All Saints Church, Hove
Encyclopedia
All Saints Church 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.
had been united as a single benefice
, Hove-cum-Preston, since 1531. St Andrew's Church, of Saxon origin but rebuilt from a near-derelict state in 1836 in response to the area's growing population, had served as Hove-cum-Preston's parish church. When the parish was separated into two new areas serving Hove and Preston respectively in 1879, St Andrew's status was changed to that of parish church of Hove. However, when Revd Thomas Peacey was appointed the first vicar of Hove in the same year, he immediately showed his intention of replacing it with a new, more impressive church by selecting the prominent ecclesiastical architect
John Loughborough Pearson
to submit a design.
Construction did not begin until 1889, with the first stone being laid on 25 April 1889; during the 1880s, Pearson had been working on various projects, including the vicarage (on the same plot of land) and the nearby St Barnabas Church
. The church was built, opened and consecrated in stages: the nave
and side aisles, forming the core of the present building and costing £14,000, were opened in 1891 after a consecration ceremony by the Bishop of Chichester
(Richard Durnford
, who personally gave £1,000 towards the cost of the church) on 1 May 1891; the eastern end was not finished until 1901, four years after Pearson's death—its completion was overseen by his son, and the new Bishop of Chichester, Ernest Roland Wilberforce
consecrated it on 1 November 1901; and an incomplete tower on the southwestern side, and an adjacent narthex
, were provided in 1924. The tower has never been finished, although its interior does feature a statue of Revd Peacey holding a model of the church. By this time, £40,000 had been spent on construction.
All Saints became the parish church of Hove in 1892, replacing St Andrew's. It also serves the smaller Parish of Hove All Saints, which includes the former church of St Thomas the Apostle; this was declared redundant in 1993 and is now the Coptic Orthodox church of St Mary and St Abraam
. The area covered by the parish of Hove All Saints covers most of eastern Hove to the border with Brighton, stretches from the seafront to the A270 Old Shoreham Road and is one of the most populous parishes in the Chichester diocese.
. Pearson used local sandstone
for the exterior, in contrast to the knapped flintwork and red brick decoration of his other Hove church, St Barnabas; and the predominant architectural style, the Early English Decorated style, is also markedly different from his other major churches, mostly in the London area. The interior is also of stone, usually only seen in the grandest of mediaeval buildings, and the great roof is constructed of Sussex oak. The narthex at the western end leads through to a very wide nave with aisles and tall arcades on both sides (likened by Pevsner to those of Exeter Cathedral) and a chancel
with side chapels. One of these is separated from the body of the church by a canopied screen of great richness carved in wood, dedicated to people from the parish killed in the First World War. The church is dominated by a stone reredos
carved by Nathaniel Hitch
and installed in 1908. Pearson used a clever conceit in the design of the church to produce a visual concentration on the reredos, and the east end of the church was described by the architect Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel
"as nearly perfect as can be". Nikolaus Pevsner
described the building as "superb and cathedral-like". Other internal fixtures include oak choir stalls and canopies designed by Frank Loughborough Pearson in memory of Thomas Peacey, a stone pulpit
and red marble seven sided font
. There is also a complete scheme of stained glass
windows by the eminent firm of Clayton & Bell, including the great west window, which commemorates King Edward VII—who in 1896, before his accession to the throne, had attended a service at the church. The great organ was built by the firm of William Hill & Son, London, originally provided with 14 organ stop
s when installed in 1894, then enlarged to 48 speaking stops (including the only full length 32' Open Wood stop between London and Winchester) in 1905; in 1915 it was encased in a double fronted organ-case of magnificent proportions designed by Frank Loughborough Pearson. The organ was restored in 1987 and was one of the first to be awarded a historic organ certificate by the British Institute of Organ Studies
as being of international importance. It has informed the restoration of other large Hill organs, including those of Peterborough and Lichfield cathedrals and also Eton College.
facilities are also provided. The architectural importance of the building has been recognised through the award of Grade I listed status, which is granted to "buildings of outstanding or national architectural or historic interest".
had come into the family, but by the late 19th century much of it was being developed for residential use. A plot of land in the area then known as "West Brighton", on the corner of the roads which became Eaton Road and The Drive, was secured, and John Loughborough Pearson was asked to design and build a vicarage that would complement the church although its design predated that of the church as built by several years. The red-brick building, constructed in 1883, has elements of the Renaissance
style of 400 years previously and is listed at Grade II.
