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The Church of
Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...
of Myra, usually known as St. Nicholas Church, is an
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
church in
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, England. It is both the original parish church of Brighton and, after St Helen's Church, Hangleton and
St Peter's Church St. Peter's Church, Old St. Peter's Church, or other variations may refer to: * St. Peter's Basilica in Rome Australia * St Peter's, Eastern Hill, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia * St Peters Church, St Peters, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ...
in Preston village, the third oldest surviving building in the city of
Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and ...
. It is located on high ground at the junction of Church Street and Dyke Road in the city centre, very close to the main shopping areas. Due to its architectural significance the church is a Grade II* listed building.


Early history

The Domesday Book of 1086 records the presence of a church, valued at £12, in what was then the small fishing village of ''Bristelmestune''. Shortly afterwards, it was granted to the
Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began ...
priory in nearby Lewes. Although there is no certainty over where this church was located, it is possible that it stood on the site of the present-day St. Nicholas church: although Bristelmestune was located some distance to the south immediately adjacent to the coast, the ground there was marshy and suffered from erosion, and was vulnerable to attacks from invaders. The higher ground of the hill where the present church stands would have been better strategically and defensively, as well as being highly visible to residents of the village and the fishermen at sea.


Construction of the present church

In its current form, St. Nicholas church dates from the mid-14th century. A
font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...
from that period is preserved within the church. It was carved in around 1170 and in 2001 was relocated to a prominent position at the west end of the church - the latest of several moves over the centuries. The church, as originally constructed in the 14th century, consists of a substantial tower at the west end, a
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...
and an aisled nave. Early additions include a
chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...
, dating from the 15th century; these additional chapels were relatively common at that time. A devastating attack from abroad occurred in June 1514, when French raiders landed on the coast and burned the surrounding village (by now known as ''Brighthelmstone'') in its entirety. Only the church, standing some distance inland and above the fire, survived. The church was damaged twice in under two years by severe storms which caused significant destruction and loss of life elsewhere in Brighton, especially in the buildings of the "lower town" by the coast. The
Great Storm of 1703 The great storm of 1703 was a destructive extratropical cyclone that struck central and southern England on 26 November 1703. High winds caused 2,000 chimney stacks to collapse in London and damaged the New Forest, which lost 4,000 oaks. Ships wer ...
, in November of that year, ripped lead from the roof; a subsequent storm, in August 1705, blew off all of the remaining sheets of lead. A commemorative tablet, dated 1705, was laid in the replacement roof. Later in the 18th century, as Brighton's population began to grow, a series of pews, radiating outwards from the font in the centre, were installed. In the second half of that century, when the town's popularity grew substantially in response to Dr. Russell's advocacy of the medicinal benefits of seawater (and, subsequently, the Prince Regent's patronage), space was so limited that a series of galleries had to be built around the roof of the church, accessed by external staircases. At the time, St. Nicholas was the only
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
church in Brighton. A model of the interior layout prior to the 1853 reconstruction can be seen today in one corner of the church.


Patron of the church

The ancient Southover Priory in Lewes was responsible for the church from the end of the 11th century until 1537, when the last prior surrendered it to the Crown. In 1540, it passed to
Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charges ...
; in 1541, following his death by execution in July 1540, the
advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...
was granted to
Anne of Cleves Anne of Cleves (german: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. Not much is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke of ...
; and finally, in 1558, the
Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's ...
gained it. The holder of that title has been the patron of the church ever since.


