The Venue (formerly St Paul's Church) 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 ...

, England hosts live music events. It was opened in 1812 as the Worthing

Chapel of Ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, 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, generally due to trav ...

. It was built so that the residents and visitors to the newly created town of Worthing would not need to travel to the parish church of

St Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. ...

in Broadwater. As a growing resort, it was felt that for the town to prosper, residents and visitors would demand a local church or chapel. The Chapel of Ease gave its name to Worthing town centre's principal north–south route, Chapel Road. The Reverend William Davison was appointed the chapel's first chaplain. The Reverend Davison went on to set up schools for boys, girls and infants in the town with money raised from the congregation. The girls' school he established was the original Davison High School. The building of the chapel was funded by the sale and leasing of pews, making the chapel a

proprietary chapel A proprietary chapel is a chapel that originally belonged to a private person, but with the intention that it would be open to the public, rather than restricted (as with private chapels in the stricter sense) to members of a family or household, ...

. This policy effectively excluded the poor from the church, which was criticised until 1893 when funds allowed for the building to be extended and the chapel was upgraded to

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 ...

status and dedicated to

St Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

.St Paul's Worthing website
/ref> Designed by John Rebecca and built by Ambrose Cartwright, who also built nearby Ambrose Place, the building has a Doric

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

with four

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

facing Chapel Road, with a bell

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

behind it.Worthing - Churches , British History Online
/ref> The building's yellow bricks are made from the blue clay taken from Worthing Common (also known as the Saltgrass), the green space which in the 19th century existed south of the current beach and is now underwater. The building is partly

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed. The interior of the church was finished by a Worthing man, Edward Hide.

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her death in 1818. The Acts of Un ...

presented the church with the royal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

in thanks to the people of Worthing for showing such generosity and kindness to her daughters Princesses Amelia and Charlotte when they stayed in the town. The organ was given to the church by Edward Ogle, nicknamed "King Ogle" by Worthing residents on account of his autocratic behaviour. Originally the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

was at the east end of the building, however when the church was extended in the 1890s, the chancel had to be moved to the west of the building, which is unusual in Anglican churches.

Current status

The building was closed in 1996 due to an unsafe roof. Grade II* listed, the church is still recognised as an important asset to the town of Worthing. It has been turned into a cafe and community venue for weddings, concerts etc. and adjacent assisted accommodation. It re-opened in 2012 under the Leadership of the "3 Pillars" management group, Fleur Penny, Charlie Norden and Steve Hamblin, as a cafe and art centre, it is the current jewel of Worthing.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Worthing, St Paul's Church

Church of England church buildings in West Sussex Grade II* listed churches in West Sussex