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It has served as the parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
for the whole of Hove since 1892, and stands in a prominent location at a major crossroads in central Hove.
History
The present parishes of Hove and PrestonPreston Village, Brighton
Preston Village is a suburban area of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex to the north of the centre. Originally a village in its own right, it was eventually absorbed into Brighton with the development of the farmland owned by the local Stanford family, officially becoming a parish of the town in 1928...
had been united as a single benefice
Benefice
A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...
, Hove-cum-Preston, since 1531. St Andrew's Church, of Saxon origin but rebuilt from a near-derelict state in 1836 in response to the area's growing population, had served as Hove-cum-Preston's parish church. When the parish was separated into two new areas serving Hove and Preston respectively in 1879, St Andrew's status was changed to that of parish church of Hove. However, when Revd Thomas Peacey was appointed the first vicar of Hove in the same year, he immediately showed his intention of replacing it with a new, more impressive church by selecting the prominent ecclesiastical architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
John Loughborough Pearson
John Loughborough Pearson
John Loughborough Pearson was a Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency unrivalled in his generation.-Early life and education:Pearson was born in Brussels, Belgium on 5...
to submit a design.
Construction did not begin until 1889, with the first stone being laid on 25 April 1889; during the 1880s, Pearson had been working on various projects, including the vicarage (on the same plot of land) and the nearby St Barnabas Church
St Barnabas Church, Hove
St Barnabas Church is an Anglican church in Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It was built between 1882 and 1883 to serve residents of the newly developed streets to the south and west of Hove railway station, which had opened in 1865 and had stimulated growth in the previously...
. The church was built, opened and consecrated in stages: the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and side aisles, forming the core of the present building and costing £14,000, were opened in 1891 after a consecration ceremony by the Bishop of Chichester
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
(Richard Durnford
Richard Durnford
The Rt Rev Richard Durnford was the Bishop of Chichester from 1870 to 1895.He was born in Newbury, Berkshire into an ecclesiastical family . He was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford and ordained in 1831. From 1833 he was Rector of Middleton, Lancashire and then its Rural Dean...
, who personally gave £1,000 towards the cost of the church) on 1 May 1891; the eastern end was not finished until 1901, four years after Pearson's death—its completion was overseen by his son, and the new Bishop of Chichester, Ernest Roland Wilberforce
Ernest Roland Wilberforce
Ernest Roland Wilberforce was an Anglican clergyman and bishop. From 1882 to 1896 he was the first Anglican Bishop of Newcastle upon the diocese's creation, and from 1896 to 1907 he was Bishop of Chichester....
consecrated it on 1 November 1901; and an incomplete tower on the southwestern side, and an adjacent narthex
Narthex
The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...
, were provided in 1924. The tower has never been finished, although its interior does feature a statue of Revd Peacey holding a model of the church. By this time, £40,000 had been spent on construction.
All Saints became the parish church of Hove in 1892, replacing St Andrew's. It also serves the smaller Parish of Hove All Saints, which includes the former church of St Thomas the Apostle; this was declared redundant in 1993 and is now the Coptic Orthodox church of St Mary and St Abraam
St Mary and St Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church, Hove
St Mary and St Abraam Church is a Coptic Orthodox Church in Hove, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is one of 27 such churches in the British Isles, twelve of which are British Orthodox churches...
. The area covered by the parish of Hove All Saints covers most of eastern Hove to the border with Brighton, stretches from the seafront to the A270 Old Shoreham Road and is one of the most populous parishes in the Chichester diocese.
Architecture
All Saints is an imposing church—one of the largest of the 19th century Gothic revival—and bears some resemblance to one of John Loughborough Pearson's largest ecclesiastical projects, Truro CathedralTruro Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Truro is an Anglican cathedral located in the city of Truro, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It was built in the Gothic Revival architectural style fashionable during much of the nineteenth century, and is one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom...
