St Mary the Virgin, Brighton
| St Mary's Church, Kemptown, Brighton | |
|---|---|
The church from the southeast
|
|
| 50°49′13″N 0°7′46″W / 50.82028°N 0.12944°WCoordinates: 50°49′13″N 0°7′46″W / 50.82028°N 0.12944°W | |
| Location | St James's Street/Upper Rock Gardens, Kemptown, Brighton and Hove BN2 1PR |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | www.stmaryschurchbrighton.org.uk/ |
| History | |
| Founded | 1826 |
| Founder(s) | Charles Elliott |
| Dedication | The Virgin Mary |
| Dedicated | 18 January 1827 |
| Consecrated | 15 October 1878 (present building) |
| Events | 1876: collapsed during reconstruction 1877: rebuilt in Early English style |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 20 August 1971 |
| Architect(s) | William Emerson |
| Style | Early English Gothic Revival |
| Completed | 1878 |
| Construction cost | £10,000 (£794 thousand in 2018) |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 1,000 |
| Nave width | 40 feet (12 m) |
| Height | 60 feet (18 m) |
| Materials | Red brick |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Brighton, Kemp Town: St Mary |
| Deanery | Rural Deanery of Brighton |
| Archdeaconry | Chichester |
| Diocese | Chichester |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Clergy | |
| Priest(s) | Revd Andrew Woodward |
St Mary's Church is an Anglican church in the Kemptown area of Brighton, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The present building dates from the late 1870s and replaced a church of the same name which suddenly collapsed while being renovated. The Gothic-style red-brick building, whose style resembles Early English revival and French Gothic revival, is now a Grade II* listed building, and remains in use despite threats of closure.
Brighton's increasing popularity in the early 19th century, especially among high society, encouraged wealthy people to build proprietary chapels—private churches with no parish but with an Anglican minister. The original St Mary's was one of four such chapels built in the 1820s.Acts of Parliament were granted to people wishing to build proprietary chapels. Barnard Gregory had obtained such an Act in 1825 to allow him to build St Margaret's Church in Cannon Place in central Brighton; the same Act permitted him to build one in St James's Street, a road running eastwards from the town and developed in the 1790s. In 1826 he sold this right to Charles Elliott, a merchant who divided his time between London and Brighton. Elliott was a member of the Clapham Sect, a group of Anglican social reformers which included William Wilberforce; one of his daughters, Charlotte, became a well-known hymnwriter; and the wider Elliott family were influential in Brighton's religious life for much of the 19th century.
The 3rd Earl of Egremont, who lived on the Petworth House estate in West Sussex, also owned East Lodge, whose grounds extended down to St James's Street. He donated some of his land to Gregory to allow him to build a church. Gregory commissioned Amon Henry Wilds, a leading architect in Regency-era Brighton, to design it. Wilds adopted the then-fashionable Neoclassical style for his design, and created a temple-style structure which bore some resemblance to the Brighton Unitarian Church which he had built six years earlier. That building was inspired by the appearance of the Temple of Thesæus in Athens, and Wilds based St Mary's design on another Ancient Greek edifice, the Temple of Nemesis. a The Act of Parliament relating to the proprietary chapel allowed the owner to appoint a curate for 40 years on a stipend of £150 per year (equivalent to £11.6 thousand in 2018, based on 1826 prices). Charles Elliott appointed his eldest son, Henry Venn Elliott, as the first curate of St Mary's Chapel in August 1826, when he purchased the half-finished building from Gregory. Henry had been ordained as a priest in 1824 after spending a year as a deacon, and initially held the curacy of a rural parish in Suffolk.
...
Wikipedia