St Andrew's Church, Waterloo Street, Hove
Encyclopedia
St Andrew's Church is a former Anglican
church in the Brunswick Town
area of Hove
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Although declared redundant in 1990, it was one of the area's most fashionable places of worship in the 19th century, when it was built to serve the wealthy residents of the Brunswick estate and surrounding areas, and it is listed at Grade I—a designation used for buildings "of outstanding architectural or historic interest". The church is unrelated to Hove's former parish church of the same name, on Church Road.
estate in Brighton—a planned estate of high-class houses, servants' quarters and other buildings, all in the Regency style
. Architect Charles Busby
planned and built the Brunswick Town estate, which (together with other nearby residential development) helped the population of Hove to rise from 100 in 1801 to 2,500 in 1841.
The only church nearby was St Andrew's, the ancient parish church; this was some distance away and had fallen into near-dereliction. The curate of the (now demolished) St Margaret's Church in Cannon Place, Brighton, Rev. Edward Everard, owned some land near the former Wick Farm, on which the Brunswick Town estate had been built. He was aware that there was no plan to build a church in the estate, so he decided to build a proprietary chapel on his land. Rev. Everard knew Charles Busby
, but they had fallen out after a disagreement in 1824 over the commission for the Sussex County Hospital
(now the Royal Sussex County Hospital) in Brighton: Everard was overruled by other members of the planning committee and had to break his promise that Busby would be allowed to design it. Therefore, Everard looked for a different architect to design and build the church, and Charles Barry
—who had already built the hospital and St Peter's Church
in Brighton—was chosen.
Construction started in April 1827. Everard was granted an Act of Parliament
on 3 April 1828 giving him and his successors ownership of the church, the right to appoint a curate
for the next 40 years, and two-thirds of income from pew rents and other sources. Everard himself acted as the first curate, from the church's consecration on 5 July 1828 until 1838, one year before his death.
St Andrew's immediately became popular with the fashionable set, helped by the regular presence of members of the Royal Family and the aristocracy. Among the many Dukes and Duchesses to worship there in the mid-19th century was the elderly Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
, who often made loud and sometimes eccentric comments and remarks during services. Between 300 and 350 people regularly worshipped at the church in 1851 according to a census taken during that year; there were 420 pews, 340 of which were subject to pew rents.
The interior was reordered in 1869, with new open benches installed in place of individual seats. A more radical change took place in 1882, when the church was extended at a cost of £7,000 (£2,000 to buy and demolish an adjacent stable block and £5,000 for the construction work); Charles Barry's son Edward Middleton Barry
added a chancel, a sanctuary with Ionic columns
, an illuminated dome and space for an organ. Although the organ is no longer in place, its case has been retained. A pulpit
had been donated in 1918, and more additions were made in the 1920s, including enlargements to the altar case, a pedimented baldacchino
above the altar, a marble font with its own baldacchino, new stained glass windows and new, clearer Venetian glass
surrounding these. The changes cost £4,000. The stated intention was to brighten the interior of the church and "create a little piece of Italy" within the Italianate
building.
The church remained in use until the late 20th century, but was declared redundant on 14 February 1990 because of declining attendance at services. The decline had set in several decades earlier, and the Diocese were considering demolition; the granting of Grade I-listed status on 24 March 1950 meant this could not happen. The Churches Conservation Trust
now owns and maintains the building. Squatters caused damage during the 1990s, but restoration work in 2001 and 2002, costing more than £100,000, allowed the building to be reopened for occasional services, special events and community activities.
The church was always unparished, having been built as a chapel of ease
to St Andrew's in Church Road.
being used on a church. Originally, the interior was less grand, with no chancel
, simple pulpit
s and a single gallery, making it a plain, box-like preaching-house. The building materials used for the exterior are brick and ashlar
. The entrance door is set beneath a round-headed arched opening between twin pilaster
s, the outer pair of which serve as quoins
for the adjacent recessed walls. There is a small domed bell tower with a lead roof and clock faces, containing a bell cast in 1930 as a replacement for an early 19th-century predecessor (this bore an inscription dated 1811).
In its present form, the interior consists of a gallery at the west end, nave
, transept
s on two sides, a chancel
, a side chapel in the southeast corner and a vestry
in the northeast, with Italianate top-lighting and domes. The narthex
, from where a stone staircase leads up to the gallery, is also top-lit, and now contains most of the church's memorial stones; these were moved there from the body of the church after it was declared redundant. Five, including memorials commemorating Lord Charles Somerset
and Sir George Dallas, 1st Baronet
, remain in the nave, however.