. Pearson used local sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
for the exterior, in contrast to the knapped flintwork and red brick decoration of his other Hove church, St Barnabas; and the predominant architectural style, the Early English Decorated style, is also markedly different from his other major churches, mostly in the London area. The interior is also of stone, usually only seen in the grandest of mediaeval buildings, and the great roof is constructed of Sussex oak. The narthex at the western end leads through to a very wide nave with aisles and tall arcades on both sides (likened by Pevsner to those of Exeter Cathedral) and a chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
with side chapels. One of these is separated from the body of the church by a canopied screen of great richness carved in wood, dedicated to people from the parish killed in the First World War. The church is dominated by a stone reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
carved by Nathaniel Hitch
Nathaniel Hitch
Nathaniel Hitch was born in Ware, Hertfordshire in 1845, the son of a joiner and carpenter. It seems that he showed an early talent for working with his hands as in the vestry of Ware Parish Church there is a small model which he made at the age of 12...
and installed in 1908. Pearson used a clever conceit in the design of the church to produce a visual concentration on the reredos, and the east end of the church was described by the architect Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel
Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel
Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel was an English architect and writer, also a musician.-Life:He was educated at Eton College, and read music at Trinity College, Cambridge. He worked shortly for Sir Charles Nicholson, and then set up his own architectural practice...
"as nearly perfect as can be". Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
described the building as "superb and cathedral-like". Other internal fixtures include oak choir stalls and canopies designed by Frank Loughborough Pearson in memory of Thomas Peacey, a stone pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
and red marble seven sided font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
. There is also a complete scheme of stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows by the eminent firm of Clayton & Bell, including the great west window, which commemorates King Edward VII—who in 1896, before his accession to the throne, had attended a service at the church. The great organ was built by the firm of William Hill & Son, London, originally provided with 14 organ stop
Organ stop
An organ stop is a component of a pipe organ that admits pressurized air to a set of organ pipes. Its name comes from the fact that stops can be used selectively by the organist; some can be "on" , while others can be "off" .The term can also refer...
s when installed in 1894, then enlarged to 48 speaking stops (including the only full length 32' Open Wood stop between London and Winchester) in 1905; in 1915 it was encased in a double fronted organ-case of magnificent proportions designed by Frank Loughborough Pearson. The organ was restored in 1987 and was one of the first to be awarded a historic organ certificate by the British Institute of Organ Studies
British Institute of Organ Studies
-Aims:The aims of BIOS are* To promote objective, scholarly research into the history of the organ and its music in all its aspects, and, in particular, into the organ and its music in Britain....
as being of international importance. It has informed the restoration of other large Hill organs, including those of Peterborough and Lichfield cathedrals and also Eton College.
All Saints Church today
The church is regularly open to casual visitors, and is often used as a venue for live music, in addition to holding services several days a week. Sunday school and crècheDay care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
facilities are also provided. The architectural importance of the building has been recognised through the award of Grade I listed status, which is granted to "buildings of outstanding or national architectural or historic interest".
Vicarage
The last vicar of the united parish of Hove-cum-Preston, Revd Walter Kelly, had built a vicarage for the parish, but after the split it lay within the boundaries of Preston parish. Revd Peacey acted quickly to get Hove its own vicarage, obtaining land from the estate of the Stanford family upon which both a vicarage and a church could be built. The Stanfords had acquired large areas of land around Preston and Hove in the 18th century, after Preston ManorPreston Manor, Brighton
Preston Manor is the former manor house of the ancient Sussex village of Preston, now part of the coastal city of Brighton and Hove, England. The present building dates mostly from 1738, when Lord of the manor Thomas Western rebuilt the original 13th-century structure , and 1905 when Charles...
had come into the family, but by the late 19th century much of it was being developed for residential use. A plot of land in the area then known as "West Brighton", on the corner of the roads which became Eaton Road and The Drive, was secured, and John Loughborough Pearson was asked to design and build a vicarage that would complement the church although its design predated that of the church as built by several years. The red-brick building, constructed in 1883, has elements of the Renaissance
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
style of 400 years previously and is listed at Grade II.
See also
- List of places of worship in Brighton and Hove
- List of Grade I listed buildings in Brighton and Hove