Rebuilding in 1853

Brighton underwent considerable change during the reign of King George IV (the former Prince Regent) from 1820 to 1830. The town continued to be fashionable, and the number of houses doubled during his 10½-year reign. Eight
chapels of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...
had been built by 1830 to alleviate the burden on the overcrowded St Nicholas church, but the latter remained popular as it was free to attend. Furthermore, the
administrative vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
of the church (the equivalent of the present-day Church of England parochial church council) was ideologically opposed to the responsibility they faced in raising funds for maintaining the fabric of the church. There were frequent disagreements and clashes with the vicar, Rev.
Henry Michell Wagner Henry Michell Wagner (1792–1870) was a Church of England clergyman who was Vicar of Brighton between 1824 and 1870. He was a descendant of Melchior Wagner, hatmaker to the Royal Family, and married into a wealthy Sussex family who had a longs ...
, and deadlock was often reached over the issue of funding - to such an extent that the church became somewhat dilapidated and some of the windows in the chancel had to be boarded up. The situation was resolved, however, in 1852, when the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, died. There were historical links between the Duke and both Rev. Wagner and St. Nicholas Church itself: as a child in the 1780s, he studied for a time at an academy in Nile Street (in what is now The Lanes in the city centre) run by Rev. Wagner's grandfather Rev. Henry Michell; he attended St. Nicholas Church, which at the time was under the curacy of Rev. Michell, to worship; and his sons were taught by Rev. Wagner himself for eight years from 1818. Rev. Wagner therefore announced that he would start a fund to pay for the rebuilding of the church as a memorial to the Duke, and donated the first £1,000. Nearly £5,000 more was subsequently raised from public subscriptions and donations. The architect
Richard Cromwell Carpenter Richard Cromwell Carpenter (21 October 1812 – 27 March 1855) was an English architect. He is chiefly remembered as an ecclesiastical and tractarian architect working in the Gothic style. Family Carpenter was born on 21 October 1812 i ...
, associated with the architectural aspects of the Cambridge Movement and
Tractarianism The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of ...
, was chosen to rebuild St Nicholas Church, after authorisation was granted on 15 April 1853 for demolition and reconstruction. The project was completed quite rapidly, given the size of the building, by Carpenter and the appointed building firm (Bushby's of
Littlehampton Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort, and pleasure harbour, and the most populous civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south sout ...
): the church was reopened on 8 April 1854, about nine months after work started. Work included a new roof; a doubling of the width of the original aisles, and extensions to some of them; a reduction in the size of the chantry; the creation of an organ-chamber and a new east window; the removal of all galleries and original box-pews; and the moving of the font to a position near the south door, which it occupied until the latest move in 2001. A stone cross was installed to commemorate the Duke of Wellington. Carpenter himself died only a year after the project was completed, and a memorial plaque - now lost - was installed in recognition of his life and works. The reconstruction, which cost £5,769, reduced the capacity of the church by approximately 30% to around 900 because the galleries were removed.


Subsequent work

Much work was carried out over the next fifty years, mostly in the form of additions to or replacements of existing fixtures; nevertheless, many of the original mediaeval features of the church were either lost or had their impact reduced. Somers Clarke, the clerk of the administrative vestry for 62 years from 1830, donated a new pulpit to the church in 1867, after the original three-deck structure was removed by Carpenter and replaced with a much smaller wooden example. Clarke's pulpit was made of iron. A new organ, costing £500, was installed in 1872, and a new vestry was built between 1876 and 1877 to the north of the chancel. Between 1878 and 1887, a number of
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows were designed and installed. The noted designer
Charles Eamer Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lichg ...
, a cousin of
Thomas Read Kemp Thomas Read Kemp (23 December 1782 – 20 December 1844) was an English property developer and politician. Life He was the son of Sussex landowner and Member of Parliament Thomas Kemp, and his wife Anne, daughter of Henry Read of Brookland ...
, the developer of Brighton's
Kemp Town Kemp Town Estate, also known as Kemp Town, is a 19th-century Regency architecture residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England, UK. It consists of Arundel Terrace, Lewes Crescent, Sussex Square, Chichester Terrace, and ...
estate, was responsible for many of these; another was donated by Somers Clarke in memory of Rev. Wagner, who had died in 1870. Also during this period, the east window installed by Carpenter was replaced with a Perpendicular-style window. The original window was taken to the relatively new Church of the Annunciation in the Hanover area of the town. A significant alteration was made in 1892, when the whole roof was removed and lifted mechanically in order to create more space internally. The gap was filled with a series of
clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
windows, and various paintings and murals were added to the new internal space painted by Charles Eamer Kempe. The 15th-century chantry chapel underwent another change in 1900. Having been reduced in size in the 1853 redevelopment, it was enlarged again, before being converted into a
Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, a ...
in 1909.


Bells

The first peal of bells, ten in total, was presented to the church in 1777 by Thomas Rudhall, a member of one of the most prominent families in the city of Gloucester's 700-year bell-founding history. They were installed in the tower at the west end of the church. Two were given to St. Peter's Church upon its completion in 1828, but a bequest from a former warden of the church in 1892 funded the purchase of two more to replace these. The whole peal was then replaced in 1922 by a new ring of ten bells by Gillett and Johnson. It became traditional for the bells to be rung when important visitors, especially monarchs or other members of the Royal Family, came to the town; a series of tablets preserved at the base of the ringing chamber give details of each "special occasion" on which the bells were rung for an extended period, such as Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887. More recently, the bells were rung half-muffled for the funeral of Henry Allingham on 30 July 2009.


