Central Methodist Church, Eastbourne facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Central Methodist Church
Deliverance Centre Eastbourne
The church from the east-southeast
50°46′08″N 0°17′20″E / 50.7689°N 0.2888°E / 50.7689; 0.2888
Location	Pevensey Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 3HJ
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Methodist
History
Status	Church
Events	9 September 1908: registered for marriages 2018: closed as a Methodist church and reopened as a Pentecostal church January 2019: marriage registration as a Methodist church formally cancelled
Architecture
Functional status	Active (as Pentecostal church)
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	13 August 1996
Architect(s)	Carlos Crisford
Style	Decorated Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1 April 1907 (Sunday school); 14 April 1908 (church)
Completed	16 September 1908
Construction cost	£15,000 (£1,123,000 in 2025)
Specifications
Capacity	1,000
Administration
Circuit	Eastbourne (until 2018)

The Central Methodist Church was once the main Methodist church in Eastbourne, a town in East Sussex, England. This large building in the town centre, with its schoolrooms, replaced older Methodist churches in the area.

Methodism first came to Eastbourne in 1803, brought by soldiers. At that time, Eastbourne was just a few small villages by the sea. A group they formed to help Methodism grow is still active today. Carlos Crisford, a local Methodist and historian, designed this impressive church in 1907. It has been used for worship ever since. Many other Methodist churches in the area have closed, but this one has remained open. For several years, it even shared its space with a Baptist church. Central Methodist Church is a Grade II listed building, which means it's an important historical building.

In 2018, the Methodist churches in Eastbourne decided to reorganize. They teamed up with the United Reformed Church to form a new group called Emmanuel Church. They planned to build a new church and community centre. Because of this, Central Methodist Church and some other buildings were no longer needed by the Methodists.

After the Methodists moved out, a Pentecostal group took over the building. They renamed it Deliverance Centre Eastbourne. This group still uses the church as their main place of worship today.

History of Eastbourne's Central Church
Church Design
Other Churches Connected to Central Methodist
See also

History of Eastbourne's Central Church

How Methodism Started in Eastbourne

Before the early 1800s, Eastbourne was mostly farmland with four small villages. These villages were Bourne (now Old Town), Southbourne, Sea Houses (a fishing village), and Meads. In 1801, about 1,668 people lived there.

Sea Houses became important in the late 1700s for defending the coast against French invaders. Soldiers arrived in July 1803. These soldiers were likely the first Methodists in Eastbourne. Before 1803, there was no Methodist presence in the area.

27 and 28 Marine Parade now stand where Eastbourne's first Methodist meeting place was, 104 years before Central Methodist Church was built.

In 1803, some soldiers started a group called the "Society of the People Called Methodists." They met in one of the houses at Sea Houses. This helped spread their beliefs in Eastbourne. The house where they met is no longer there. Today, buildings at 27 and 28 Marine Parade are on that spot.

Many soldiers left in 1804. But local people, helped by a shop owner named Henry Beck, kept the Methodist community going. Henry Beck moved from Lewes and became an important Methodist preacher. Rev. Robert Pilter, a famous Methodist missionary, also helped the group grow.

Rev. Pilter helped the community get their first permanent place to worship. In September 1809, Rev. Robert Wheeler bought land for £145. The chapel officially opened on March 28, 1810. It cost £861 to build. Soon after opening, they had to spend more money to make it bigger because so many people were coming.

However, challenges arose. The Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, and all the soldiers left Eastbourne. Henry Beck moved away in 1817. The chapel also had debt. Storms in the 1840s even forced services to be held outside for a while. By 1860, the number of people attending was very low.

The Pevensey Road Chapel

Despite the difficulties, most of the debt was paid off. The Methodists decided to build a new church closer to the growing town centre. By 1860, the seafront area was the new heart of Eastbourne.

A preacher named Thomas Scott helped Eastbourne get a full-time Methodist preacher. This happened in 1860. Scott also gave £25 towards the new church building.

The Methodists bought land on Pevensey Road in 1863. Building work started right away. Sir Francis Lycett, an important Methodist leader, laid the foundation stone on November 11, 1863. The architect, R.K. Blessley, designed the church in the Gothic Revival style, using flint and stone.

The Pevensey Road Chapel opened in July 1864. It cost about £1,875. The old chapel on Grove Road was sold to another church group.

The number of church members grew slowly. A scarlet fever outbreak in 1864 scared many visitors away. But the Methodist community was now firmly established. They opened a new Sunday school in 1869. More Methodist chapels were also started in nearby villages and new parts of Eastbourne. In 1871, Eastbourne got its own Methodist Circuit, which is a smaller administrative area.

Building the New Central Church

By 1896, the Pevensey Road Chapel had over 250 regular members. In summer, there wasn't enough space for all the visitors. By 1902, there was a big plan to replace the chapel with a new "central church" that could hold 1,000 people. This new church would be the main centre for Methodists in Eastbourne.

In 1904, the old Pevensey Road Chapel was found to be unsafe. Over £3,000 was ready in a building fund. A committee was formed to oversee the demolition of the old chapel and build a much larger church and schoolroom.

