St Peter's Church, Shoreham-by-Sea
Encyclopedia
The name St Peter's Church has been borne by two Roman Catholic churches in the town of Shoreham-by-Sea
in the district of Adur, one of seven local government districts in the English
county of West Sussex
. The original church with that dedication
was the town's first permanent Roman Catholic place of worship; founded in 1875, it was paid for by Augusta, Duchess of Norfolk
, a member of the most important Dukedom in England
. After its closure, a new St Peter's Church was built nearby. The old building, which still stands and is in residential use, has been listed by English Heritage
at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
and next to the east bank of the River Adur
. Its focus was the 10th-century St Nicolas' Church
. Later development filled the gap between the village and the sea, and the growth of trade from its harbour in the 18th and 19th centuries brought prosperity to what was by then a small town.
By the mid-19th century, two large Anglican churches were supported—St Nicolas' Church had been joined by the substantial St Mary de Haura Church
—but Roman Catholics had no place of worship. Around that time, a priest began to travel in from nearby Worthing
to celebrate Mass at a house in Surry Street; in 1870 this arrangement moved to a former schoolroom on a site between John Street and Ship Street. The land on which this stood had been acquired in the 1860s by the former Vicar of Shoreham, Reverend William Wheeler. He had left the Church of England
and was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1855, and donated the land to enable a permanent church to be built.
The funds to build the church came from Augusta, Duchess of Norfolk
. She had married into the Dukedom of Norfolk
, England's most important Roman Catholic family, in 1839; her husband, Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk
, was the Lord of the Manor
and lived nearby at Arundel Castle
, the ducal seat. Architect Charles Buckler, who was responsible for several Roman Catholic churches in Sussex, was commissioned to design and build the church. The building, described as "large, rather severe ... [and] assertive", was consecrated and opened in 1875. A presbytery
was added on the east (John Street) side, in a matching style, in 1877. Its capacity was approximately 200, and it cost £5,000 (£ as of ).
dressed with ashlar
. It lacks a spire or tower, but there is a bell-tower at the west end of the roof, which is tiled and gable
d. There are four large lancet window
s in the north and south walls, separated by buttress
es; until the building's conversion from a nursing home into flats, these had elaborate tracery
. As originally built, the church had a four-bay
nave
and two further bays in the chancel
, which also had a transept
. A porch led into the nave on the west side. Inside, below the roof truss
es, there was a gallery at the west end. Fittings included a reredos
and a marble altar.
. The latter was lost when the building was converted into flats in 2002, being replaced with plain modern windows instead, but there has otherwise been little structural alteration. The flats are named "St John's Court"—a reference to the former name of John Street. "St John" referred to the Knights of St John Hospitallers
, who had been active in Shoreham since the mid-12th century.
English Heritage granted the former St Peter's Church Grade II listed status on 16 August 1983. Such buildings are defined as being "nationally important and of special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 106 Grade II listed buildings, and 119 listed buildings of all grades, in Adur district.
The church is part of the parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace, Adur Valley, which covers three Roman Catholic churches in the area (the others are at Steyning
and Upper Beeding
in the neighbouring district of Horsham
). One priest serves all three.
Two Masses
are celebrated every Sunday, and on Holy Days of Obligation
an evening Mass is said.
Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...
in the district of Adur, one of seven local government districts 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...
county of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
. The original church with that dedication
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
was the town's first permanent Roman Catholic place of worship; founded in 1875, it was paid for by Augusta, Duchess of Norfolk
Augusta Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
Hon. Augusta Mary Minna Catherine Lyons* Born Torquay, Devon, 1 August 1821* Died Norfolk House, St James's Square, London, 22 March 1886Augusta, or Minna as she was more commonly known, was the younger daughter of Edmund Lyons by his wife Augusta Louisa .In 1838/9 Minna was residing with her...
, a member of the most important Dukedom in England
Dukes of Norfolk family tree
The following chart is a family tree of the Dukes of Norfolk, who were members of the Plantagenet, Mowbray and Howard families. It shows how every Duke of Norfolk was a descendant of King Edward I of England....
. After its closure, a new St Peter's Church was built nearby. The old building, which still stands and is in residential use, has been listed by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
History
The settlement of Old Shoreham developed inland from the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and next to the east bank of the River Adur
River Adur
The Adur is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river was formerly navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large port, but over time the river valley became silted up and the port moved down to the deeper waters nearer...
. Its focus was the 10th-century St Nicolas' Church
St Nicolas' Church, Shoreham-by-Sea
St Nicolas' Church is an Anglican church in Old Shoreham, an ancient inland settlement that is now part of the town of Shoreham-by-Sea in the district of Adur, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. It was founded on a riverside site by Anglo-Saxons at the...
