Welcome to St Nicholas Parish Church

The Ancient Mother Church of Brighton

 

 

The building and its history

 

This church is dedicated to St Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors and fishermen.  Until 1873, St Nicholas was the Parish Church of Brighton and it still is the Mother Church and the only church in central Brighton of ancient interest.

 

The earliest known reference to a church in Brighthelmstone, the old name for Brighton, comes from William the Conqueror's great census, the Domesday Book, written about 1085.  This states that there was a church, valued at £ 12, which had been assessed as worth £ 10 in the reign of the Saxon King Edward.  So there certainly was a church here in Saxon times, though no traces of it remain.  On the wall of the south aisle is a list of vicars, far from complete and not always accurate, but dating back to 1091.

 

The oldest surviving link to this remote past is the beautiful Norman Font, of Caen stone, now considered by experts to have been carved in 1170.  In the 17th Century it was placed in the centre of the church and a circular seat built around it, so the font became a backrest, causing some damage to the carved figures.  Three of the four scenes carved around it can be identified: The Last Supper (rarely depicted on fonts), The Baptism of our Lord and a legend of St Nicholas.  There is doubt about the significance of the fourth scene.

 

 

 

The Tower contains some Norman work and the columns and arches of the Nave, Chancel and Tower, built of Sussex stone, date from about 1380.  There is a peal of 10 bells, normally rung on Sunday before the Parish Eucharist.

 

 

 

 

The Rood Screen is a fine example of carving in oak, dating from about 1480, restored in 1887.  The figures that surmount it date from the early years of the 20th Century.

 

The side chapel, now the Lady Chapel, dates from the early years of the 16th Century and may originally have been a chantry chapel.

 

Noted worshippers in this church have included the boy who was to become the Duke of Wellington, and who was a pupil of the vicar, the Reverend Henry Michell.  Wellington's Monument is unmissable by the font.  Dr Johnson, who worshipped in the Thrales' family pew when he stayed in Brighton, is commemorated by a plaque on a window ledge in the north wall by the vestry door.  In more recent times the noted actress Dame Flora Robson, who lived nearby, was a member of the congregation and through her the Lady Chapel acquired the carved wooden Stations of the Cross, presented by the then President of Ghana.

 

The church underwent a major restoration in 1853 in memory of the Duke of Wellington, which despite the undoubted improvements, led to the loss of some architectural features.  Before this the roof was lower and there were dark galleries in both aisles, reached by steps outside the church.  There was a balcony across the Chancel arch where the fishermen sat and another over the Tower arch where the Swan Downer charity girls in their characteristic bonnets used to sit.  The traditional box pews that filled the Nave, Chancel and Side Chapel were replaced with ordinary pews.  A model of the church before this restoration can be seen in the south-west corner of the church.

 

There have been other improvements since 1853.  The roof has been raised and the Clerestory windows installed; the choir stalls and oak panelling have been added in the Chancel: there is a beautiful series of stained glass windows from designs by C.E.Kempe; the side chapel has been properly furnished for its present use as the Lady Chapel.

 

In 2001 the church interior was re-ordered again.  The Font has been relocated from the south door to the more appropriate position at the west end.  The Wellington Monument has also been relocated from an obscure corner by the Tower to stand beside the Font. The pews have been replaced by chairs, permitting much greater flexibility in the use of the building.  A new wooden floor has been laid, with under floor heating: the lighting and sound systems have been improved.  The next phase of the work will aim to restore the screen, the ceiling above it and the two wall paintings at either end of the nave.

 

Outside in the churchyard several tombs are worth a visit: Captain Nicholas Tettersell, who took Charles II across the Channel from Shoreham to France in his boat after the King's flight from Worcester in 1651; Phoebe Hessel who served as a soldier and died at the age of 108 in 1821; Martha Gunn who was well-known in Regency days as the Royal Bathing Woman.  The stone steps of the Churchyard Cross may be seen just below the south porch.  The cross itself was destroyed by Cromwell's soldiers, and the new one, added in 1934, is an example of modem sculpture, designed by Walter Godfrey, architect and noted historian of Sussex churches.

 

The churchyard has long since been closed for burials and its upkeep is now in the hands of the City of Brighton and Hove.

 

This old church is full of history.  It has long been a shrine of devotion and still stands to bring us all nearer to God.