St Patrick's Church, Hove

Parish church
name=St Patrick, Hove


caption=
dedication=Saint Patrick
denomination=Church of England
tradition=
parish=Hove, St Patrick
deanery=Rural Deanery of Hove
archdeaconry=Chichester
diocese=Chichester
province=Canterbury
vicar=Revd Alan Sharpe
vicar1=Revd Keith Sylvia

St Patrick's Church is an Anglican church in Hove, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. Situated on a narrow site in Cambridge Road, off Western Road close to the boundary with Brighton, it is still in use as a place of worship, but since 1985 it has also been used as a night shelter for homeless people. Most of the interior of the building is now dedicated to this role.

History

The Brunswick Estate had been developed from 1824 onwards at the eastern edge of Hove, on the border with Brighton, on land originally belonging to Wick Farm. In 1851, the whole of the Wick Farm estate passed into the control of the Brunswick Square Commissioners. This land was rapidly developed as a residential area by Baronet Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid.cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |title=Brighton Churches |origyear=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London EC4 |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |pages=p113 ] St Andrew's Church in Waterloo Street, nominally the church of the Brunswick Estate, was a long way from this new housing and, being used mainly by the aristocratic classes, only had eighty pews which were not subject to pew rental fees.cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Brighton Churches |origdate= |origyear=1989 |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher=Routledge |location=London EC4 |language= |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=p68 |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= ] This made it unsuitable for the lower-class, poorer residents of the new development, so an Irish priest, Dr James O'Brien, decided to build another church in the area. As with several other churches in Brighton and Hove at that time, this was a proprietary chapel which he owned and ran himself, gaining an income from pew rents, marriage and funeral fees and various other sources. An Act of Parliament was normally needed before a proprietary chapel could be built, but none was granted in the case of this church.

Construction started in July 1857 and the church was opened under licence on 20 October 1858. The Bishop of Chichester, Dr Ashurst Turner Gilbert, attended the first service. In its first few years, the church was known as St James' Church; it changed to St Patrick's and St James' in 1865, and finally became St Patrick's in 1868. The cost of construction was nearly £13,500, although rental income from some of the pews helped to offset this.

The church was given a parish on 21 August 1885 by Rev. Ridley Daniel-Tyssen, one of the O'Briens' seven nephews, who took control of the church after his uncle's death despite a High Court challenge at the Court of Chancery from another nephew who contended that he should have inherited the church: Dr O'Brien had not written in his will that Daniel-Tyssen was to receive the church and the curacy, and his wife's will incorrectly stated that he had. The Bishop of Chichester had been called as a witness. In the late 20th century the parish was amalgamated with that of St Andrew's Church on Waterloo Street,cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |title=Brighton Churches |origyear=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London EC4 |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |pages=p118 ] which was closed and declared redundant in 1990.cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |title=Brighton Churches |origyear=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London EC4 |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |pages=p70 ] It now [http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parish.php?p=10/93 covers] the area between Holland Road, Lansdowne Road, the Brighton/Hove boundary and the seafront.cite web|title=Hove, St Patrick, Diocese of Chichester|url=http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parish.php?p=10/93|accessdate=2008-05-17|publisher=A Church Near You|year=2008|work=A Church Near You website]

Architecture

Only the eastern side of the church is visible from the road.cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |title=Brighton Churches |origyear=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London EC4 |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |pages=p115 ] The architect was Henry Edward Kendall junior, who had designed the Sussex County Lunatic Asylum (later St Francis Hospital) in Haywards Heath and worked on the Knebworth estate inherited by the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton.cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |title=Brighton Churches |origyear=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London EC4 |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |pages=p114 ] Kendall adopted the Early English Gothic style and used Kentish ragstone with stone dressings and a slate roof. An octagonal tower was started but never completed, leaving a stump in one corner. The interior consists of a chancel, side chapels, an aisled nave and a narthex to the south. The chancel, which features stencilling and paintings from the 1890s, is topped by a hammerbeam roof, and the roof of the nave has gabled clerestory windows.cite web|title=Images of England — detailed record, Church of St Patrick and wall fronting road, Cambridge Road (west side), Hove|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=365505&mode=quick|work=Images of England|publisher=English Heritage|year=2007|accessdate=2008-05-17] An organ built by Henry Willis & Sons was installed in 1865, but was moved from one of the side chapels to the wall of the tower about 40 years later.