Permission to knock down the chapel was given in 1906. Work began on April 1, 1907, with the laying of the Sunday school foundation stone. A politician named Arthur Henderson, who was also a Methodist, spoke at a public meeting. People were encouraged to donate by placing a shilling on the stones. While the old chapel was being demolished, services were held in the former Sunday school hall.

The people from Ceylon Place Baptist Church worshipped at Central Methodist Church for several years after their own building became flats.

By early 1908, the new Sunday school was finished. Work on the church itself began on April 14, 1908. It took five months to build and cost about £15,000. The church was designed by Carlos Crisford and built by Miller and Selmes. It had a tall corner tower with a spire. To celebrate the opening, a group of people were lifted in a box to the top of the spire, where they ate breakfast!

The new Central Methodist Church opened on September 16, 1908. The number of members grew from about 200 to 254 by 1917. Money was slowly raised to pay off the building debt, which was finally paid in 1925.

Between the two World Wars, the church started clubs and societies. It also helped people during the Great Depression. A war memorial was put up to remember 18 church members who died in World War I. In 1934, a Methodist guest house opened nearby, and many guests would attend services at the church.

Central Methodist Church played a role in World War II. Its large size and central location made it a "reception centre." Thousands of evacuees from London passed through on their way to temporary homes. By 1940, Eastbourne was at high risk of attack. About 35,000 people passed through the church in a few days in September 1940 to be evacuated out of town.

Many churches in Eastbourne were damaged by bombs, but Central Methodist Church survived. Once, an unexploded bomb landed nearby, but it didn't go off. The church was temporarily closed because it was in a dangerous area, but services continued in the crypt, which also served as a shelter.

After the war, church membership continued to grow. The highest number of members was 486 in 1967. Youth clubs, women's groups, and a choir were all active. The "Society of the People Called Methodists," started in 1803, continued to meet regularly at the church.

Central Methodist Church was named a Grade II Listed building on August 13, 1996. This means it's a historically important building.

Recent History and Changes

For several years until 2013, a Baptist church group shared the building. Their own church, Ceylon Place Baptist Church, had closed and was turned into flats. They moved to Central Methodist Church temporarily. This group, now called New Hope Baptist Church, later found a new building for themselves.

In 2015, the Methodist and United Reformed Churches planned to combine four of their churches in Eastbourne. They decided to build a new church called Emmanuel Church on the site of Upperton United Reformed Church. This meant Central Methodist Church and two other churches would close.

Central Methodist Church's Methodist members left the building in 2018. It is now used only by the Church of God Worldwide Mission, a Pentecostal group. This group had been meeting in Eastbourne since 1998 but didn't have their own building. They had shared Central Methodist Church since at least 2009. They hold regular services and prayer meetings there. The church is now known as Deliverance Centre Eastbourne.

Church Design

The Pevensey Road side has a large window with seven sections and pointed supports.

Central Methodist Church is an impressive building designed in the Gothic Revival style. It is made of grey stone. The roof is covered with tiles, which are not the original ones. One famous architectural writer said it looked "entirely churchy," meaning it looked more like an Anglican church than a typical Nonconformist chapel of its time.

The church and its other buildings are on a corner. The main entrance is on Pevensey Road. Next to it on Susans Road are the Sunday school and church hall. The church entrance is in a porch next to the tower. The porch has two pairs of pointed windows. Above this is a large window with seven sections and decorative patterns. The doorway has a carving of a Bible verse: "enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise."

The tower has three levels. The top level has a bell area with vents and pointed windows. Above this, the stone spire has small dormer windows and a weather-vane.

The inside of the church still looks much like it did when it opened. There is a wooden gallery (a balcony) supported by thin iron columns. Other original features include the pews (church benches), a pulpit (where the preacher stands), and the case for a large pipe organ.

The church hall is a two-storey stone building with pointed gables and arched windows. The Sunday school next to it also has two storeys. It has a Jacobean look with small towers that look like castle battlements. Inside, there is a staircase with fancy iron railings.

Other Churches Connected to Central Methodist

Central Methodist Church was the main church in the Eastbourne Methodist Circuit, which has been in its current form since 1871. It was connected to several other Methodist churches in Eastbourne and nearby villages.

Greenfield Methodist Church: This red-brick church has served Eastbourne's Old Town since 1898. Central Methodist Church's older building, the Pevensey Road Chapel, helped start and pay for this church.
East End Chapels: In Eastbourne's poorer East End, chapels were built on Beamsley Road (1886) and Ringwood Road (1904). Another church, St Aidan's, opened nearby in 1913. These churches later combined. St Aidan's Church closed and was taken down in 2001.
Hampden Park: The Hampden Park area got its first church in 1960. Central Church played a big part in starting this community. St Stephen's Church (now Broadway United Church) opened on July 23, 1960.
Langney: Central Church also helped open a new united church in the growing suburb of Langney. St Barnabas United Church opened in 1976 with support from many different church groups.
Willingdon: This nearby village joined the Circuit in 1894 when a red-brick church was built. Trinity Church is now shared with United Reformed and Baptist worshippers.
Other Circuit Churches: Churches in the towns and villages of Hailsham, Cross-in-Hand, and Gamelands (near Horam) are also part of the Circuit. The minister of Central Methodist Church was also in charge of Blacknest Chapel in Westham, which closed and was taken down in the early 2000s.