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St. Paul's

St Paul's Parish Church

Richard Cromwell Carpenter (1812-1855), with help from Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852)

1846-48; restored 1996

Flint, white limestone, and wood

West Street, Brighton

Carpenter's built this church in the Decorated or Middle-Pointed style of Gothic architecture. The building as a whole bears out what Reginald Turnor has said about the architect: "Although he shared the affectations of the Camdenians with Butterfield, R. C. Carpenter exercised a scholarly restraint and so avoided the worst excesses of inventiveness" (69). Indeed, according to the church's information sheet, St Paul's is considered "one of the first successful nineteenth-century Gothic buildings." It certainly drew a large congregation. With the Rev. Arthur Douglas Wagner as its first Vicar (from 1850-1902), it played a big role in promoting the Tractarian movement. As the information sheet concludes, in "an age of so much ugliness and unrest it is a joy to find such peace and loveliness, which speak of enduring values." The tower and unusual wooden octagon above it were added by R. H. Carpenter, the architect's son, in about 1873. This served for many years as a beacon for sailors along the Sussex coast, and was restored in 1996.

Photograph and text Jacqueline Banerjee

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

References

The (very brief) information sheet, headed "Welcome to the Parish Church of Saint Paul, Brighton," is available at the church.

Eatwell, Ann and Ruth Gosling, "Hardman Family." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online edition. Viewed 6 March 2007.

Turnor, Reginald. Nineteenth-Century Architecture in Britain. London: Batsford, 1950.



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Last modified 1 July 2001