St George's Church, Polegate facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St George's Church
The church from the west-northwest in 2023
St George's Church Location in East Sussex
50°49′08″N 0°14′34″E / 50.8188°N 0.2428°E / 50.8188; 0.2428
Location	Eastbourne Road, Polegate, East Sussex BN26 5DF
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	saintsgeorgeandwilfrid.co.uk
History
Status	Church
Founded	7 June 1938
Founder(s)	Fr. John Corballis of Our Lady of Ransom Church, Eastbourne
Dedication	Saint George
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	J. O'Hanlon Hughes and Geoffrey Webb
Style	Perpendicular Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	7 June 1938
Completed	7 December 1938
Construction cost	£4,000 (construction) £500 (fixtures and fittings) £1,318 (land and legal fees) (Contractor W. Llewellyn & Sons)
Administration
Parish	Hailsham and Polegate
Deanery	Eastbourne
Diocese	Arundel and Brighton

St George's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Polegate, a town in East Sussex, England. It is part of the local church area (called a parish) of Hailsham and Polegate.

People first thought about having a Catholic church in Polegate in the late 1800s. At that time, Polegate was a fast-growing village. It was part of a very large Catholic parish centered in Eastbourne. A new priest arrived in Eastbourne in 1936. He quickly started plans for a church in Polegate.

Building work began within two years. By the end of 1938, the church was open. It was built in a simple but "very dignified" style. The church uses flint and stone, following the Gothic Revival design. After World War II, the church had some problems with its structure. Money was spent on other churches in the area. So, repairs at St George's had to wait until the 1950s and 1960s.

St George's Church has changed its parish structure five times. It started as a "chapel of ease." This means it was a smaller church serving a larger parish. In 1958, it became a separate district within Eastbourne. It even got its own priest. Two years later, in 1960, it became fully independent. It formed a new parish with Hampden Park.

Five years later, Polegate and Hampden Park separated. But they merged again later. In the early 2000s, another change happened. This created the current joint parish of Hailsham and Polegate. The church holds weekly services (called Masses). It is also officially registered for weddings.

History

The church's entrance porch.

Polegate was once a small village. It grew quickly in the 1800s and early 1900s. This happened because two railway lines met there. In 1873, there were only 50 houses. By the early 2000s, over 8,000 people lived there. The town also grew closer to its larger neighbor, Eastbourne.

The main Catholic church in Eastbourne, Our Lady of Ransom, served Polegate. In 1895, the priest there told the Vicar-General (a senior church official) that people in distant villages wanted Mass. He said nine Catholics in Polegate, about 5 miles (8.0 km) from Eastbourne, needed a local church.

Also in 1895, a man named William Attwood died. His house, Osborne House, had a private oratory (a small chapel). It might have been used for public Masses, but we don't know for sure. Nothing much happened until 1913. Then, another man let his house near Polegate be used for worship. From May 1919, Mass was held there once a month.

Father John Corballis became the priest of Our Lady of Ransom in January 1936. He immediately wanted to build a church in Polegate. The next month, he bought land for £1,318. This land was at the main crossroads in Polegate. Money was raised at Our Lady of Ransom Church to pay off this debt.

Building the new church was planned for summer 1938. An architect was hired to design it. On June 7, 1938, Bishop William Francis Brown led a special service. He laid the foundation stone. The building work took exactly six months. On December 7, 1938, Bishop Peter Amigo and other priests attended the first Mass. The church was named after Saint George. Building the church cost £4,000. Fittings cost another £500. There was still £3,000 left to pay.

At first, there was one Mass on Saturday evening and one on Sunday morning. This continued while the church was a "chapel of ease" to Our Lady of Ransom. Stations of the Cross were added in March 1939. During World War II, many children moved to the Eastbourne area. More people attended churches, and St George's was "full" every week. Later in the war, people left due to bombing. Services were reduced, but St George's stayed open.

After the war, the church focused on other projects. They wanted a bigger church in Hailsham. They also bought land for a future church in Hampden Park. The large Eastbourne parish needed to be reorganized. Canon John Curtin became priest of Our Lady of Ransom in 1956. He decided to make some "chapels of ease" into independent parishes. Polegate was one of them.

This happened in two steps. In July 1958, Father John Flanagan became the first priest for Polegate with Hampden Park. But it was still part of the Eastbourne parish. St George's Church officially became separate from Eastbourne in June 1960. This was when St Joachim's Church opened in Hampden Park. The new parish of Polegate with Hampden Park was then created. Before St Joachim's opened, Hampden Park residents went to St Gregory's or St George's. From August 1958, Mass was held in a public hall, then in a house. St Joachim's was built on the grounds of that house.

Around 1952, St George's Church was found to be sinking a bit. When Canon Curtin took over, the altar and most seats were damaged. They had dry rot and woodworm. The church had no heating. The walls and floor were rough cement. The ground was waterlogged, causing dampness. Our Lady of Ransom Church paid for improvements. In 1965, more big repairs were done, costing £20,000.

In September 1965, St George's parish changed again. St Joachim's Church in Hampden Park got its own parish and priest. Father Flanagan, who had been in charge of Polegate since 1958, now only looked after Polegate. St Joachim's Church joined with St George's again in 1999. But after more changes in the early 2000s, they separated. A new joint parish was formed for Hailsham and Polegate. By 2005, priests from St Wilfrid's Church in Hailsham served St George's. By 2007, Hampden Park was served by a church in Langney.

Architecture

St George's Church was built by W. Llewellyn & Sons. It was designed by J. O'Hanlon Hughes and Geoffrey Webb. These architects also worked together on St Thomas More Church in nearby Seaford in 1935. Webb also designed a stained glass window at Roedean School. He made a sculpture in St Dunstan's Church, Mayfield and a village sign there. In 1938, a publication called The Catholic Calendar and Blotter said Hughes was the architect and Webb was a "technical advisor."

The church is a simple building. It uses the Perpendicular Gothic Revival style. It is a long rectangle with no side sections (called transepts) or side chapels. It has a single roof that slopes down on two sides. There is a side porch that "sticks out oddly" from the front wall.

The walls are made of local flint stone. They are decorated with Portland stone. The side walls have groups of four slightly arched windows. These windows are set in simple rectangular frames. The front and back walls have taller windows with four sections. These windows have slightly more complex stone patterns (called tracery). The church looks "Gothic, but only just." The inside is also simple. It has a ceiling that slopes inwards (called a canted ceiling). At the opening, Father Corballis said the design was "not exotic." But he felt it fit well with the nearby downland. He said it was "plain … [but] very dignified."

Administration and services

The church is officially allowed to hold worship services. This is under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855. Its registration number is 58747. It was also registered to hold weddings on February 26, 1940.

St George's Church is part of the Hailsham and Polegate parish. It is served by St Wilfrid's Church in Hailsham. This parish is one of four in the Eastbourne Deanery. A deanery is a group of parishes. The Eastbourne deanery is one of 13 in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.

As of 2019, one priest serves the Hailsham and Polegate parish. He celebrates Mass at 9:00 am on Sundays at St George's. He also offers the Sacrament of Penance (confession) once a month. At St Wilfrid's, he offers two Masses and confession weekly. St George's is one of four places of worship in Polegate. The others are Anglican, United Reformed, and Seventh-day Adventist churches.

In 2005–06, the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton studied all its churches. They looked at how many people attended, how much space there was, and how parishes were set up. They reported that one priest served Hailsham and Polegate. One Sunday Mass was held at St George's. The average attendance was 88 people. The church could seat 100 people. However, a report from the opening in 1938 said it could hold 120 worshippers.

See also

• List of current places of worship in Wealden