St John the Evangelist's Church, Preston Village, Brighton
Encyclopedia
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.
site 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-northwest of Brighton before the time of the Domesday Book
. St Peter's Church was its original parish church. No trace remains of the building mentioned in the Domesday Book: it was rebuilt in about 1260 in flint with a chancel
, nave
and tower. The village, based around a crossroads and a manor house
, Preston Manor
, became part of the Borough of Brighton in 31 October 1873.
The Stanford family, who owned most of the land in the area, sold it for residential development in the mid-1860s. Rapid growth ensued, and the old church became inadequate for the increasing population. In 1899, the new vicar proposed extending the church, but the church council and local people felt that altering the ancient building would be inappropriate. Instead, the decision was taken to build a new church on land occupied by the garden of the vicarage.
Work began quickly: the site, at the junction of Preston Road and Knoyle Road, was prepared in the summer of 1901, and the Bishop of Chichester
Ernest Roland Wilberforce
laid the foundation stone on 16 October 1901. Sir Arthur Blomfield
designed the church, and the Crawley
-based building firm of James Longley built it. Construction work continued into the next year; the church officially opened after it was dedicated on 26 October 1902.
At the time, St Peter's Church still held its ancient status as the parish church of Preston. However, after it was devastated by a serious fire on 23 June 1906, the church authorities decided to transfer parish church status to St John the Evangelist's Church. This was completed at the end of 1908.
A temporary church hall made of iron existed until 1913, when a permanent hall was completed. In 1927, a parishioner donated money for another hall to be built next to it. The previous year, the church itself had been extended with the addition of a chancel.
, and there is only a slight change in the roofline to the chancel beyond it. At the east end of the nave, where the roof profile changes, there is a small flèche
made of wood and lead. The exterior is stone, faced with rock and dressed with stone blocks. The roof is tiled.
The church has a chancel, chancel arch, nave with aisles on the north and south sides, vestry
at the northeast corner, baptistery
, buttress
ed narthex
(entered from the nave through arches in the buttresses, beneath an overall arch and tympanum
) and clerestories
above the aisles. Both the aisles and the clerestories have five pairs of lancet window
s. Interior features include a sedilia
, organ
chamber, choir stalls, chancel screen, ornate multi-sided pulpit
with green marble work, stone reredos
designed as a triptych
and depicting the Ascension of Jesus, and a marble font
depicting an angel kneeling with a shell.
,_stanford_avenue,_brighton.jpg)
St John the Evangelist's Church was listed at Grade II by English Heritage
on 26 August 1999. 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.
The parish was extended in the early 21st century after the closure of St Augustine's Church
, which opened in 1896 on Stanford Avenue at the south end of Preston Park
. It was declared redundant in 2002 and its parish joined St John the Evangelist's. The parish is officially named "St John with St Augustine and St Saviour", as St Augustine's former parish was itself extended in the 1980s to absorb that of St Saviour's Church—an 1886 church on the west side of Ditchling Road, at the junction of Round Hill Road (at 50.8360°N 0.1339°W), which was closed in 1981 and demolished two years later. The parish boundaries are the railway line
between Preston Park station
and New England Road, Viaduct Road, Ditchling Road, Preston Drove, Osborne Road, Balfour Road, Surrenden Road, Peacock Lane and London Road
.
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 Preston Village
Preston 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...
area of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
city of Brighton and Hove. The Grade II listed building, designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield
Arthur Blomfield
Sir Arthur William Blomfield was an English architect.-Background:The fourth son of Charles James Blomfield, an Anglican Bishop of London helpfully began a programme of new church construction in the capital. Born in Fulham Palace, Arthur Blomfield was educated at Rugby and Trinity College,...
, 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
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
status which it still retains.
History
The village of Preston was established on a downlandSouth Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
site 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-northwest of Brighton before the time of the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. St Peter's Church was its original parish church. No trace remains of the building mentioned in the Domesday Book: it was rebuilt in about 1260 in flint with 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...
, 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 tower. The village, based around a crossroads and a manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
, Preston Manor
Preston 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...
, became part of the Borough of Brighton in 31 October 1873.
