Bell 1 of 1
Founded by Harrington, Latham & Co
Dove Bell ID: 58874 Tower ID: 22840 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Portslade: St Andrew
Overview
Grid reference: TQ 258 52
A church designed by Scott and Suter, built in 1864 to serve outlying houses that were beginning to be constructed at the same time. It is a simple rectangle with an apse at one end and a south porch, and a later aisle added in 1890 on the north side under its own gable. The brick walls are externally faced with flint and stone dressings, and the roof tiled.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Nave and chancel under one roof with three-sided eastern apse; south porch; north aisle with a small vestry in the angle with the chancel.
Dimensions:
Nave 63ft by 26 ½ ft; chancel 24ft by 26 ½ ft; north aisle 16ft wide.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was designed by Messrs. Scott and Suter and built in 1864. It was thus an early work of Edmund Scott whose masterpiece is the enormous church of St. Bartholomew Brighton (1872-4). Scott also designed the chancel and nave roof of All Souls, Brighton (1879, now demolished) and remodelled the interior of Christ Church Montpelier (1886, also demolished). Complete churches by him were St. Saviour, Preston, Brighton (1886, also demolished), Keymer (rebuilt 1866) and Buxted (1885-6).
The church was built to serve the outlying houses which were beginning to be built about that time in the southern part of the parish towards the sea and away from the parish church. The site was given by the Revd. William Hall, rector of Saxham Parva, Suffolk; the builders were Messrs. Cheesman and Company and the cost £1,541. The church was dedicated on St. Luke’s Day, 18 October, 1864 by the Lord Bishop of Chichester and a parish was formed in 1876, when the first incumbent was appointed. The north aisle was added in 1890 to designs by Reginald Blomfield, whose church works are very small in number. It cost £911.
The vestry at the east end of the north aisle was damaged by an arson attack in 1995 and is still unusable and unsafe, consequently an area at the west end of the aisle is used as a priest’s vestry.
Exterior Description
This modest building bears no signs of particular individuality of thought such as Scott was to show at St. Bartholomew’s. It could in fact be a routine design for a chapel of ease by a busy architect such as Ewan Christian. It is a simple rectangle with an apse at one end and a south porch, and a later aisle added on the north side, under its own gable. The windows of the older part are all lancets with trefoiled heads and there are no buttresses, except in one place on the south side to mark the transition from nave to chancel.
The west elevation faces the road. The larger nave gable has two bands of brick amongst the flint facing and a three-light window of graded trefoil-headed lancets set in stone plate tracery with recessed roundels in the spandrels. The moulded hood has uncarved stops. In the gable above is a roundel carved with a cross. The north aisle gable has a simpler west window of three graded lancets.
The south wall has a small porch near the west end sheltering the principal entrance and then two pairs of lancets and a single lancet before a larger window set under a gablet in the south wall of the chancel, of two lights with a quatrefoil above. The gablet breaks through the slope of the roof. On the ridge of the roof over the junction of nave and chancel (which is not expressed externally except by the buttress) is a small fleche with a six sided lantern which originally had open trefoiled timber arches but was rebuilt in 1954 with timber louvres. The apse has a single lancet in each of its three very plain faces.
The north aisle has a doorway near the west end of the north wall and then three windows composed of groups of three lancets. At the east end is a small vestry with a doorway and window, very plain, in the north wall.
Building Fabric and Features
Nave
19th century
Chancel
19th century
Apse
19th century 3-sided eastern
Porch
19th century south
Aisle
19th century north
Vestry
19th century small, in angle of chancel
Building Materials
Brick
19th century walls
Flint
19th century external facing
Stone
19th century dressings
Tile
19th century roofs
Interior
Interior Description
The interior shows a strong contrast between the original building and the later aisle because the 1864 nave and chancel have plastered and whitewashed walls and the aisle has exposed brick facings with stone dressings; the trees and undergrowth outside the windows serve to intensify the lack of light in the aisle. The floor is laid with red tiles in the alleys of the nave with low timber platforms under the pews.
The west end of the nave is raised on one step but the north aisle is paved with wood blocks. The chancel floor has tiles patterned with fleurs-de-lys. The roof of the nave has arch-braced collars and tie-beams at each bay and the chancel arch is merely an arch-braced principal carried on small stone shafts at each side set on tapered scallopped corbels. The chancel roof is painted with stars on a very dark blue ground between the beams and with small four-petalled flowers along the beams themselves.
The north arcade is of four bays with rectangular piers of brick with stone dressings and chamfered angles into which the wave mouldings along the edges of the arches die. The brickwork is laid in English bond and the roof has closely set arch-braced rafters giving the effect of a cradle vault. The east wall is blind but for a small doorway leading to the vestry and on it is suspended the organ. In the north wall is small piscina.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
19th century The altar is a plain pine table with chamfered legs.
Reredos
19th century A curtain.
Pulpit
19th century The pulpit is of stone given in 1890, octagonal with open trefoiled arches in each face in which are loose tin panels painted with the Good Shepherd, St John, St Andrew, St Peter and St Paul against gold grounds. The steps have a brass rail.
Lectern
19th century The lectern is a small brass pedestal.
Font (component)
19th century The font is a circular stone bowl set on four conjoined-colonettes, c. 1880.
Stained Glass (window)
19th / 20th century • Apse I: The Nativity, c. 1906 by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. To the Glory of God and in loving memory Charles Richard Smith and Ann his wife. This window is erected by their sons. June 7th 1906 • Apse II: The Crucifixion c. 1896, perhaps by a local firm. • Apse III: The Ascension, c. 1902 by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. In commemoration of the Coronation of King Edward VII 1902. • South chancel I: St. George and St. Richard by Morris and Company, c. 1915. • South nave I: Christ Walking to Peter on the Water, c1914 by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. Matt Ch 14 v 30-31. • South nave II: Christ and the Children, c. 1926. To the Glory of God and in loving memory of Walter Hillman, for 13 years vicars warden in this church. Died 17th July 1926. • West window: small roundels of The Pelican, St. Andrew and the Agnus Dei, set among quarries painted with wheat and grapes, c. 1870. • North aisle I: The Resurrection against opaque ground, c.1918. To the Glory of God and in loving memory of Alfred James Baddeley. Lieut of the Royal Sussex Regiment, killed in action 23rd October 1918 Catillon France. • North aisle II: Three scenes of Christ Teaching, c. 1891 and 1902 by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. Dedicated to John Blaker, 1891 / 1902
Inscribed Object
19th / 20th century • To Lt. Edward John French, RNR, of HM Good Hope, died off Chile All Saints Day 1914; white marble tablet set in a window sill. • To Frederic George Holland, died September 11th 1899 aged 27; brass tablet by Jones and Willis. • To Jane Pope, died January 14th 1903 aged 71.
Organ (component)
20th century The organ is a small extension instrument with electric action by Morgan and Smith of Brighton, 1937, with the specification: Great 16,8,8,8,4; swell 8,8,8,4,8; Pedal 32,16,16,8,8; the Great and Pedal are on the east wall of the north aisle, the Swell in a small box over the vestry door in the chancel. This has been out of use since the fire in 1995.
Stall
19th century Choir stalls are oak with poppyheads.
Pew (component)
19th century Simple open pine benches, of high quality.
Screen
19th century Low oak screen with blind arches in the lower part and a row of small pierced trefoils in the upper part.
Rail
19th century Of oak on iron uprights, stock design.
Panel
20th century War memorial, like a reredos, Gothic style with cresting and a central canopy over a crucifix.
Bells
Portable Furnishings and Artworks
The registers date from 1876.
Churchyard
Grid reference: TQ 258 52
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Sources
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