St John the Baptist's 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 th ...

church in

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

, part of the English 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 H ...

. It was built between 1852 and 1854 to serve the community of the Brunswick area of Hove, which had originally been established in the 1830s.

History

The land on which the Brunswick estate was built was originally a farming estate known as Wick Farm. It was sold to

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 ...

, who had been responsible for the

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 ...

residential development in neighbouring

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 ...

, in 1825. Some houses had been built the previous year, and Read Kemp is believed to have planned to create a similar exclusive development on this land; but little happened until after it had been sold to the Jewish

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid in 1830. Even then, it took another 20 years for the scheme to be altered and started properly. Brunswick Town eventually consisted of 150 houses, many of which were exclusive and expensive, but there was no suitable church nearby. Hove's original parish church, St Andrew's, was difficult to reach, while the nearest church on the way to Brighton, also called St Andrew's, was small. Goldsmid therefore provided some land for a church to be built, near what would become the northwest corner of

Palmeira Square Palmeira Square () is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. At the southern end it adjoins Adelaide Crescent, another architectural set-piece which leads down to the ...

. The decision to proceed with construction was taken by the diocese on 21 March 1851, and work started on 15 April 1852 after £4,500 had been raised through borrowings, private donations and a grant. Dr

Ashurst Gilbert Ashurst Turner Gilbert (14 May 1786 – 21 February 1870) was an English churchman and academic, Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1822 and bishop of Chichester. Life The son of Thomas Gilbert of Ratcliffe, Buckinghamshire, a capta ...

, 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 seat ...

, consecrated the new church on 24 June 1854.

Architecture

The architects William and Edward Habershon, brothers who operated as a partnership, designed the church in the

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

style using flint and stone dressings. The

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

building has a tower at the eastern end; this was added in about 1870, as was the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

, which raises the total height of the building to .http://hovehistory.blogspot.com/2017/10/st-john-baptists-church-church-road-hove.html?m=1 The

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 have

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

in the Decorated style. A porch was added on the west side in 1906–07 by London-based architectural firm Rogers, Bone & Cole.

The church today

St John the Baptist's 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 12 April 1983. As of February 2001, it was one of 1,124 buildings listed at that grade in Brighton and Hove; the status indicates that the building is considered "nationally important and of special interest". As well as two

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 ...

services on Sundays, there is a weekly Holy Communion service using the official 1662 version of the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

, a monthly Communion service following the

Celtic tradition The gods and goddesses of the pre-Christian Celtic peoples are known from a variety of sources, including ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, cult objects and place or personal names. The ancient Celts appear to have had a pantheon ...

, a film-based discussion group, children's activities and a Sunday school.

Gallery

File:St John the Baptist's Church, Church Road, Hove (NHLE Code 1187551) (September 2019).JPG, The northeastern corner of the church Image:St John the Baptist, Church Road, Hove 03.JPG, Close view of the eastern end

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 ...

window Image:St John the Baptist, Church Road, Hove 05.JPG, The spire and eastern end, looking to the north File:St John the Baptist's Church, Church Road, Hove (NHLE Code 1187551) (April 2015) (2).JPG, Looking southeastwards from the western end of the church

Notes

Bibliography