The Stanford family, who owned most of the land in the area, sold it for residential development in the mid-1860s. Rapid growth ensued, and the old church became inadequate for the increasing population. In 1899, the new vicar proposed extending the church, but the church council and local people felt that altering the ancient building would be inappropriate. Instead, the decision was taken to build a new church on land occupied by the garden of the vicarage.
Work began quickly: the site, at the junction of Preston Road and Knoyle Road, was prepared in the summer of 1901, and 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...
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....
laid the foundation stone on 16 October 1901. Sir Arthur Blomfield
Arthur Blomfield
Sir Arthur William Blomfield was an English architect.-Background:The fourth son of Charles James Blomfield, an Anglican Bishop of London helpfully began a programme of new church construction in the capital. Born in Fulham Palace, Arthur Blomfield was educated at Rugby and Trinity College,...
designed the church, and the Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
-based building firm of James Longley built it. Construction work continued into the next year; the church officially opened after it was dedicated on 26 October 1902.
At the time, St Peter's Church still held its ancient status as the parish church of Preston. However, after it was devastated by a serious fire on 23 June 1906, the church authorities decided to transfer parish church status to St John the Evangelist's Church. This was completed at the end of 1908.
A temporary church hall made of iron existed until 1913, when a permanent hall was completed. In 1927, a parishioner donated money for another hall to be built next to it. The previous year, the church itself had been extended with the addition of a chancel.
Architecture
Sir Arthur Blomfield designed the church in the Early English style. It is very long: it has a nave of 5¼ baysBay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
, and there is only a slight change in the roofline to the chancel beyond it. At the east end of the nave, where the roof profile changes, there is a small flèche
Flèche
A flèche is used in French architecture to refer to a spire and in English to refer to a lead-covered timber spire, or spirelet. These are placed on the ridges of church or cathedral roofs and are usually relatively small...
made of wood and lead. The exterior is stone, faced with rock and dressed with stone blocks. The roof is tiled.
The church has a chancel, chancel arch, nave with aisles on the north and south sides, 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....
at the northeast corner, baptistery
Baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...
, buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
ed 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...
(entered from the nave through arches in the buttresses, beneath an overall arch and tympanum
Tympanum (architecture)
In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....
) and clerestories
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
above the aisles. Both the aisles and the clerestories have five pairs of lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
s. Interior features include a sedilia
Sedilia
Sedilia , in ecclesiastical architecture, is the term used to describe stone seats, usually to be found on the south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for the use of the officiating priests...
, organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
chamber, choir stalls, chancel screen, ornate multi-sided 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...
with green marble work, 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....
designed as a triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
and depicting the Ascension of Jesus, and a marble 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:...
depicting an angel kneeling with a shell.
The church today
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 26 August 1999. 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.
The parish was extended in the early 21st century after the closure of St Augustine's Church
St Augustine's Church, Brighton
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,...
, which opened in 1896 on Stanford Avenue at the south end of Preston Park
Preston Park, Brighton
Preston Park is a park near Preston Village in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. It is located in Preston Park ward to the north of the centre of Brighton, and served by the nearby Preston Park railway station....
. It was declared redundant in 2002 and its parish joined St John the Evangelist's. The parish is officially named "St John with St Augustine and St Saviour", as St Augustine's former parish was itself extended in the 1980s to absorb that of St Saviour's Church—an 1886 church on the west side of Ditchling Road, at the junction of Round Hill Road (at 50.8360°N 0.1339°W), which was closed in 1981 and demolished two years later. The parish boundaries are the railway line
Brighton Main Line
The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 50 miles long, and is electrified throughout. Trains are operated by Southern, First Capital Connect, and Gatwick Express, now part of Southern.-Original proposals:There were no fewer...
between Preston Park station
Preston Park railway station
Preston Park railway station serves the northern suburban areas of Brighton in East Sussex, England. It is on the Brighton Main Line and Thameslink 2 km north of Brighton railway station, and train services are provided by Southern and First Capital Connect...
and New England Road, Viaduct Road, Ditchling Road, Preston Drove, Osborne Road, Balfour Road, Surrenden Road, Peacock Lane and London Road
A23 road
The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...
.