St Andrew's is the only church in Hove to have burial vaults
beneath it. Space for burials was restricted in the Brunswick Town area by the time the church was built, because of the rapid residential development, and the churchyard at St Andrew's on Church Road was difficult to get to. Lord Charles Somerset
, an M.P.
who later became Governor of the Cape Colony
in South Africa
, was the first person to be buried in the vault, in 1831. A court order in 1854 prevented any more burials being made, and the vaults were used as air-raid shelter
s during World War II
.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
church in the Brunswick Town
Brunswick (Hove)
Brunswick Town is an area in Hove, in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. It is best known for the Regency architecture of the Brunswick estate.-History:...
area of Hove
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. Although declared redundant in 1990, it was one of the area's most fashionable places of worship in the 19th century, when it was built to serve the wealthy residents of the Brunswick estate and surrounding areas, and it is listed at Grade I—a designation used for buildings "of outstanding architectural or historic interest". The church is unrelated to Hove's former parish church of the same name, on Church Road.
History
The area between Brighton, to the east, and the ancient centre of Hove, to the west, was farmland until the 1820s, when Brunswick Town was developed in response to the success of the Kemp TownKemp Town
Kemp Town is a 19th Century residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England, UK. Kemp Town was conceived and financed by Thomas Read Kemp. It has given its name to the larger Kemptown region of Brighton....
estate in Brighton—a planned estate of high-class houses, servants' quarters and other buildings, all in the Regency style
Regency architecture
The Regency style of architecture refers primarily to buildings built in Britain during the period in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to later buildings following the same style...
. Architect Charles Busby
Charles Busby
Charles Augustin Busby was an English architect.He created many buildings in and around Brighton such as Brunswick Square and St Margarets Church. His style usually included Romanesque style pillars to his buildings....
planned and built the Brunswick Town estate, which (together with other nearby residential development) helped the population of Hove to rise from 100 in 1801 to 2,500 in 1841.
The only church nearby was St Andrew's, the ancient parish church; this was some distance away and had fallen into near-dereliction. The curate of the (now demolished) St Margaret's Church in Cannon Place, Brighton, Rev. Edward Everard, owned some land near the former Wick Farm, on which the Brunswick Town estate had been built. He was aware that there was no plan to build a church in the estate, so he decided to build a proprietary chapel on his land. Rev. Everard knew Charles Busby
Charles Busby
Charles Augustin Busby was an English architect.He created many buildings in and around Brighton such as Brunswick Square and St Margarets Church. His style usually included Romanesque style pillars to his buildings....
, but they had fallen out after a disagreement in 1824 over the commission for the Sussex County Hospital
Royal Sussex County Hospital
The Royal Sussex County Hospital is an acute teaching hospital in Brighton, England. Together with the Princess Royal Hospital , it is administered by the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust...
(now the Royal Sussex County Hospital) in Brighton: Everard was overruled by other members of the planning committee and had to break his promise that Busby would be allowed to design it. Therefore, Everard looked for a different architect to design and build the church, and Charles Barry
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry FRS was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens.- Background and training :Born on 23 May 1795 in Bridge Street, Westminster...
—who had already built the hospital and St Peter's Church
St Peter's Church, Brighton
St Peter's Church is a Church of England parish church in Brighton in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is near the centre of the town, on an island between two major roads, the A23 London Road and A270 Lewes Road. Built from 1824-28 to a design by Sir Charles Barry, it is arguably the...
in Brighton—was chosen.
Construction started in April 1827. Everard was granted an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
on 3 April 1828 giving him and his successors ownership of the church, the right to appoint a curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
for the next 40 years, and two-thirds of income from pew rents and other sources. Everard himself acted as the first curate, from the church's consecration on 5 July 1828 until 1838, one year before his death.
St Andrew's immediately became popular with the fashionable set, helped by the regular presence of members of the Royal Family and the aristocracy. Among the many Dukes and Duchesses to worship there in the mid-19th century was the elderly Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
The Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge , was the tenth child and seventh son of George III and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until his death. He also served as Viceroy of Hanover on behalf of his brothers George IV and William IV...
, who often made loud and sometimes eccentric comments and remarks during services. Between 300 and 350 people regularly worshipped at the church in 1851 according to a census taken during that year; there were 420 pews, 340 of which were subject to pew rents.
