All Saints Church, Patcham (NHLE Code 1380264).JPG
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All Saints Church is the
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 th ...
parish church of Patcham, an ancient
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
village which is now part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. A place of worship has existed on the hilltop site for about 1,000 years, but the present building has
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
internal features and a 13th-century exterior. Several rounds of restoration in the Victorian era included some structural additions. A wide range of monuments and wall paintings survive inside, including one commemorating Richard Shelley—owner of nearby Patcham Place and one of the most important noblemen in the early history of Brighton. The church, which is Grade II* listed, continues to serve as the Anglican place of worship for residents of Patcham, which 20th-century residential development has transformed from a vast rural parish into a large outer suburb of Brighton. Patcham's first church served a large rural area north of the fishing village of Brighthelmston—the ancient predecessor of Brighton. A
nucleated settlement A nucleated village, or clustered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement pattern. It is one of the terms used by geographers and landscape historians to classify settlements. It is most accurate with regard to planned settlements: its c ...
developed around this building, which was reconstructed during the Norman era. A wide-ranging series of alterations were carried out by Victorian church restorers to improve the building's structural condition and provide more space to cater for the growing population. As Patcham developed into a suburb in the 20th century, more churches opened in the area and were administered from All Saints Church. The building's plain exterior contrasts with its well-preserved and, in parts, ancient interior whose features include wall paintings and stone memorials. The churchyard has a set of Grade II-listed tombs.


