Nonconformist churches who were supportive of the cause, and fundraising began.[14] The landowner Francis Smith—who by this time was in financial difficulty and was about to sell Silver Hill Farm[10] for housing and other development—sold some land for £50 (equivalent to £5,100 in 2024),[1] and the first chapel was designed by local architect Henry Carpenter and built for £370 (equivalent to £37,600 in 2024)[1] in a few months in 1857.[14] (He later designed Christ Church in the Blacklands suburb of Hastings for the Anglican community there.)[15] Boyd held the first service at Silver Hill Independent Chapel on 12 July 1857. A Sunday school was inaugurated the following week with 30 children.[16]
St Matthew's Church, the Anglican church in Silverhill, initially attracted some worshippers away from William Boyd's chapel when it opened in May 1861.
From 1860, the pace of development increased in Silverhill (by now established as the name of the suburb). New terraced houses, villas and inns were built, and more of the farmland was sold. The Anglican community also established their own church in the suburb: St Matthew's Church was founded on 21 September 1860 by Sarah Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave.[17] It opened for worship in May 1861.[18] By 1862, William Boyd and his immediate successor had left[19] and a new minister, Walter Roberts, was in place. Under his ministry, the church joined the English Presbyterian Church, and the building was extended at a cost of £400 (£39,700 in 2024)[1]—despite attendances falling temporarily as some worshippers returned to the Anglican Communion and attended St Matthew's Church instead.[18] By 1864, the fortunes of Silverhill Presbyterian Church (as it was now known) had improved, and the enlarged building was regularly full.[20] More work was carried out in 1865, when a tower and a distinctive tall spire were added at the west end.[21] At the same time, the nave was widened and a vestry was built. £544.9s.6d (£55,400 in 2024)[1] was spent in total.[20] New fittings added in the 1860s and 1870s included a harmonium, wooden rostrum, panelled lobby built by a local resident, a set of pews and a proper heating system. Meanwhile, the Sunday school was given its own separate premises when a schoolroom was built adjoining the chapel in 1878. George Clement, the tenant of Silver Hill Farm when the chapel was founded in 1853, donated some land and a third of the £296 (£30,600 in 2024)[1] cost of construction.[22] The chapel was closed during these renovations, but reopened on 26 May 1878.[23]
The church hall of 1909 is behind the main body of the church.
The congregation continued to grow, and in the chapel's golden jubilee year of 1907 a "Jubilee Fund" was begun to raise money for further extensions. £700 (£77,600 in 2024)[1] had been pledged by 1909. The former schoolroom was demolished and replaced with a larger hall with subsidiary rooms, a chancel was added to the chapel, the sanctuary was refitted with new wooden fixtures and a stone font, and the building received electric light for the first time. Work started on 5 August 1909 and was completed about 10 weeks later, when the hall and chancel were dedicated.[21][24]
In the 1920s, Silverhill Presbyterian Church was renamed St Luke's Presbyterian Church after a vote was taken on which of three saints—Luke, Stephen or Andrew—to dedicate it to.[6][25] The intention was to give the church a "more memorable" name. A series of stained glass memorial windows were donated in 1923.[25] World War II had no significant effect on the church, although it was used as a shelter for people displaced from their homes by bomb damage, and by the Ministry of Labour as a base from which to make payments to vulnerable people.[26] During World War I, soldiers had been based in the church hall,[27] and 25 years later a similar thing happened when the manse (the minister's house) was requisitioned for army use.[26] New members also joined the congregation during World War II: worshippers at St Columba's Presbyterian Church on the northwest corner of Warrior Square, St Leonards-on-Sea, were displaced when their church (founded in 1883) was destroyed by a bomb in 1942.[27][28]
The church joined the new United Reformed denomination in 1972, and took in former members of the Red Lake Congregational Church in Ore when that church closed in 1973.[29] (Founded in 1903 and built by important local architect Henry Ward, the building survived until its demolition in 1980.)[28] In 1979, a joint pastorate was created when St Luke's Church was administratively joined to the smaller St Mark's Church in the Blacklands area of Hastings. A third church, in the nearby town of Rye, was added to the pastorate in 1980,[30] but after this church closed in 1986 the pastorate was dissolved and St Luke's Church administered its own affairs again.[31]