Churchyard

St Nicholas Church is surrounded by a
graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
with many old tombs. It has not accepted any new burials for many years, and was landscaped by the council in the mid-20th century, although most of the tombs of significant historical interest were left undisturbed and all of those monuments listed below have Grade II status. The oldest memorial is that of Captain Nicholas Tattersell. He took King Charles II from Shoreham harbour to France in 1651 in ''Surprise'', a coal ship he captained. See
here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a ...
for full details of the King's escape from the
Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...
and his passage to Fécamp in Normandy. Upon King Charles's return to Britain in 1660, he granted Tattersell a pension of £100 per year, and ''Surprise'' was transferred into the Royal Navy's fleet and renamed ''The Royal Escape''. John Weiss of John Weiss & Son, the eminent surgical instrument makers, was entombed here in 1843. Weiss had an abiding fear of being buried alive and to ensure his death he devised a metal spike which would penetrate his heart when the lid was lowered on his coffin.
Phoebe Hessel Phoebe Hessel, née ''Smith'' (March 1713 – 12 December 1821) was best known for disguising herself as a man to serve in the British Army, probably to be with her lover, Samuel Golding. She lived to the age of 108. Biography Phoebe Hessel was ...
, a famous 18th- and 19th-century resident of Brighton, is buried close by. She fell in love with a soldier, William Golding, at the age of 15, and disguised herself as a man to enlist alongside him in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
after he was sent overseas. The concealment of her sex was so effective that she served for 17 years until voluntarily revealing the truth to her
commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitud ...
's wife and being discharged; even after suffering a wounded arm at the
Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by ...
in 1745, she was not discovered during her treatment. She became a well-known figure after moving to Brighton following the death of Golding in the 1760s, and lived to the age of 108—being granted a special pension by the Prince Regent, and travelling in the procession during his coronation as King George IV.
Martha Gunn Martha Gunn (1726–1815) was possibly the most famous of the "dippers", certainly the most famous in Brighton. She lived at 36 East Street, Brighton, in a house that still stands. Her grave stone stands in St Nicholas' churchyard in Brighton. ...
, one of the town's best-known residents in the 18th and 19th centuries, is also buried in the churchyard. She was the most famous of Brighton's
dippers Dippers are members of the genus ''Cinclus'' in the bird family Cinclidae, so-called because of their bobbing or dipping movements. They are unique among passerines for their ability to dive and swim underwater. Taxonomy The genus ''Cinclus'' ...
, who helped non-swimmers bathe in the sea (using horse-drawn bathing machines) in the decades after Dr. Richard Russell's advice became popular. Dippers had to be of the same sex as their client (or "bathee"), and Martha Gunn was well regarded for many years by locals and visitors, with her size and strength being a particular advantage in this difficult physical task.
Anna Maria Crouch Anna Maria Crouch (20 April 1763 – 2 October 1805), often referred to as Mrs Crouch, was a singer and stage actress in the London theatre. She was (briefly) a mistress of George, Prince of Wales. Biography Born Anna Maria Phillips, she firs ...
, a noted singer and actress contemporary with Hessel and Gunn, is commemorated by an impressive stone urn. For much of her career, she was associated with the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto D ...
, London, taking both singing and speaking parts in various plays. However, her romantic life was also noteworthy: she married a Royal Navy lieutenant in 1785 after a brief
elope Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting m ...
ment in Ireland the previous year, but took an Irish actor and operatic singer, Michael Kelly, as a lover shortly afterwards. Husband, wife and lover lived together for a time in a
ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement and committed relationship with three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together; typically a traditional marriage between a man and woman along with anothe ...
, but Anna Maria Crouch also had a relationship with the Prince Regent; and when she later moved to London with Kelly, the Prince was a frequent visitor to their house. She died in 1805, at the age of 42. Other people important in the history of Brighton to be buried in the churchyard include
Sake Dean Mahomet Sake Dean Mahomed (1759–1851) was an Bengali traveller, surgeon, entrepreneur, and one of the most notable early non-European immigrants to the Western World. Due to non-standard transliteration, his name is often spelled in various ways. His ...
—an Indian man who introduced the
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
curry house restaurant to Great Britain as well as establishing " shampooing" baths in the country, and was appointed shampooing surgeon to both King George IV and
William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded ...
and
Amon Wilds Amon Wilds (1762 – 12 September 1833) was an English architect and builder. He formed an architectural partnership with his son Amon Henry WildsIn this article, Amon Wilds is referred to as ''Wilds senior'' and his son Amon Henry Wilds ...
, one of the most important architects of the Regency era, who provided Brighton with much
Regency architecture Regency architecture encompasses classical buildings built in the United Kingdom during the Regency era in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to earlier and later buildings following the same style. The period co ...
. Meanwhile, the actress Dame Flora Robson, noted for a long career on stage, television and film, is commemorated with a memorial stone in the churchyard. She lived in a house in Wykeham Terrace, a short distance from the church, for some years until her death in 1984. The first extension to the churchyard was built in 1824, across Church Street to the north. This has been converted into a playground. Another modest extension was made in 1831, but the most significant change came in 1841 when land to the west of what is now Dyke Road (then named Church Hill) was acquired and used to form a much larger burial ground. This western extension was laid out by Regency architect Amon Henry Wilds and contains a series of burial vaults with Grade II listed status.