History

The ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' records that the area now covered by the county of Sussex was reached by Saxon forces in 477. Within a few years, they controlled land along the English Channel coast as far as Pevensey. By the 10th century, the Kingdom of the South Saxons was fully established; its boundaries match those of the present county. The area was divided into smaller administrative areas called hundreds. Patcham and its neighbouring village of
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
were part of Preston Hundred, one of four hundreds covering present-day Brighton and Hove. The lowest administrative level was the parish, based around a church. The parish of Patcham was recorded (under the name ''Piceham'') at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, by which time a church existed at the centre of a small village on a spur of land near the top of the South Downs. The parish, which covered , was unusually large, and its 11th-century population of about 1,750 was one of the largest for any Sussex parish.
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, Lord of Lewes, Seigneur de Varennes (died 1088), was a Norman nobleman created Earl of Surrey under William II Rufus. He is among the few known from documents to have fought under William the Conqueror at ...
, who held most of the land in the local hundreds, owned the
manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...
. The area around the church gradually became the centre of population within the parish, and a village developed on the hillside leading up to the church, east of the modern London Road. The Saxon church was rebuilt in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the only feature which may survive from that era is a blocked doorway. It was reset in the north aisle when that was built in 1898. The doorway has been described as "Norman or possibly earlier", "pre-
orman Orman may refer to: People * Aldona Orman (born 1968), Polish actress * Alen Orman (born 1978), Austrian football player * Charles Orman (1859–1927), British cricketer and soldier * Fikret Orman (born 1967), Turkish businessman *Greg Orman ( ...
Conquest" and "could be Saxon" by various sources. The '' Victoria County History of Sussex'' goes further by stating it was originally in the north wall of the nave, but identifies it as 12th-century. The chancel arch, a "plain" structure, was inserted between the chancel and the nave in the 12th century, and the nave is of the same period. The 12th-century chancel was added to in the following 200 years; its Decorated Gothic windows are 14th-century. Similar windows were inserted in the nave at the same time. In the 13th century, a narrow tower was built at the west end, with thin
lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...
s characteristic of the era. Its
broach spire A broach spire is a type of spire (tall pyramidal structure), which usually sits atop a tower or turret of a church. It starts on a square base and is carried up to a tapering octagonal spire by means of triangular faces. File:Leicester Cathedral ...
dates from the mid-19th century. The tower was given substantial diagonal buttresses with sandstone quoins. Also at this time, the exterior underwent complete restoration with some rebuilding work. The only other changes made before the 19th century was the addition of a porch at the south end and some buttresses on the south wall of the nave, both in the 16th or 17th century. Having stood for more than 600 years with little alteration, the church was completely changed by four reconstructions and restorations in a 74-year period in the 19th century. The last of these, in 1898, was the most substantial: it added a north aisle, much larger and taller than the rest of the building, and a vestry. In the early 19th century, the building had been in better structural condition than many in Sussex—a survey in 1825 by Sir Stephen Glynn of the
Ecclesiological Society The Cambridge Camden Society, known from 1845 (when it moved to London) as the Ecclesiological Society,Histor ...
noted that it was "decently fitted up"—but rebuilding ancient churches was fashionable in the Victorian era, and the condition of a surviving medieval
corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
suggests that the exterior walls were in poor condition. The three earlier periods of restoration were 1824–25, 1856 and 1880–83. During the third of these, a 13th-century wall painting of Christ in Judgement was discovered above the chancel arch, hidden under 30 layers of whitewash and the remains of two later paintings; it may be one of the oldest such murals in England, but it was repainted after its rediscovery. In 1898, at the same time as the north-side extension, the outside walls of the west, east and south sides were coated with grey cement, probably to improve their structural condition; although this has been described as "unsightly" and "kill ngthe exterior stone dead", one historian has argued that because many medieval churches were rendered in this way, rather than having uncovered flint walls, it gives the impression of what a typical church of that era may look like. Patcham's proximity to the ever-growing resort of Brighton—it is north of the
Palace Pier The Brighton Palace Pier, commonly known as Brighton Pier or the Palace Pier, is a Grade II* listed pleasure pier in Brighton, England, located in the city centre opposite the Old Steine. Established in 1899, it was the third pier to be constr ...
on the English Channel coast—encouraged suburban growth from the mid-19th century. From a low point of 286 in 1801, the population of the village steadily rose and had nearly quadrupled by the time of the United Kingdom Census 1901. Brighton Corporation (the forerunners of the present city council) built an estate of
council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
in
Moulsecoomb Moulsecoomb () is a suburb of Brighton, Sussex, England, on the northeast side around Lewes Road, between Coldean and Bevendean, north of the seafront. The eastern edge adjoins Falmer Hill on the South Downs. It is often divided into smaller ...
(then still part of Patcham parish) in the early 1920s, and on 1 April 1928 all but of the parish were annexed by Brighton to become part of the urban area, known at the time as Greater Brighton. Four large housing estates were built, and the population reached 5,241 in 1930 and continued to rise thereafter. The opening of the north aisle improved capacity at a time when new houses were already surrounding the ancient village centre; but as development spread to more distant parts of the parish, two more churches were opened—both initially as
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 ...
to All Saints Church: a temporary building erected on the Braybon Avenue estate in south Patcham became the Church of Christ the King, which was replaced by a permanent brick-built church in 1958; and in the same year, architect John Wells-Thorpe designed and built the Church of the Ascension in Westdene, a newly developed suburb west of the London Road. The original temporary church at Braybon Avenue became a church hall for Christ the King's congregation, and All Saints Church gained its own hall in 1937 when Mackie Hall was built on Mackie Avenue. It was closed in 1995. Another round of restoration took place in 1989. The interior was redesigned, and a
reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...
was made out of old choir stalls which had been removed.