. Later development filled the gap between the village and the sea, and the growth of trade from its harbour in the 18th and 19th centuries brought prosperity to what was by then a small town.
By the mid-19th century, two large Anglican churches were supported—St Nicolas' Church had been joined by the substantial St Mary de Haura Church
St Mary de Haura Church, Shoreham-by-Sea
St Mary de Haura Church is an Anglican church in the ancient "New Shoreham" area of Shoreham-by-Sea in the district of Adur, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex...
—but Roman Catholics had no place of worship. Around that time, a priest began to travel in from nearby Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
to celebrate Mass at a house in Surry Street; in 1870 this arrangement moved to a former schoolroom on a site between John Street and Ship Street. The land on which this stood had been acquired in the 1860s by the former Vicar of Shoreham, Reverend William Wheeler. He had left the Church of England
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...
and was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1855, and donated the land to enable a permanent church to be built.
The funds to build the church came from Augusta, Duchess of Norfolk
Augusta Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
Hon. Augusta Mary Minna Catherine Lyons* Born Torquay, Devon, 1 August 1821* Died Norfolk House, St James's Square, London, 22 March 1886Augusta, or Minna as she was more commonly known, was the younger daughter of Edmund Lyons by his wife Augusta Louisa .In 1838/9 Minna was residing with her...
. She had married into the Dukedom of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk
The Duke of Norfolk is the premier duke in the peerage of England, and also, as Earl of Arundel, the premier earl. The Duke of Norfolk is, moreover, the Earl Marshal and hereditary Marshal of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the...
, England's most important Roman Catholic family, in 1839; her husband, Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk
Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk
Henry Granville Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal, Chief Butler of England was the son of Henry Charles Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk and Lady Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower...
, was the Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
and lived nearby at Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England is a restored medieval castle. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror...
, the ducal seat. Architect Charles Buckler, who was responsible for several Roman Catholic churches in Sussex, was commissioned to design and build the church. The building, described as "large, rather severe ... [and] assertive", was consecrated and opened in 1875. A presbytery
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
was added on the east (John Street) side, in a matching style, in 1877. Its capacity was approximately 200, and it cost £5,000 (£ as of ).
Architecture
Charles Buckler used the Decorated Gothic style, imitative of 13th- and 14th-century churches, for his design for St Peter's Church. The structure is of cobbled flintFlint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
dressed with 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...
. It lacks a spire or tower, but there is a bell-tower at the west end of the roof, which is tiled and gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d. There are four large 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 in the north and south walls, separated by buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es; until the building's conversion from a nursing home into flats, these had elaborate tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
. As originally built, the church had a four-bay
Bay (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:...
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 two further bays in the 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...
, which also had a 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...
. A porch led into the nave on the west side. Inside, below the roof truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
es, there was a gallery at the west end. Fittings included a 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....
and a marble altar.
The building today
The church was closed and sold for redevelopment in 1982. It was converted into a nursing home, retaining most of its ecclesiastical features including the intricate window traceryTracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
. The latter was lost when the building was converted into flats in 2002, being replaced with plain modern windows instead, but there has otherwise been little structural alteration. The flats are named "St John's Court"—a reference to the former name of John Street. "St John" referred to the Knights of St John Hospitallers
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
, who had been active in Shoreham since the mid-12th century.
English Heritage granted the former St Peter's Church Grade II listed status on 16 August 1983. Such buildings are defined as being "nationally important and of special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 106 Grade II listed buildings, and 119 listed buildings of all grades, in Adur district.
The new St Peter's Church
A new church—a low building with a rectangular plan—was built just north of its predecessor after it closed in 1982. Construction started in 1983. The building, which stands on the corner of West Street and North Street, is on the site of a Roman Catholic school which had closed and moved elsewhere in the town in the 1960s. Before that, a 17th-century house stood on the site; its grounds extended some distance to the north.The church is part of the parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace, Adur Valley, which covers three Roman Catholic churches in the area (the others are at Steyning
Steyning
Steyning is a small town and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles north of Shoreham-by-Sea...
and Upper Beeding
Upper Beeding
Upper Beeding is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the northern end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs four miles north of Shoreham-by-Sea and has a land area of 1877 hectares...
in the neighbouring district of Horsham
Horsham (district)
Horsham is a local government district in West Sussex, England. Its council is based in Horsham. The district borders those of Crawley, Mid Sussex, Mole Valley, Chichester, Arun and Adur....
). One priest serves all three.
Two Masses
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
are celebrated every Sunday, and on Holy Days of Obligation
Holy Day of Obligation
In the Catholic Church, Holy Days of Obligation or Holidays of Obligation, less commonly called Feasts of Precept, are the days on which, as of the Code of Canon Law states,-Eastern Catholic Churches:...
an evening Mass is said.