St Michael's Church, Brighton
St. Michael and All Angels, Brighton | |
---|---|
Chichester | |
Deanery | Brighton |
Parish | Brighton, S. Michael and All Angels |
Clergy | |
Vicar(s) | Fr John Blackburne |
Assistant priest(s) | Father Kevin Humphrys |
St. Michael's Church (in full, St. Michael and All Angels Church) is an
Origins and the local area
The church serves the loosely defined Montpelier and Clifton Hill areas of Brighton, which lie west of the major Dyke Road and cover the steep slopes between the Seven Dials district and the seafront.[2] St Stephen's Church had served parts of the district since 1851, when it had been moved to Montpelier Place from its previous location in Castle Square, close to the Royal Pavilion.[3] However, it was not convenient for the area as a whole, with most of its parishioners being drawn instead from the streets to the south of the church.
Development of the Montpelier and Clifton Hill areas started in the 1820s, and by the 1840s they had essentially taken the form they remain in today, with a range of high-quality houses, many in the form of Regency terraces and crescents such as Clifton Terrace.[4] However, one area of open land remained: at the time (the 1850s) it was known as Temple Fields, and consisted of a field, a pond and a partly built house.[5] This was chosen as the site for a new church to serve the area. On present-day maps, Temple Fields is the area bounded by Denmark Terrace, Clifton Hill, Powis Road and Victoria Road. The church faces three streets: St. Michael's Place, Powis Road and Victoria Road (on which the main entrance is located).
History and construction
Original church
Plans for the church were drawn up in 1858, and construction took place between 1860 and 1861 to a design by George Frederick Bodley (whose father had been a doctor in Brighton and a resident of the Furze Hill area of Hove, close to the Montpelier and Clifton Hill districts).[6][7] Bodley was also working on St Paul's Church in West Street, Brighton at the time, on an interior alterations project.[8]
The design of the exterior was reminiscent of the Italianate style, in red brick with horizontal bands of white stone and a steeply pitched slate roof. This featured a modest flèche spire containing a bell recovered from Sevastopol during the Crimean War (1854–1856).[7]
The church took two years to build at a cost of £6,728, and was
Extension
The building quickly became too small and, in 1865, William Burges designed a new church which would incorporate Bodley's building as its two south aisles. The rebuilding was not carried out until 1893, under the direction of Burges's pupil, J.S.Chapple, and took two years. Burges was a contemporary of Bodley; both men were born in 1827. It is not known why a different architect was chosen for the redesign, and the changes reportedly caused Bodley some upset.[6] Burges did not live to see his designs realised: he died in 1881.[10]
The exterior decoration of the new building broadly matched that of the original church, consisting of bands of white stone contrasting with dark red brick, but there is a considerable difference in height. The original building's north aisle was demolished, and its remaining structure became the south aisle of the new church. In terms of the church's present arrangement, therefore, the main body and the adjacent north aisle date from 1893, while the south aisle is original.[11]
The designs, as originally submitted, showed that a
A parish hall was built in 1970 on the site, to the north of the church, where the cloister was originally proposed.
Architecture and fixtures
Burges's enlargement substantially altered the character of the building, abandoning Bodley's polychrome brickwork interior for proper stone dressings, but he retained the polychrome style for the somewhat brutal exterior.
The interior featured a series of clerestory windows facing south, a stone arch in the chancel and a row of stone columns with foliated decoration (carved with leaf ornamentations). The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of people active in various areas of the arts who were influenced by the Quattrocento period of Italian art, were closely involved with the decoration of the interior. Bodley was informally associated with this recently formed group, in particular with Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, a long-term friend of his. William Morris himself, along with Philip Webb and Charles Faulkner, was responsible for the painting of the chancel roof. The large windows on the western face of the church were made and installed by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., the predecessor of Morris's firm Morris & Co.[7]
There are also many
Internal fixtures include a grey marble
The church today
The area covered by St Michael's—a portion of the western end of
Services have always been in the
Services consist of a daily Mass at various times,[19] and a Sunday morning Sung Mass at 10.30am. A priest is available for Confession after Saturday Masses. In the parish hall, there are Saturday breakfast meetings, a parent and toddler group, dance groups, choir practices and various other activities.[20]
See also
Notes
- ^ Historic England (2007). "Church of St Michael and All Angels and attached walls, Victoria Road (north side), Brighton (1381083)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
- ^ "Montpelier/Clifton Hill". My Brighton and Hove. 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
- ^ Dale 1989, p. 103.
- ^ "Clifton Terrace". My Brighton and Hove. 22 March 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
- ^ Dale 1989, p. 127.
- ^ a b Jenkins 1999, p. 687.
- ^ a b c d Dale 1989, p. 129.
- ^ Dale 1989, pp. 90–91.
- ^ a b c Dale 1989, p. 131.
- ^ Dale 1989, p. 132.
- ^ Dale 1989, p. 133.
- ^ Dale 1989, p. 134.
- ^ Antram & Morrice 2008, p. 51.
- ^ "The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom: Verde Antique". The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom. Hershel Friedman. 1997–2005.
- ^ "St Michael & All Angels, Brighton". A Church Near You website. Archbishops' Council. 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
- ^ Dale 1989, p. 135.
- ^ "Saint Michael and All Angels, Brighton". St Michael and All Angels Church. 2009.
- ^ "Parish Profile 2015" (PDF). Society for the Maintenance of the Faith. 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ^ "Service Times". St Michael and All Angels Church. 2009.
- ^ "Community Hall". St Michael and All Angels Church. 2009.
Bibliography
- Nairn, I and Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Sussex, Penguin Books, 1965
- Dale, Antony (1989). Brighton Churches. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-00863-8.
- ISBN 0-7139-9281-6.
- Antram, Nicholas; Morrice, Richard (2008). Brighton and Hove. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300126617.