The church today

St Nicholas' Church was
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
at Grade II* on 13 October 1952. As of February 2001, it was one of 70 Grade II*-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of
Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and ...
. Having been Brighton's parish church for several centuries, St Nicholas Church lost this status in 1873 when the
Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's ...
reorganised the entire structure of Brighton's parishes.
St Peter's Church St. Peter's Church, Old St. Peter's Church, or other variations may refer to: * St. Peter's Basilica in Rome Australia * St Peter's, Eastern Hill, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia * St Peters Church, St Peters, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ...
had been constructed in 1828 as a
chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...
associated with St Nicholas Church; in 1873, the two were separated and each allocated their own parish, and St Peter's became Brighton's parish church—perhaps because of its more central location (following the development of the town around it). St Nicholas Church is still widely known as "The Mother Church of Brighton", though. Sunday services are held at 8.00am and 10.30am, and 20-minute morning and evening prayer sessions are held on every other day of the week. Other activities include a Sunday school, a youth group and regular live music.


Photo gallery

Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 01.JPG, View of St Nicholas Church from the graveyard Image:St Nicholas Church Plaque.JPG, Plaque on the east wall of the church Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 06.JPG, The tower, incorporating stones and blocks of Norman origin Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 05.JPG, A closer look at the tower Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 08.JPG, View of the northern and western sides Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 04.JPG, The south doorway Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 03.JPG, The south side of the church, showing the clerestory windows dating from 1892 Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 02.JPG, The Perpendicular east window Image:Font at St Nicholas church, Brighton.JPG, The font Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 07.JPG, View of the tower from the northwestern side Image:Phoebe Hessel's Gravestone.JPG, Phoebe Hessel's tombstone Image:Martha Gunn's Gravestone.JPG, Martha Gunn's tombstone Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 09.JPG, View across the original churchyard Image:St Nicholas Church, Brighton 10.JPG, The 1841 burial ground


See also

*
Cemeteries and crematoria in Brighton and Hove The English coastal city of Brighton and Hove, made up of the formerly separate Boroughs of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, has a wide range of cemeteries throughout its urban area. Many were established in the mid-19th century, a time in whic ...
*
List of places of worship in Brighton and Hove The city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England, has more than 100 extant churches and other places of worship, which serve a variety of Christianity, Christian denominations and other religions. More than 50 former religious bui ...
* List of works by R. C. Carpenter


References


Notes


Bibliography

* *


External links


Brighton Mortiquarian - Gazetteer of St Nicholas Burial Ground

Church website

Diocese of Chichester directory of churches: entry for St Nicholas

A Church Near You - entry for St Nicholas

Regency Square Area Society - entry for St Nicholas

My Brighton and Hove - St Nicholas main page


{{DEFAULTSORT:Brighton, Saint Nicholas 14th-century church buildings in England Church of England church buildings in Brighton and Hove Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove Grade II* listed churches in East Sussex Anglo-Catholic church buildings in East Sussex