The Church of the Good Shepherd is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church on Dyke Road on the border of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

and

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

, constituent parts of the English city of

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...

. Although just inside Brighton, most of the parish is within the boundaries of Hove, and the official name of the parish reflects the fact that it was originally part of the large ecclesiastical parish of Preston—a village north of Brighton. The building, designed by

Edward Prioleau Warren Edward Prioleau Warren (30 October 1856 – 23 November 1937) was a British architect and archaeologist. Life He was born at Cotham, Bristol, the fifth son of Algernon William Warren, JP. Sir Thomas Herbert Warren was his elder brother. He was e ...

in a simple Gothic style in the 1920s, has been given

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

status in view of its architectural importance.

History

Preston, a village approximately north of the centre of Brighton, had its own ecclesiastical parish until 1531. In that year, the parish was united with that of Hove, which was then a similar-sized village to the southwest, to form the joint

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of Hove-cum-Preston. In 1879 the parishes were separated again. By this time, residential development along Dyke Road—historically one of the main routes into Brighton from the north, and turnpiked since 1777—was nearly complete. The boundary between Brighton and Hove was aligned along the west side of the road in 1873, but this did not affect the parish of Preston.

Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

Gerald Henry Moor became vicar of the newly separate parish in 1905. Known for his cricketing skills earlier in his life, he held the position for 11 years until his death on 31 May 1916. His widow, Alice, decided to fund the construction of a church in his memory in part of the parish where there were no nearby Anglican places of worship. A temporary iron church was built on the east side of Dyke Road soon afterwards, and in December 1919 a committee was formed to inspect the plans submitted by architect Edward Warren. Alice Moor laid the

foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

in 1920, and building work started on 2 July 1921; local firm Packham, Sons and Palmer were employed to execute Warren's design. The

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East Sussex, East and West Sussex. The Episcopal see, see is based in t ...

Winfrid Oldfield Burrows Winfrid Oldfield Burrows (9 November 1858 – 13 February 1929) was the Bishop of Truro and later Chichester in the first third of the 20th century. Born into an ecclesiastical family, Burrows was educated at Eton and Corpus Christi College, ...

, consecrated the building on 31 May 1922. The church became parished on 13 October 1922. The new parish was formed from the section of Preston parish west of the

Brighton Main Line The Brighton Main Line is a railway line in southern England linking London to Brighton. It starts at two termini in the capital, and , and the branches from each meet at , from where the route continues southwards via to the coast. The line ...

, previously within the jurisdiction of St John the Evangelist's Church, and part of the parish of St Luke's Church on Old Shoreham Road. The population of the area was about 4,000. The east end of the church (the rear of the building) was extended in 1927. The same building firm was used again, and they added a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

and one extra

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

on the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

. A square tower was also added at the front (west end), and the church was dedicated in its new form on 23 June 1927. A new church hall was built in 1936 to replace the former iron church, which had latterly been used as a church hall.

Architecture

Edward Warren's design for the Church of the Good Shepherd was simple Gothic. The exterior was built in mixed, mostly brown, brick with some concrete and stone facings. There is a mixture of lancet and wide

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

windows. The interior, consisting of a five-bay nave and chancel under a tiled roof, is wide and low beneath a wagon ceiling. There is a Lady chapel at the southeast corner, another chapel on the northeast side containing a memorial to casualties of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a vestry, porch and the tower, which contains bells and is topped by a

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

ed parapet and a

flèche Flèche or Fleche may refer to: * Flèche (architecture), a type of church spire * Flèche (cycling), a team cycling competition * Flèche (fencing), an aggressive offensive fencing technique * Flèche (fortification), a defensive work *, ships of ...

. The west end, next to the tower, has a series of five lancet windows in a recessed pointed arch; above these is a statue depicting the

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd (, ''poimḗn ho kalós'') is an image used in the pericope of , in which Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 and Ezeki ...

. The Lady chapel has

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

, and the church's interior fittings include a

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

The church today

The Church of the Good Shepherd was listed at Grade II by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

on 26 August 1999. It is one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of

. There are three services every Sunday, including

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

, and either two or three prayer services or

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

ic services on other days of the week. Taizé-style services take place several times a year. The extent of th
parish
is the same as when it was defined in 1922. Its boundaries are the railway line between Preston Park station and Dyke Road Drive; Highcroft Villas; Dyke Road; Old Shoreham Road; Hove Park; Goldstone Crescent; Woodland Drive; Tredcroft Road; and Tivoli Crescent North.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{B&H Buildings Churches completed in 1927 20th-century Church of England church buildings Brighton, Church of the Good Shepherd Brighton, Church of the Good Shepherd Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove

History

Architecture

The church today

See also

Notes

Bibliography