St Andrew's Church, Church Road, Hove

St Andrew (Old Church), Hove
The church from the northeast
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
History
Dedication	Saint Andrew
Administration
Parish	Hove, St Andrew (Old Church)
Deanery	Rural Deanery of Hove
Archdeaconry	Chichester
Diocese	Chichester
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Vicar(s)	The Revd Dan Henderson

St Andrew's Church is an Anglican church in Church Road, Hove, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is usually referred to as St Andrew (Old Church) to distinguish it from another St Andrew's Church in Waterloo Street, elsewhere in Hove. It served as Hove's parish church for several centuries until 1892, although the building was in a state of near-ruin until Hove began to grow from an isolated village to a popular residential area in the early 19th century.

Hove developed independently of, and separately from, neighbouring Brighton, beginning as a linear village along a single street, now known as Hove Street, running from north to south. A church was established in mediaeval times, possibly around the 12th century, at an isolated location in fields to the northeast of the village; access was only possible from the west. The original building was replaced with a simple Norman-style church with an aisled nave and a tower. By the 13th century a chancel had been added. This church functioned as the parish church of Hove until 1531, when the parish was united with that of Preston (to the northeast) and became the parish of Hove-cum-Preston. Although its parish church status remained, a declining population was unable to maintain it. By the 18th century the nave and chancel were crumbling; parts of the roof were removed; and the tower fell down in 1801.

The church's fortunes changed with the development of the Brunswick estate and other residential areas around the old village in the early 19th century. At this time, Brighton had expanded to the boundary between its own parish and that of Hove-cum-Preston, so any more development would fall within Hove; as a result, Hove's population rose from 100 in 1801 to 2,500 by 1841. By 1871 it was to reach 11,000, as most of the available land west of the boundary was systematically built on. Construction of the Brunswick estate began in 1824 and St Andrew's Church in Waterloo Street was built to serve it in 1828 (as a chapel of ease).