The interior was reordered in 1869, with new open benches installed in place of individual seats. A more radical change took place in 1882, when the church was extended at a cost of £7,000 (£2,000 to buy and demolish an adjacent stable block and £5,000 for the construction work); Charles Barry's son Edward Middleton Barry
Edward Middleton Barry
Edward Middleton Barry was an English architect of the 19th century.-Biography:Edward Barry was the third son of Sir Charles Barry, born in his father's house, 27 Foley Place, London. In infancy he was delicate, and was placed under the care of a confidential servant at Blackheath...
added a chancel, a sanctuary with Ionic columns
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
, an illuminated dome and space for an organ. Although the organ is no longer in place, its case has been retained. A 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...
had been donated in 1918, and more additions were made in the 1920s, including enlargements to the altar case, a pedimented baldacchino
Baldachin
A baldachin, or baldaquin , is a canopy of state over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure is more correctly called a ciborium when it is...
above the altar, a marble font with its own baldacchino, new stained glass windows and new, clearer Venetian glass
Venetian glass
Venetian glass is a type of glass object made in Venice, Italy, primarily on the island of Murano. It is world-renowned for being colourful, elaborate, and skillfully made....
surrounding these. The changes cost £4,000. The stated intention was to brighten the interior of the church and "create a little piece of Italy" within the Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
building.
The church remained in use until the late 20th century, but was declared redundant on 14 February 1990 because of declining attendance at services. The decline had set in several decades earlier, and the Diocese were considering demolition; the granting of Grade I-listed status on 24 March 1950 meant this could not happen. The Churches Conservation Trust
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
now owns and maintains the building. Squatters caused damage during the 1990s, but restoration work in 2001 and 2002, costing more than £100,000, allowed the building to be reopened for occasional services, special events and community activities.
The church was always unparished, having been built as a chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
to St Andrew's in Church Road.
Architecture
The exterior, facing west, is the first example in England of the Italianate styleItalianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
being used on a church. Originally, the interior was less grand, with no 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...
, simple 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...
s and a single gallery, making it a plain, box-like preaching-house. The building materials used for the exterior are brick and ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
. The entrance door is set beneath a round-headed arched opening between twin pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, the outer pair of which serve as quoins
Quoin (architecture)
Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
for the adjacent recessed walls. There is a small domed bell tower with a lead roof and clock faces, containing a bell cast in 1930 as a replacement for an early 19th-century predecessor (this bore an inscription dated 1811).
In its present form, the interior consists of a gallery at the west end, 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...
, transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
s on two sides, 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...
, a side chapel in the southeast corner and a vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
in the northeast, with Italianate top-lighting and domes. The 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...
, from where a stone staircase leads up to the gallery, is also top-lit, and now contains most of the church's memorial stones; these were moved there from the body of the church after it was declared redundant. Five, including memorials commemorating Lord Charles Somerset
Lord Charles Somerset
General Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC was a British soldier, politician and colonial administrator. He was governor of the Cape Colony, South Africa, from 1814 to 1826.-Background:...
and Sir George Dallas, 1st Baronet
Sir George Dallas, 1st Baronet
Sir George Dallas, 1st Baronet was a British politician and poet. He was created baronet, of Harley Street in the County of Middlesex, on 31 July 1798. He succeeded William Hamilton Nisbet as Member of Parliament for Newport, Isle of Wight in 1800, holding the position until 1802...
, remain in the nave, however.
St Andrew's is the only church in Hove to have burial vaults
Burial vault (tomb)
A burial vault is a structural underground tomb.It is a stone or brick-lined underground space or 'burial' chamber for the interment of a dead body or bodies. They were originally and are still often vaulted and usually have stone slab entrances...
beneath it. Space for burials was restricted in the Brunswick Town area by the time the church was built, because of the rapid residential development, and the churchyard at St Andrew's on Church Road was difficult to get to. Lord Charles Somerset
Lord Charles Somerset
General Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC was a British soldier, politician and colonial administrator. He was governor of the Cape Colony, South Africa, from 1814 to 1826.-Background:...
, an M.P.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
who later became Governor of the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, was the first person to be buried in the vault, in 1831. A court order in 1854 prevented any more burials being made, and the vaults were used as air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelters, also known as bomb shelters, are structures for the protection of the civil population as well as military personnel against enemy attacks from the air...
s during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in Brighton and HoveGrade I listed buildings in Brighton and HoveThere are 24 Grade I listed buildings in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove...
- List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in South East England
- List of places of worship in Brighton and Hove