St Andrew's Church, Waterloo Street, Hove facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Andrew's Church
St Andrew's Church, Brunswick Town, Hove
Location	Waterloo Street, Hove, BN3 1AQ
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Website	www.visitchurches.org.uk
History
Founded	1827
Founder(s)	Rev. Edward Everard
Dedicated	5 July 1828
Architecture
Architect(s)	Sir Charles Barry
Style	Italianate
Years built	1827–1828
Closed	14 February 1990
Administration
Diocese	Diocese of Chichester

View of St Andrew's Church, Waterloo Street, Hove from above.

St Andrew's Church is a beautiful old Anglican church located in the Brunswick Town area of Hove. Hove is a city in England, part of Brighton and Hove. This historic church is now looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust, a group that protects important old churches that are no longer used for regular services.

Even though it stopped being a regular church in 1990, St Andrew's was once a very popular place of worship. In the 1800s, many wealthy people from the Brunswick estate came here. It's considered a very important building and is "listed at Grade I". This means it has outstanding architectural or historical value.

History of St Andrew's Church

The land between Brighton and the old town of Hove was mostly farmland until the 1820s. That's when a new area called Brunswick Town was built. It was inspired by the successful Kemp Town estate in Brighton, which had fancy houses and buildings in the Regency style.

Building Brunswick Town and a New Church

Charles Busby designed and built the Brunswick Town estate. Because of this and other new homes, Hove's population grew from just 100 people in 1801 to 2,500 by 1841! The only church nearby was St Andrew's, the ancient parish church, but it was far away and in bad condition.

Reverend Edward Everard, who owned land where Brunswick Town was built, noticed there were no plans for a new church in the estate. So, he decided to build his own church, called a proprietary chapel, on his land. Reverend Everard knew Charles Busby, but they had a disagreement earlier. So, Everard chose a different architect: Charles Barry. Barry had already designed the Sussex County Hospital and St Peter's Church in Brighton. There's even a blue plaque on the church today to remember Charles Barry.

Early Years and Royal Visitors

Building work began in April 1827. Reverend Everard gained ownership of the church through a special law passed in 1828. This law also gave him the right to choose a curate (a church minister) for 40 years and to receive most of the money from church activities. Everard himself became the first curate when the church officially opened on July 5, 1828. He served until 1838.

St Andrew's quickly became popular with important and fashionable people. Members of the Royal Family and nobles often came to worship there in the mid-1800s. One famous visitor was the elderly Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. He was known for making loud and sometimes funny comments during services! In 1851, about 300 to 350 people regularly attended church here.

Changes and Modern Use

The inside of the church was updated in 1869 with new benches. A bigger change happened in 1882 when the church was made larger. Charles Barry's son, Edward Middleton Barry, added a chancel (the area around the altar), a sanctuary with fancy columns, and space for an organ. The organ is gone now, but its case remains. More additions were made in the 1920s, including a new pulpit, a fancy canopy over the altar, a marble font, and new stained glass windows. These changes were meant to make the church brighter and "create a little piece of Italy" inside the Italianate building.

The church was used until the late 20th century. However, fewer people were attending services, so it was officially closed on February 14, 1990. The church was almost demolished, but its Grade I listed status, given in 1950, saved it. The Churches Conservation Trust now owns and takes care of the building. After some damage in the 1990s, the church was restored in 2001 and 2002. It can now be used for special events and community activities.

Since September 2013, St Andrew's has also been used monthly by the Brighton and Hove Chapter of The Sunday Assembly.

Architecture of St Andrew's Church

The outside of St Andrew's Church, especially the front, was the first example in England of the Italianate style used for a church. When it was first built, the inside was simpler. It didn't have a chancel, had plain pulpits, and just one gallery. It was more like a simple box-shaped building for preaching.

Building Materials and Features

The church is built using brick and ashlar (finely cut stone). The main entrance door is under a round arch, framed by twin pilasters (flat columns). There's a small bell tower with a dome and clock faces. It holds a bell made in 1930, replacing an older one from the early 1800s.

Inside the Church

Today, the inside of the church has a gallery at the west end, a nave (the main part of the church), transepts (sections that cross the nave), a chancel, a small chapel, and a vestry (a room for the clergy). It has special Italianate top-lighting and domes. The narthex (an entrance hall) also has top-lighting and now holds most of the church's memorial stones. These stones were moved here when the church closed. However, five important memorials, including those for Lord Charles Somerset and Sir George Dallas, 1st Baronet, are still in the nave.

Burial Vaults

St Andrew's is the only church in Hove with burial vaults underneath it. Because Hove was growing so fast, there wasn't much space for burials. Lord Charles Somerset, a Member of Parliament who later became Governor of the Cape Colony in South Africa, was the first person buried in the vault in 1831. In 1854, a court order stopped any more burials. During World War II, the vaults were even used as air-raid shelters!

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in Brighton and Hove
• List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Southeast England
• List of places of worship in Brighton and Hove