Overnight on 15/16 October 1987—the night of the Great Storm, one of Britain's most disastrous weather events—St Luke's Church was severely damaged by the winds, which gusted to hurricane force. At about 7.00am,[32] the spire was torn from the tower and flung through the roof of the north aisle, from which it protruded at a hazardous angle—threatening the terraced houses opposite.[33] After the storm subsided, a crane lifted the spire out of the church and left it in the garden while the rest of the building was repaired.[32] The church hall was used for worship until temporary repairs were carried out. Other churches in Hastings offered assistance: the Roman Catholic Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and English Martyrs hosted weddings, and St Matthew's Church raised money from special collections. Rebuilding work, which included a new vestry and larger kitchen, was completed in time for a reopening ceremony on 29 April 1990.[34] The spire was taken away for repair, but could not be saved;[33] the tower was rebuilt and a much smaller "cap"-style spire was added in its place.[32][35] (Coincidentally, St Leonards-on-Sea Congregational Church also lost its spire during the storm; it was never replaced.)[36]
In 2000, a clock was inset into the front wall of the tower as a celebration of the millennium, and a new wooden font was donated in 2003. In the same year, the minister moved to a new, larger manse.[37]
Architecture
Henry Carpenter's chapel has been added to several times since its construction in 1857, but still retains its Early English Gothic appearance.[35] It is built entirely of stone, and has a tower at the west end (now with a low pyramid-shaped spire), an aisled nave, chancel, partly glazed wooden porch, vestry, kitchen and a large attached hall.[35][38] The windows are mostly lancets; some have stained glass.[25]
The church today
Clive Vale United Reformed Church is one of three others of that denomination in Hastings.
As of 2010, St Luke's Church was one of four United Reformed churches in the borough of Hastings. The others were St Mark's Church at Blacklands, Clive Vale United Reformed Church in the Clive Vale area and Robertson Street United Reformed Church in Hastings town centre.[39] All four were in the Southern Synod, one of 13 Synods in Great Britain,[40] which is responsible for United Reformed churches in South London and the counties of Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex and Surrey in southeast England.[39]Robertson Street United Reformed Church closed in 2012.
Hastings historian J. Manwaring Baines considered Silverhill Independent Chapel to be the most important church built during the town's 19th-century growth "in view of its determination to overcome all difficulties".[41] When it joined the Presbyterian church in 1862, it became one of the first such churches in southeast England.[21][41] On 5 October 1972, the congregation joined the newly formed United Reformed Church denomination, created from the merger of those English Presbyterian churches which had voted in, those Congregational churches which had not opted out, and congregations of the Re-formed Church of Christ.[29] It has been known since then as St Luke's United Reformed Church.
Silverhill is a suburb and local government ward of Hastings, East Sussex, England. It has a central location within the town, where the A21 meets the B2159 road.
Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in Hastings, East Sussex, England. Founded in 1817 by members of the congregation of an older Baptist chapel in the ancient town, it was extended several times in the 19th century as attendances grew during Hastings' period of rapid growth as a seaside resort. It was closed and converted into a house in the late 20th century, but still stands in a prominent position in Hastings Old Town. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
Church in the Wood, officially known as St Leonard's Church and originally as St Rumbold's Church, is an Anglican church in the Hollington area of the town and borough of Hastings, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Although Hollington is now a large suburb, consisting mostly of postwar residential development, the church has stood in isolation in the middle of an ancient wood since it was founded in the 13th century—almost certainly as the successor to an 11th-century chapel. Restoration work in the Victorian era has given the Early English Gothic-style building its present appearance, but some medieval work remains. Legends and miraculous events have been associated with the church, and its secluded situation has been praised by writers including Charles Lamb. The church is a Grade II Listed building.
