St Paul's Church, Brighton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Paul's Church, Brighton |
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St Paul's Church viewed from the southeast
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| 50°49′19.39″N 0°8′39.81″W / 50.8220528°N 0.1443917°W | |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Churchmanship | Anglo Catholic |
| Website | Saint Paul's, Brighton |
| History | |
| Dedication | Saint Paul |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Richard Cromwell Carpenter |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Brighton, St Paul |
| Deanery | Brighton |
| Archdeaconry | Archdeaconry of Brighton & Lewes |
| Diocese | Chichester |
| Province | Canterbury |
St Paul's Church is a special church in Brighton, England. It's named after Saint Paul, a famous missionary. You can find it on West Street, right in the middle of the city. It is close to the beach and main shopping areas.
Contents
Building St Paul's Church
Before St Paul's Church was built, a small chapel stood here since 1830. This chapel was used by local fishermen. Many fishermen lived in simple homes nearby, in an area now covered by the Churchill Square shopping centre.
In 1846, Reverend Henry Michell Wagner, a vicar in Brighton, bought the old chapel and nearby buildings. He spent £3,000 to clear the land. He then hired a builder and a designer to create a new church. St Paul's was the fourth church Rev. Wagner helped build in Brighton.
Other Churches by Rev. Wagner
Rev. Wagner's first church was All Souls, built in 1833-1834. It was later taken down in 1968. Next came Christ Church in Montpelier. Even King William IV and Queen Victoria helped pay for it. This church was demolished in 1982.
His third church was St John the Evangelist in Carlton Hill. Queen Victoria also donated to this church. It was opened in 1840. Today, it is the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, Brighton. St Paul's is the oldest of Rev. Wagner's churches still used for Anglican worship.
Church Design and Look
Cheesman & Son, a building company from Brighton, built St Paul's Church. They had worked with Rev. Wagner before. The church was designed by R. C. Carpenter.
Rev. Wagner wanted St Paul's to be the first church where his son, Arthur Wagner, would serve after becoming a priest. Arthur was 22 when the land was bought. He asked for a different designer for the church. Arthur followed the Oxford Movement, which liked a style called Gothic Revival. This style copied 14th-century Gothic buildings.
Materials and Inside the Church
The outside of the church is made of knapped flint and Caen stone. Caen stone is a type of limestone also used in the Tower of London. Inside, the church has a main area called a nave and a chancel. There are also two small rooms called vestries.
One vestry was first a reading room. It is now known as the "Fishermen's Vestry." There is also an organ room and a small "crypt chapel" underground. This chapel later became a library.
Opening the Church Doors
St Paul's Church opened on October 18, 1848. It took about two years to build. The total cost was £12,000. This money came from grants, public donations, and the Wagner family. Henry Wagner gave £1,475, and other family members gave £1,263.
At that time, people often paid to reserve seats in churches. Arthur Wagner wanted all seats to be free. However, his father, Henry, insisted that 460 of the 1,200 seats be rented out. The first church in Brighton with all free seats was St Bartholomew's Church, Brighton, which Arthur Wagner opened in 1874.
The church was officially blessed on October 23, 1849. Arthur Wagner became the priest in charge in 1850. He stayed in this role until he passed away in 1902, at 77 years old.
Changes Over Time
In 1873, St Paul's got its own parish, which is like its own local church area. At this time, Rev. Arthur Wagner stopped the practice of renting out pews.
The church windows were originally plain glass. Rev. Wagner later asked for many stained glass designs. All the stained glass windows in the main part of the church were designed by A.W.N. Pugin. He was a famous Gothic revival architect. The windows were made and put in by others after Pugin's death in 1852.
Art and Additions
In 1861, some changes were made. A new entrance area called a narthex was built at the west end. Parts were added to the rood screen, which separates the chancel from the nave. A special screen behind the altar, called a reredos, was also added. This reredos was designed by Edward Burne-Jones, who was just starting his art career.
The reredos was a triptych, meaning it had three panels. The middle panel showed the Adoration of the Magi. One of the wise men in the painting looks like William Morris, a famous artist and writer. Morris and Burne-Jones were friends and worked together. George Frederick Bodley, another Gothic revival architect, oversaw these projects.
The Tower and Bells
When his father died in 1870, Rev. Arthur Wagner inherited money. In 1873, he spent over £4,100 to add a tower and bells to the church. Before this, the church had no tower or spire. Cheesman & Son builders took 16 months to build the tower. It was finished in February 1875.
The tower once had bells that could be rung in a special way. However, they were removed because the tower became unsafe. Two bells are still in the tower. One was made in 1873, and the other, larger one, was made in 1853.
The church has an octagonal (eight-sided) wooden spire. A wooden spire was chosen instead of stone. This was because the stone spire of Chichester Cathedral had fallen down in 1861. A drawing of the church, showing plans for a stone spire that was never built, hangs in the "Fishermen's Vestry."
A company from London, James Powell and Sons, designed a brass lectern (a stand for reading). This lectern was later given to the church anonymously.
In the 1970s, more changes happened inside. A new altar was built. It used communion rails from a church in Edinburgh. A set of Stations of the Cross were also installed. These came from a church in Eastbourne that was being taken down.
St Paul's Church Today
St Paul's Church is a Grade II* listed building. This means it is a very important building, more than just locally significant. As of 2022, it was one of 72 Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove.
Services are held every Sunday at 11:00 AM (Solemn Mass). There is also a Mass at 11:30 AM every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
See also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove
- List of places of worship in Brighton and Hove
- List of works by R. C. Carpenter
