The Church of St Mary of the Angels, Worthing, is in

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, England. It is a Grade II

listed building 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, Hi ...

and the earliest of the four Roman Catholic churches in Worthing. It is an active

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 diocese of Arundel & Brighton and the Worthing deanery.

History

The Church of St Mary of the Angels was opened by Thomas Grant, Roman Catholic bishop of

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, the first local Roman Catholic bishop since the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. The church was built on land bought by Thomas Gaisford, owner of Offington Hall in Broadwater. Previously Gaisford had allowed the new chapel he had built at Offington Hall to be used by the public from 1859. Gaisford had previously married the Catholic Lady Emily St Lawrence, daughter of Thomas St Lawrence, 3rd Earl of Howth and Lady Emily de Burgh. The church was the first place of Catholic worship in Worthing. The church was built with the Our Lady of Sion convent adjacent to the church. The convent is run by the Sisters of Sion, who also founded the nearby independent school

Our Lady of Sion School Our Lady of Sion School is an interdenominational, inter-denominational, independent school for male and female students, founded in 1862 and located in Worthing, West Sussex, on the south coast of England. Based on the teachings of Marie Theodo ...

. The church lies at the corner of Richmond Road and Crescent Road, close to the triumphal arch of Park Crescent.Extract of English Heritage report
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Architecture

Originally designed by

Henry Clutton Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , was an English architect and designer. Life Henry Clutton was born on 19 March 1819, the son of Owen and Elizabeth Goodinge Clutton. He studied with Edwa ...

in the style of French Gothic revival with an exterior built of

red brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

with

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

, the church was extended by

Frederick Walters Frederick Arthur Walters (5 February 1849–3 December 1931) was a Scottish architect working in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, notable for his Roman Catholic churches. Life Walters was born on 5 February 1849 at 6 South Terrace, Brompton, Lond ...

in 1897-1907 to include a

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

and an extension to the porch and

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

. The church contains a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

with a miniature spire.

References

External links

Church website

Worthing Borough Council Listed Building Register
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worthing, Saint Mary of the Angels Grade II listed churches in West Sussex Saint Mary of the Angels Roman Catholic churches completed in 1864 Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in West Sussex Roman Catholic churches in West Sussex 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Frederick Walters buildings Henry Clutton buildings