Memorials

The church contains several memorials, of which the oldest is a wall tablet commemorating Richard Shelley, one of the earliest owners of Patcham Place, who died in 1594. Patcham Place has its origins in a 16th-century manor house in an isolated position west of the London Road. Its first owner, William West, 1st Baron De La Warr, passed it to Richard Shelley—son of Sir John Shelley of Michelgrove and a member of the family which later became the first Shelley Baronetcy. Shelley lived in Patcham from 1546, and was an important figure in Brighton's early history: in 1579, he and three other local noblemen were appointed by the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
to form a commission to record and regulate the "ancient customs" of the villagers and to mediate between the fishermen and the farmers, who often had conflicting needs. The commissioners produced a book, ''The Book of All The Auncient'' ncient''Customs heretofore used amonge the fishermen of the Toune of Brighthelmston'', whose orders were enshrined in law. The memorial, of which only parts remain intact, is flanked by pilasters, the Shelley coat of arms and a naked grave-digger on each side. Elsewhere in the church, three generations of the Paine family are commemorated by tablets in the chancel; John Paine of the second generation rebuilt Patcham Place in 1764. He was the uncle by marriage of Thomas Read Kemp, who developed Brighton's high-class Kemp Town estate in the 19th century. The Roe family and its descendants of Withdean are also represented. William Roe and his son William Thomas Roe were closely involved with the former Board of Customs (now Her Majesty's Customs and Excise); William Roe was its chairman for 14 years. William Thomas Roe also served on The Board of Admiralty. His son, his daughter's husband and their son also have their own memorials. The manor of Withdean Cayliffe, one of the manors within the parish of Patcham, passed through the family after William Roe acquired it in 1794. Outside, there are seven nearly identical chest-tombs, all of which are several centuries old and appear to belong to members of the Scrase family. Together with two unrelated tombs nearby, which are 18th- or early 19th-century, they were listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 26 August 1999. On the north side of the churchyard, which is traditionally used for burials of criminals and those who committed suicide, a memorial survives to "a smuggler, unfortunately shot". The churchyard contains 16
Commonwealth war graves The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...
, comprising two British Army soldiers of World War I buried in the south part, and eight Royal Air Force personnel, five soldiers and a
WREN Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...
of World War II who are all buried in the churchyard extension.


Architecture and fittings

The plan of All Saints Church comprises a west tower with heavy buttresses and a
broach spire A broach spire is a type of spire (tall pyramidal structure), which usually sits atop a tower or turret of a church. It starts on a square base and is carried up to a tapering octagonal spire by means of triangular faces. File:Leicester Cathedral ...
, a three-
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 (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
nave with a tall aisle on the north side (described by one historian as "quite out of proportion to the rest of the building, particularly in height"), and a porch on the south wall, a chancel and a vestry. Although the north aisle of 1898 was flint-built with
courses Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...
of red brick, the rest of the church's exterior was clad in cement at the same time. Before this, the outside walls had been entirely flint with stone dressings and sandstone quoins. Both sides of the nave are buttressed, as is the southwest corner of the tower. These buttresses may have been added in the 16th century. The roof of the tower, below the squat 19th-century spire, is of
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
; the rest of the church has a tiled roof. The porch has a gabled roof above a 14th-century archway. The tower contains three bells. One is dated 1639, and another is known to have been repaired in 1724. The chancel roof is panelled, while the nave roof has vertical
queen-post A queen post is a tension member in a truss that can span longer openings than a king post truss. A king post uses one central supporting post, whereas the queen post truss uses two. Even though it is a tension member, rather than a compression ...
supports with ancient tie-beams. The nave and chancel are separated by an ancient chancel arch which has recesses for a
reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...
on each side. These may be contemporary with the 12th-century structure. Above the chancel arch are the remains of a 13th-century wall painting showing Christ in Judgement. It has been dated to 1230, and depicts the ascension to Heaven of the dead and the weighing of their souls by Jesus Christ, who is flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The fresco was in fragmentary condition when it was discovered in the 1880s, and has been redrawn. Other paintings may have existed elsewhere on the walls, but none are visible now. There are
lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...
s in the north and south walls and on the tower, some with stone tracery (including the east window in the main body of the church). The chancel and nave windows are 14th-century and in the Decorated Gothic style common at the time, while the tower windows and bell-openings are smaller and in the Early English style popular in the 13th century, when the tower was built. The largest window, which sits under a
hoodmould In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin ''labia'', lip), drip mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a ''pediment''. This mouldin ...
, is in the east end of the chancel; it is a three-light lancet with prominent tracery in the curvilinear/reticulated style. The window dates from the 14th century, which may make it the same age as a small window next to the porch, which has twin lights with foliated heads set below a
quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...
in an ogive arch. Both windows also have scrollwork drip-moulds. Most other windows are plain trefoil-headed single lancets. The blocked doorway in the modern north aisle is the oldest surviving part of the church. Its
lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...
is thick and sits below 11 voussoirs, each about across. Below the lintel, the former opening is high and wide; gradual settling into the ground has masked its original height. The jambs are made up of five stones of equal height, but the uppermost is wider because it served as an impost. Inside the church, the jambs and arch are visible, but there is no lintel. The wall of the chancel retains a trefoil-arched piscina added during the 14th-century restoration work. The
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 ...
—a "rather florid circular" example—dates from 1864, and the church possesses
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
ic objects dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, such as a chalice of 1568 and a paten dating from 1666. The west wall has a wide range of old carved prayer and
commandment Commandment may refer to: * The Ten Commandments * One of the 613 mitzvot of Judaism * The Great Commandment * The New Commandment * ''Commandment'' (album), a 2007 album by Six Feet Under * ''Commandments'' (film), a 1997 film starring Aidan Qui ...
boards, which are a common feature of Sussex churches. Ancient examples of graffiti, consisting of etched crosses and dates, also survives inside; such "curious carvings" are also common in Sussex.


