1875 – St. Peters Church, Brighton, Sussex

The church was orginally built from 1824-28 to a design by Sir Charles Barry, then only in his mid-twenties. It was built in an approximation of the 14th- and 15th-century Perpendicular or Late Gothic style, typical of the so-called Commissioners’ churches, of which St Peter’s was one.

A spire was designed by Barry in 1841, but it was never built. The side aisles originally had galleries but these were taken down as a result of the cultural and liturgical changes made in the wake of the Oxford Movement.

Barry’s hexagonal apse was demolished in 1898 to make way for a much larger, straight-ended chancel designed by Somers Clarke and J.T. Mickelthwaite, built in Sussex sandstone, its warm hue contrasting with the cold, white appearance of the Portland stone in which the rest of the church was built. The building work continued until 1906.

Perspective View including sketch of ‘as now existing’ published in The Building News, January 1st 1875.