Church Of St John The Baptist

The Church of St John the Baptist is a parish church dating to 1852-4, with the tower and spire added around 1859 and a narthex (entrance area) constructed in the early 20th century. Internal alterations occurred in the late 20th century. The church, designed by Edward and William Gilbert Habershon, is built of knapped flint with stone dressings and has clay tile roofs. It is in the Decorated style. The building has a cruciform layout, comprising a chancel, north and south transepts, a northeast tower with a vestry, a southeast chapel, a short corridor to an east entrance, and a five-bay aisled nave with a clerestory. Some arcades have been blocked, with the south aisle serving as a day centre and the north aisle as a parish hall. A pantry is accessed from the church, and the west end of the church provides access to the day centre and parish hall via the narthex. The church occupies a prominent and visible location, with the tower and narthex being the most striking features.

The three-stage tower has setback buttresses topped by a tall ashlar spire with three tiers of window openings. A gabled porch on the north front provides access for the organist, while a gabled porch on the east front might have originally been for the choir. A five-light window is situated to the east. The single-storey, buttressed narthex has two triangular projections with entrances on outer returns, a central double door, and a five-light window facing the west end of the nave.

The interior is rendered. The chancel roof features stencilled decoration, and the crossing has a wooden groin vault with gilded decoration. The nave has an open rafter hammerbeam roof. Stone screens partition the organ bay. There are good carved foliate corbels in the chancel, capitals to the arcade, angel corbels in the nave, and carved foliage panels in the crossing piers. Other furnishings include a stone and marble pulpit with a brass handrail and a 20th-century sounding board, a brass lectern, and a simple 19th-century bishop's chair with a canopy. Stained glass is present. The interiors of the hall and day centre were not inspected. Stained glass is also found in the aisle windows. The church was built for the residents of Adelaide Crescent and Palmeira Square, on land given by Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid. It was once the most fashionable church in the Brighton and Hove area, with the expanded narthex facilitating social interaction before and after services. The relative lack of interior fittings is noteworthy. The church possesses significant townscape value.