Current status

All Saints' Church was listed at Grade II* on 13 October 1952. Worship at All Saints is in the
Open Evangelical An open evangelical attempts to uphold evangelical doctrines, morality, and spirituality, while also being inclusive of others. It is a term which is commonly used in the United Kingdom in reference to both individuals and institutions. Uses Open ...
style. There is a
Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...
and regular youth group. All Saints is the church in the
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 Patcham All Saints, which also incorporates the Church of the Ascension in Westdene, a postwar suburb west of Patcham. This is a modern building of brick and glass, designed in 1958 by architect John Wells-Thorpe. The ecclesiastical parish of All Saints covers the north of Brighton and its rural hinterland, incorporating
Withdean Withdean is a former village, now part of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. Overview The area was originally named in the 12th century, when it was called Wictedene. The area was historically farm land but has been developed, mainly in the 1920s ...
, Westdene, Patcham, Hollingbury, part of
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
(as far south as
Preston Park railway station Preston Park railway station is on the Brighton Main Line in England, serving Preston Village and the northern suburban areas of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. It is down the line from via and is situated between and . The sta ...
), and the scattered residential buildings north of the A27 Brighton Bypass and south of Pyecombe. Following a review by the Diocese of Chichester in 2005, parts of the west side of the parish were transferred to the Church of the Good Shepherd on Dyke Road in Brighton, and at the south end another section was ceded to St John the Evangelist's Church in
Preston Village Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement ** County Bor ...
. At the same time the decision was taken to close the Church of Christ the King (which had been the parish church of South Patcham) and divide its parish between All Saints and St John the Evangelist's churches. All Saints' Church therefore received the congregation from the northern part of the Church of Christ the King's parish. The diocese declared the Church of Christ the King redundant from 1 December 2006, but from 20 July 2007 it was in use again as a place of worship. In that year, two displaced congregations whose churches had been demolished joined to form a new church community, which bought the building and renamed it the Fountain Centre. The Elim Balfour Road Church in Preston Village, a Pentecostal church, was demolished in 2007, and the Immanuel Community Church had been using the former St Augustine's Church building near
Preston Park Preston Park may refer to: ;;In UK * Preston Park, Brighton **Preston Park railway station, Brighton * Preston Park (Brent), London * Preston Park, Stockton-on-Tees ;;In USA * Preston Park, Pennsylvania * Preston Park, Roanoke, Virginia Preston Par ...
since the destruction by fire of their church in
Hanover, Brighton Hanover is an area within the city of Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom. It is part of the electoral ward of Hanover & Elm Grove. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 16,006. The exact boundaries of the neighbourhood of Hanover ar ...
in 2003.


See also

* Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove *
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 Christian denominations and other religions. More than 50 former religious buildings, althou ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{B&H Buildings Buildings and structures completed in the 12th century Patcham Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove Patcham, All Saints Church