St Mary's Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the Preston Village area 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 ...

, East Sussex, England. It was built from 1910 to 1912 in the Arts and Crafts style of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

. It is situated on the Surrenden Road on the corner with Preston Drove opposite Preston Park. It was designed by Percy Aiden Lamb, a student of Edward Goldie, and is a Grade II listed building.

History

Foundation

In 1903, the

Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction of Nevers A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

moved into the Preston Village area of Brighton. They did so to escape the

secularisation In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

occurring in France at the time. At first they worked within the parish of St Joseph's Church in Brighton. In 1904, the sisters were invited by the Bishop of Southwark, Peter Amigo, to start a convent school in the Withdean area of the city. Their convent chapel also served as a place of worship for the local Catholic population. In 1906, a Fr Frederick Hopper became chaplain to the convent. With the increasing congregation he started the process of getting a new Catholic church built in the area.

Construction

In 1907, the site for St Mary's Church was bought from the lands of Preston Manor. Catherine and Denis Broderick gave money for the building of the church. On 9 August 1910, the foundation stone was laid. In 1912, construction was finished and the first

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

was said in the church on 7 April 1912. Construction was halted then because of a disagreement because Broderick wanted the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

built first, instead of Hopper's plans of building a tower. When the church was opened, a tower was built, but the east side of the church with its fittings were left unfinished.History
from StMarysBrighton.com. Retrieved 5 April 2016 The architect was Percy Aidan Lamb. In 1907, not long before being commissioned to design St Mary's Church, he started his architectural firm in London. Before that he trained with Edward Goldie. From 1895 to 1907, he worked for John Francis Bentley on the construction of

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. The shrine is dedicated to the Blood of Jesus Ch ...

. He built St Mary's Church in the Gothic Revival style with

Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

influences.Brighton – St Mary
from

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 ...

. Retrieved 5 April 2016 In the church, he also designed the

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

made of

onyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...

. It was made by J. Whitehead & Son, crafted from a pair of columns originally constructed for

Developments

In 1918, the old

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

was installed in the church. It was from the old Xaverian College in Brighton. The pews in the church were made by the congregation and were inspired by the pews in St Michael and All Angels Church in

Harbledown Harbledown is a village in Kent, England, immediately west of Canterbury and contiguous with the city. At local government level the village is designated as a separate civil parish, that of Harbledown and Rough Common. The High Street is a c ...

, Kent. In the 1950s, the interior was renovated. The floor was relaid and the

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 ...

was removed. In 1978, the presbytery was built to the north of the church and the

was added. It was built in the shape of a polygon and both were designed by Patrick Foley. In 1979, the stained glass window in the east side of the church was added. It was designed by Cox & Barnard. In 2004, with funding from Cyril Cassidy and plans by the priest, Canon Oliver Heaney, the construction of a parish centre was proposed. In 2007, the Cassidy Centre was opened by the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Kieran Conry. It is attached to the east end of the church and designed by Stephen Wright from the Brighton-based Morgan Carn firm. They also worked on the Divine Motherhood and St Francis of Assisi Church in

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town and civil parish in the Chichester District in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother (Western), River Rother, inland from the English Channel and north of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first reco ...

.MorganCarn.com
Retrieved 5 April 2016 That year, the stained glass window behind the font was added. It was designed by Caroline Benyon who worked out of the Glass House in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. In 2011, the convent, from which St Mary's Church was founded, closed.

Parish

The church has three Sunday Masses, they are at 6:00 pm on Saturday evening and at 10:00 am and 12 midday on Sunday. There are weekday Masses at 10:00 am on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Interior

File:St Mary's Church altar, Preston Park by Basher Eyre Geograph 4284302.jpg,

Altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

File:St Mary's Church tabernacle, Preston Park by Basher Eyre Geograph 4284304.jpg, East window and

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

File:St Mary's Church font, Preston Park by Basher Eyre Geograph 4284301.jpg,

Baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

File:St Mary's Church window, Preston Park by Basher Eyre Geograph 4284311.jpg, Baptismal font window File:St Mary's Church pews, Preston Park by Basher Eyre Geograph 4284309.jpg, Pews

References

External links

St Mary's Parish site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, Preston Park Roman Catholic churches in Brighton and Hove Grade II listed churches in East Sussex Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Arts and Crafts architecture in England Gothic Revival architecture in East Sussex Gothic Revival church buildings in England 1910 establishments in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1910 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom