St Mary Star of the Sea 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 ...

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, East Sussex, England. It was built from 1882 to 1883 and designed by

Basil Champneys Basil Champneys (17 September 1842 – 5 April 1935) was an English architect and author whose most notable buildings include Manchester's John Rylands Library, Somerville College Library (Oxford), Newnham College, Cambridge, Lady Margaret Ha ...

. It is situated on the High Street, backing onto The Bourne in the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

. It was founded by the

Pallottines The Pallottines, officially named the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (), abbreviated SAC, is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for men in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman Catholic priest Saint Vincent Pa ...

and is a Grade II listed building.

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 ...

describes the church as a "well crafted building of high quality."Hastings - St Mary of the Sea
from

, retrieved 26 February 2016

History

Foundation

A substantial part of the cost of building the church was paid for by the poet

Coventry Patmore Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (23 July 1823 – 26 November 1896) was an English poet and critic, literary critic. He is best known for his book of poetry ''The Angel in the House'', a narrative poem about the Victorian era, Victorian ideal of ...

. In 1875, he and wife settled in Hastings. In 1880, his wife, Marianne, died and he contacted the

about founding a church in Hastings. The Pallottines bought the site of the church. It was a former farmhouse between the High Street and The Bourne. Patmore decided that he would donate £5,300 to the construction of the church, as long as the remainder of the £15,000 total cost was paid by the church.

Construction

In 1882, the foundation stone for the church building was laid by Dr. William Weathers, Titular Bishop of Amyela. The architect of the church was

. He was a friend of Patmore. The church was built on top of a crypt. While the church was being built, the crypt was used as a location to say

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 ...

for the local Catholic population. On 2 July 1883, the church was opened. After the church was built, the space beneath the church housed a school until 1955. It was St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School and it moved to Magdalen Lane close to the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and English Martyrs in

St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origin ...

. In 1891, 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 ...

and

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 ...

of St Mary's Church were dedicated. The cost of the two came to £1,500.

Parish

The church is still served by the

. It has three Sunday Masses every weekend: 6:00pm on Saturday, and 10:00am, 11:30am on Sunday. There is a Mass in Polish every first Sunday of the month, at 6:00pm. There are weekday Masses from Tuesday to Saturday at 10:00am.Parish details
from

Diocese of Arundel and Brighton The Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton () is a diocese in southern England covering the counties of Sussex and Surrey (excluding Spelthorne, which is part of the Diocese of Westminster). The diocese was erected on 28 May 1965 by Pop ...

, retrieved 26 February 2016

References

External links

St Mary Star of the Sea Parish site

St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary Star of the Sea Church, Hastings

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...