All Saints Hove facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids All Saints Hove
The church from the southwest
50°49′49″N 0°10′03″W / 50.8303°N 0.1674°W / 50.8303; -0.1674
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	High Church
Website	https://allsaintshove.org
History
Dedication	All Saints
Administration
Parish	Hove, All Saints
Deanery	Rural Deanery of Hove
Archdeaconry	Chichester
Diocese	Chichester
Province	Canterbury

All Saints Hove is a large Anglican church in Hove, which is part of the city of Brighton and Hove in England. It has been the main parish church for all of Hove since 1892. You can find it in an important spot where several roads meet in central Hove.

History of All Saints Church
- Building the New Church
Architecture and Design
- Inside the Church
- Stained Glass and Organ
All Saints Hove Today
The Vicarage
Gallery
See also

History of All Saints Church

For a long time, the areas of Hove and Preston were joined together as one church area called Hove-cum-Preston. This started way back in 1531. The main church for this area was St Andrew's Church. It was very old, from Saxon times, but it was rebuilt in 1836 because more people were moving to the area.

In 1879, the Hove-cum-Preston area was split into two new, separate areas: Hove and Preston. St Andrew's Church then became the parish church just for Hove. But when Revd Thomas Peacey became the first vicar (the main priest) of Hove that same year, he wanted a bigger, more impressive church. He quickly chose a famous church architect named John Loughborough Pearson to design a new one.

Building the New Church

Building work on All Saints Church did not start right away. It began in 1889, with the first stone laid on April 25, 1889. Before this, Pearson had been busy with other projects, including the vicarage (the vicar's house) next to the church, and another nearby church called St Barnabas Church.

All Saints Church was built and opened in stages:

The main part of the church, called the nave (where the people sit) and the side aisles, cost £14,000. This part opened in 1891 after a special ceremony by the Bishop of Chichester on May 1, 1891. The Bishop, Richard Durnford, even gave £1,000 himself to help pay for it.
The eastern end of the church was not finished until 1901. This was four years after Pearson, the architect, had passed away. His son oversaw the completion. The new Bishop of Chichester, Ernest Roland Wilberforce, held another ceremony on November 1, 1901.
An unfinished tower on the southwest side and a small entrance area called a narthex were added in 1924. The tower was never fully completed, but inside it, you can see a statue of Revd Peacey holding a model of the church. By this time, the total cost of building had reached £40,000.

All Saints became the official parish church of Hove in 1892, taking over from St Andrew's. It also serves the smaller Parish of Hove All Saints. This area includes the former church of St Thomas the Apostle, which is now a Coptic Orthodox church called St Mary and St Abraam. The parish of Hove All Saints is quite large and busy. It covers most of eastern Hove, from the seafront up to the A270 Old Shoreham Road.

Architecture and Design

All Saints is a very grand church. It is one of the largest churches built in the 1800s in the style known as Gothic Revival. It looks a bit like Truro Cathedral, which was another big project by John Loughborough Pearson.

Pearson used local sandstone for the outside of All Saints. This is different from his other church in Hove, St Barnabas, which uses flint and red brick. The main style of All Saints is called Early English Decorated, which is also different from many of his other churches.

Inside the Church

The inside of All Saints is also made of stone. This was usually only seen in very grand medieval buildings. The huge roof is made from strong Sussex oak wood.

When you enter through the narthex (the western entrance area), you walk into a very wide nave (the main part of the church). There are tall arches and aisles on both sides, which reminded one expert of Exeter Cathedral. Further inside is the chancel (the area around the altar) with smaller side chapels.

One of these chapels has a beautifully carved wooden screen. This screen was made to remember people from the parish who died in the First World War.
The church is dominated by a large stone screen behind the altar, called a reredos. It was carved by Nathaniel Hitch and put in place in 1908. Pearson designed the church in a clever way to make your eyes focus on this beautiful reredos. One architect said the east end of the church was "as nearly perfect as can be." Another expert, Nikolaus Pevsner, called the building "superb and cathedral-like."
Other features inside include wooden choir stalls and canopies. These were designed by Frank Loughborough Pearson (John Loughborough Pearson's son) to remember Thomas Peacey.
There is also a stone pulpit (where sermons are given) and a seven-sided font made of red marble (used for baptisms).

Stained Glass and Organ

All Saints has many beautiful stained glass windows made by the famous company Clayton & Bell. The large west window remembers King Edward VII. He visited the church in 1896, before he became king.

The huge organ was built by William Hill & Son in London.

It was first installed in 1894 with 14 different sounds (called organ stops).
In 1905, it was made much bigger, with 48 speaking stops. It even has a very rare, full-length 32-foot Open Wood stop, which is the only one of its kind between London and Winchester.
In 1915, the organ was put inside a magnificent wooden case designed by Frank Loughborough Pearson.
The organ was repaired in 1987. It was one of the first organs to be given a special historic certificate, meaning it is very important internationally. Its restoration has helped guide the repair of other large Hill organs, including those in Peterborough and Lichfield cathedrals.

All Saints Hove Today

All Saints Church is usually open for visitors to look around. It is also often used for live music events. Of course, it holds church services several times a week. The church also offers Sunday school and crèche facilities for younger children.

The building is very important for its architecture. It has been given Grade I listed status. This means it is considered a "building of outstanding or national architectural or historic interest."

The Vicarage

The vicar of the old combined Hove-cum-Preston parish, Revd Walter Kelly, had built a house for himself called a vicarage. But when the parish split, this house ended up in the Preston area.

Revd Peacey quickly arranged for Hove to have its own vicarage. He got land from the Stanford family, who owned a lot of land around Preston and Hove. By the late 1800s, much of this land was being used to build homes. A plot of land in an area then known as "West Brighton," at the corner of Eaton Road and The Drive, was chosen.

John Loughborough Pearson was asked to design and build this new vicarage. He designed it to match the church, even though the vicarage was built a few years earlier. This red-brick building was finished in 1883. It has features from the Renaissance style, which was popular 400 years before. This vicarage is also a listed building, at Grade II.

Gallery

The west side of the church, showing the entrance (narthex), the west window, and the tower that was never finished.
The south side of the church, looking towards the northeast.
The main altar, the carved screen (reredos), seats for clergy (sedilia), and part of the east window.
The main altar, reredos, and sedilia, seen from the south choir stalls.
The main part of the church (nave), looking towards the altar in the east.
The large, double-sided Gothic organ case, designed by the architect's son, and the round window in the north transept.
The front of the pipe organ in the chancel area.
A view of the eastern end of the church, including the chapel apse, the east window, and small towers.
A small spire on the eastern end of the church.
The west window, which remembers King Edward VII.
The west window, seen from inside the church.
One of the beautiful stained glass windows on the south side of the church.
The south window, seen from inside.
The north window of the narthex (entrance area), designed by Martin Travers.