Church of St Bartholomew

Details

BRIGHTON

TQ3105SW ANN STREET
577-1/27/6 (North side)
13/10/52 Church of St Bartholomew

I

Anglican church. 1872-4, the completion date recorded on the
north-west porch. Designed by Edmund Scott for the Rev. Arthur
Douglas Wagner. Yellow brick set in English bond with
dressings of red brick and Portland stone, roof of slate.
PLAN: nave and chancel under a single roof, since the east end
was not completed (all directions are ritual).
EXTERIOR: the east end is blank with 2 buttresses with 3
slight offsets, and a gable now covered with slate. The south
side is 9 bays long, almost sheer, and detailed in each bay,
from the base of red brick, with trefoiled lancets set in a
flat-arched architrave of stone under a pointed-arched
moulding of brick, the sills and lintels being connected by
broad bands of stone; brick dentil cornice, above which the
wall is set back slightly between piers which have the effect
of buttresses at clerestory level; stone quatrefoils at
triforium level; dentil cornice and a shallow lean-to roof to
accommodate a further set-back; the clerestory windows are
simple broad lancets with splayed sills, deep reveals and
heads of unmoulded brick under a moulded brick headmould and
string; Lombard frieze of moulded brick and stone; brick
dentil cornice, arcaded parapet. The north side corresponds,
so far as visible, to the south.
The west end is sheer to the gable between angle buttresses.
Round-arched portal to centre with 4 orders of stone columns
and arches of moulded red brick; 2 flat-arched entrances with
doors of original design having bold wrought-iron hinges;
stained glass to the tympanum. Broad bands of stone above,
continuous with the sides of the church with, between them, a
statue of St Bartholomew in a gabled and crocketed niche, over
the portal; above this a band of diaper work in red brick;
brick dentil cornice; 4 lancets with continuous brick
hoodmould; above this hoodmould the wall is divided into
layers by bands of ashlar, the brickwork having diaper work in
red brick standing a little proud; rose window with surround
of moulded brick and a roundel of tile work on either side;
4-light opening in gable and cross to apex. North-west porch
with segmental-arched entrance and coped parapet. With a ridge
plate 42 metres high, St Bartholomew's is the tallest parish
church in Britain.
INTERIOR: the church is a single space faced in yellow brick
with red brick dressings; the chancel, which occupies the 2
easternmost of the nine bays, being raised by 5 steps from the
nave. Baldacchino designed by Henry Wilson and erected in
1899-1900, abutting the east end, with antae and pilasters
supporting round arches, the antae faced principally in red
marble with alabaster foliage capitals of Byzantine
inspiration, the superstructure in green with a band of
lozenge-patterned marble and a billet moulding forming a
cornice; the interior vault of the baldacchino inlaid with
gold mosaic and mother-of-pearl. The altar is raised by 7
steps above the sanctuary and is set against a low wall of
pinkish marble which runs under the baldacchino; altar frontal
decorated with painted panels by S Bell of 1874; tabernacle
door of silver repousse work, by Henry Wilson. The lower part
of the east wall is decorated with figure panels in mosaic
designed by F Hamilton Jackson in 1911, the central panel,
framed by the baldacchino, depicting Christ in glory, with
angels in marble panels to the sides. The sanctuary is raised
by a single step above the chancel, and has 2 short communion
rails of brass, designed by Henry Wilson and introduced in
about 1905, with balusters decorated with medallions in blue
enamel and foliage openwork between; at each of the 2 front
corners of the sanctuary is a candlestick, designed by Henry
Wilson, about 15 feet high and consisting of a tapering column
of grey and white Tuscan marble and a bronze candleholder with
elaborate knop. To either side of the chancel are oak choir
stalls with a lettered frieze, designed by Henry Wilson. The
east wall above the mosaic and marble work is decorated with
panels and diaper work in red brick with a crucifix over the
baldacchino designed by S Bell, partly painted and partly
incised on encaustic tiles.
The side walls are set out as an arcade, some 5 feet deep,
with side chapels etcetera in the recesses; the arcade
consists of internal buttresses in the form of flat piers of
brick with a stone moulding at the springing supporting
pointed arches of red brick; vault shafts in red brick; the
spandrels and above decorated with courses of stone and blue
and red brick as far as a brick dentil course; then a range of
3 blank lancets with heads of red brick in each bay; then
clerestory windows with deep embrasures and a triforium
passage; Lombard frieze to wall plate. West end above gallery
level continues the treatment of the side walls, and there is
a 4-bay arcade in front of the lancet windows with a rose
window above set back under a pointed arch along the base of
which runs a trefoiled balustrade. Pointed-arched roof of
timber with crown-post trusses.
The pulpit, designed by Henry Wilson and erected in 1906, has
the background of a polygonal screen of red marble set into
one of the north recesses, through which a stair leads to a
small marble pulpit; in front of this is a gallery running the
width of the recess with a central polygonal bay and a
balustrade of green Irish marble, the whole balcony carried on
columns of red African marble with stone foliage capitals of
Byzantine inspiration; wooden sounding board over. Lady altar
in one of the south recesses designed by Henry Wilson in 1902
with frontal in silver-plate decorated with repousse work and
more repousse work to the gradine. Octagonal font designed by
Henry Wilson in 1908 with panels of green marble framed in
copper, the whole set out on a semicircular plinth of black
marble steps against a background of marble lining the recess,
and a statue of John the Baptist, designed by Sir Giles
Gilbert Scott and carved by WD Gough, in 1925.
In the westernmost bay to the north, underneath the gallery,
is an altar under an ornately panelled and gilded coving with
bands of ornament in a late Gothic style. The wooden gallery,
designed by Henry Wilson in 1906 with a bow to the centre, is
carried on 2 piers, basically square in plan but with ornate
profiles, and the underside of the gallery is divided into
panels, the ribs decorated with billet ornament and painted.
Organ of 1901 by JW Walker and Son.
Stained glass: windows over the Lady Chapel and the
second-to-fourth after that by WE Tower; that next to the Lady
Chapel by Bewsey.
(Carder T: The Encyclopaedia of Brighton: Lewes: 1990-; Holmes
RJG: Church of St Bartholomew, Brighton: Brighton: 1975-).



Listing NGR: TQ3129005133

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

479355

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Holmes, R J G, Church of St Bartholomew Brighton, (1975)
Carder, T, Encyclopaedia of Brighton, (1990)

End of official list entry

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