St Leonards-on-Sea Congregational Church is a former Congregational church in St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the town and borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Considered "one of the most ambitious Nonconformist buildings in Sussex", the sandstone building of 1863 forms a significant landmark on one of the Victorian resort's main roads—despite the loss of its copper spire in the Great Storm of 1987. Unlike most churches of its denomination, it did not join the United Reformed Church when that denomination was formed in 1972. It fell out of religious use in 2008 and had stood empty and was at risk of demolition. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance. Bought by a new owner in 2012 it was almost completely renovated, but was then sold again in 2019. The new owner plans to open the church to the public as an arts and antiques centre with a cafe in the tower.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
St John the Evangelist's Church is the Anglican parish church of the Upper St Leonards area of St Leonards-on-Sea, a town and seaside resort which is part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. The present building—a "very impressive and beautifully detailed" church in the Gothic Revival style, with a landmark tower—combines parts of Arthur Blomfield's 1881 church, wrecked during World War II, and Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel's 1950s rebuild. Two earlier churches on the site, the second possibly designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon, were themselves destroyed earlier in the 19th century. The rich internal fittings include a complete scheme of stained glass by Goodhart-Rendel's favoured designer Joseph Ledger and a 16th-century painting by Ortolano Ferrarese. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
Christ Church is an Anglican church in the town and seaside resort of St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Opened as the town's third Anglican church in 1860 to serve a rapidly developing residential area and to accommodate poor worshippers who could not afford pew rents at the fashionable St Leonard's and St Mary Magdalene's Churches, the original building was superseded by a much larger church built next to it between 1873 and 1875. Prolific ecclesiastical architect Sir Arthur Blomfield's simple Gothic Revival design forms a landmark on one of St Leonards-on-Sea's main roads, continues to serve a large area of the town and maintains a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. It has been described as Blomfield's "finest achievement in Sussex" and "one of the main centres of Anglo-Catholic worship in Southern England". The interior fittings are the best of any church in the borough, and the design has been called one of Blomfield's most successful. St John the Evangelist's Church, founded as a daughter church nearby in 1865, also continues to thrive as a separate parish church. Historic England has listed Christ Church at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
St Peter's Church is a former Anglican church in the Bohemia area of the town and seaside resort of St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Founded in 1883 in response to the rapid residential growth of this part of St Leonards-on-Sea, the "outstanding late Victorian church" was completed and opened in 1885. Architect James Brooks was towards the end of his career but still produced a successful, powerful Gothic Revival design, which was built by prolific local firm John Howell & Son—builders of several other churches in the area.
Robertsbridge United Reformed Church is a former United Reformed Church place of worship in Robertsbridge, a village in the district of Rother in the English county of East Sussex. Built for Congregational worshippers in 1881 following their secession from a long-established Wesleyan Methodist chapel, it was the third Nonconformist place of worship in the village, whose nearest parish church was in the neighbouring settlement of Salehurst. Like the former Strict Baptist and Methodist chapels in the village, which have both closed, it no longer serves Robertsbridge as a place of worship. Local architect Thomas Elworthy's distinctive design—a "rich" and highly decorated blend of several styles—has divided opinion amongst architectural historians. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
St Leonard's Church is an Anglican church in the St Leonards-on-Sea area of Hastings, a town and borough in the English county of East Sussex. The main church serving James Burton high-class mid 19th-century new town of St Leonards-on-Sea was designed by Burton himself just before his death, and it survived for more than a century despite being damaged by the cliff into which it was built; but one night during World War II, the sea-facing building was obliterated by a direct hit from a damaged V-1 "doodlebug" which had crossed the English Channel. The Gilbert Scott brothers' bold replacement church was ready in 1961, and along with a sister church at nearby Bulverhythe served the parish of St Leonards-on-Sea, covered by the Hastings Archdeaconry. Historic England has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
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.
Robertson Street Congregational Church is a former United Reformed church in the centre of Hastings, a seaside town and borough in East Sussex, England. Built in 1885 on the site of an earlier church which had been constructed in 1857, it was designed by Henry Ward (1854–1927), who was responsible for many of the key buildings in the town of Hastings, not least the Town Hall. The building, a "large urban ... church with richly detailed exteriors and interiors", is situated between Robertson Street and Cambridge Road and has a split-level arrangement with part of the gallery occupying a flying freehold over the alleyway adjacent to the entrance on Robertson Street. The church is listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
South Street Free Church is a church in the centre of Eastbourne, a town and seaside resort in the English county of East Sussex. Originally Congregational, it is now aligned to the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion—a small group of Evangelical churches founded by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon during the 18th-century Evangelical Revival. The church was founded in 1897 as an offshoot from an earlier Congregational chapel, and initially met in hired premises. Local architect Henry Ward designed the present church in 1903; the "characterful" and "quirky" Arts and Crafts-style building has been listed at Grade II by Historic England for its architectural and historical importance.
Hastings Unitarian Church, also known as Hastings Unitarian and Free Christian Church, is a place of worship for Unitarians in the town and borough of Hastings, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. It has been in continuous use since it was built in 1868, having been founded the previous year by prominent Unitarian John Bowring for a congregation which had met in hired premises since 1858. The church, designed by George Beck, is Neoclassical in style and has an 18th-century organ.
↑ Allen, John (8 February 2010). "Hastings – Christ Church, Blacklands, Laton Road". Sussex Parish Churches website. Sussex Parish Churches (www.sussexparishchurches.org). Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
↑ "Silverhill Church Reopens". Hastings News. Hastings Chronicle (republished 2010). 26 May 1878. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