Several distinguished architects provided internal fittings at St Patrick's.cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |title=Brighton Churches |origyear=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London EC4 |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |pages=p117 ] William Butterfield designed the north window as a "memorial" to Dr O'Brien and his wife Octavia, who were still alive at the time (they both died in 1884, 14 years after the window was installed), another window on the northeastern side, and the lectern, cast in brass and featuring an eagle and St Patrick.cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |title=Brighton Churches |origyear=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London EC4 |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |pages=p116 ] This dates from 1873. A red sandstone reredos of the Crucifixion of Jesus was presented by Somers Clarke in 1887. Sir George Gilbert Scott designed the pulpit. Other features include several stained glass windows, a font of alabaster, a set of Stations of the Cross in the form of framed oil paintings, frescoes in memory of Octavia O'Brien and a memorial tablet for Rev. Daniel-Tyssen. Both he and his uncle were buried at St Andrew's Church, Hove's parish church.

The church received criticism in its early years for its appearance and for the nature of its services. Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel dismissed it as "spacious without grandeur and ornate without grace"; the early interior decorations and fixtures were described as "primitive"; and although there is now a large array of stained glass, it was all installed some time after the church opened. More controversially, Dr O'Brien—who had named himself perpetual curate of the church—had a strong interest in the use of music in Christian worship, and St Patrick's was unrivalled in Brighton or Hove for several decades for its music and the size of its choir. However, in the towns at that time there were many opponents of such "High Church" practices,cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |title=Brighton Churches |origyear=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London EC4 |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |pages=p145 ] and the church received the mocking nickname "Paddy's Music Hall".

The church today

Although the church was built to hold several hundred people, the congregation had declined to around 20 by 1985. One night in the winter of that year, the vicar, Rev. Alan Sharpe, allowed two homeless people to sleep on the floor of the church after they went to the vicarage. This continued, and more homeless people were encouraged to stay overnight. In 1987 the narthex was converted into a dedicated night shelter. Soon afterwards a charity was formed to raise money to develop the shelter further, in particular by redeveloping the interior of the church to dedicate more space to homeless people.cite web|title=Brighton & Hove Education Online: Christian places of worship|url=http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1001437|accessdate=2008-05-17|publisher=Brighton & Hove City Council|year=2003|work=Brighton & Hove Education Online website] The Lorica Trust was set up for this purpose; it now consists of three divisions, offering night shelter and hostel accommodation to homeless people; providing services to people with learning disabilities in East Sussex, West Sussex and Surrey; and operating church-based community projects and helping churches work together with their local communities.cite web|title=Introduction to the Lorica Trust|url=http://www.lorica.org.uk/index.htm|accessdate=2008-05-17|publisher=Lorica Trust|year=2006|work=Lorica Trust website]

The shelter was extended to 12 beds in 1993 and 22 beds in 1999, when it moved to the northern part of the church.cite web|title=Lorica St Patrick's: Nightshelter|url=http://www.lorica.org.uk/st_patricks_what_we_do_nightshelter.htm|accessdate=2008-05-17|publisher=Lorica Trust|year=2006|work=Lorica Trust website] As a result, only a small part of the church is now used for worship: chairs are arranged in a circle around the altar, and the night shelter overlooks it, forming an integral part of the church (although it has a separate entrance). As well as offering overnight accommodation for regular use and in emergencies, the shelter is open in the morning and evening to offer advice, social activities, meals and similar. The church itself holds a service every day, and a special service and social event on St Patrick's Day.

Residents and volunteers have worked together with design firms to create a new form of self-contained sleeping unit called a "MiPod". It has similarities to the 1970s "sleep capsule" or capsule hotel concept.cite web|title=Lorica St Patrick's: MiPods|url=http://www.lorica.org.uk/feature_mipod.htm|accessdate=2008-05-17|publisher=Lorica Trust|year=2006|work=Lorica Trust website] Six have been installed, and another 20 are planned.cite web|title=Lorica St Patrick's: Our Future Vision|url=http://www.lorica.org.uk/st_patricks_what_we_do_future_vision.htm|accessdate=2008-05-17|publisher=Lorica Trust|year=2006|work=Lorica Trust website]

St Patrick's Church has been listed at Grade II since 2 November 1992.

References