Church Of St Nicholas Of Myra

Church of St Nicholas of Myra

This is the parish church of Brighton, originally built in the late 14th century, though substantially rebuilt in the 19th century. The church stands on Dyke Road (formerly known by its location on Church Street) and is constructed of knapped flint with stone dressings, with the tower featuring dressed flint except on the lower part of the south face, which is cobbled. All roofs are slate.

The medieval core of the building survives in the tower, chancel arch, and most of the nave arcade, all dating to the late 14th century. A major campaign of rebuilding took place in 1853, when R C Carpenter, working for the Reverend H M Wagner, rebuilt most of the church, widening both aisles and lengthening the north aisle. In 1877, George Somers Clarke junior added the choir vestry and a northern approach; he further added a north vestry in 1892, and at that date also renewed the roof and added the clerestory.

The plan comprises a chancel under a lower roof, a south-east chapel, north-east vestries, nave with aisles, west tower, and south porch. The east window is 4-centred with 5 lights and rectilinear tracery. The south-east chapel, set under its own gable, has a 4-centred east window of 3 lights with rectilinear tracery. The vestries stand under two gables; the southern vestry features a basement window with a 4-centred arch, 3 lights, and curvilinear tracery, above which is a pointed-arched 2-light window, with a stack to this vestry. The northern vestry has a flat-arched window of 4 lights. A covered passage connects to Church Street.

The south side of the south-east chapel spans 3 bays, with an elliptical-arched entrance between buttresses towards the centre, two flat-arched 2-light windows either side, and a shorter window above the entrance. The south aisle has 4 flat-arched 2-light windows, while the clerestory above has 10 flat-arched 2-light windows. A gabled south porch contains a pointed-arched entrance with an inner order of roll-mouldings, now much decayed. The north aisle likewise has 4 flat-arched 2-light windows with a clerestory of 10 matching windows above. The remainder of the tracery throughout the church is curvilinear unless otherwise specified.

The low, square tower is buttressed at the angles. Its west door is pointed-arched with similar detailing to the porch and inner roll-mouldings; above it is a 2-light window and a small trefoil window higher still. One lancet appears at the belfry stage on the west face, while the south face at this level has a flat-arched 2-light belfry opening; a similar single-light opening exists on the north face. The embattled parapet is stepped out. A late 20th-century wooden fleche surmounted by a metal finial crowns the tower.

Interior

The chancel comprises 2 bays and opens to the south chapel. The choir bay features 3 shafts with hollow-mouldings and a moulded inner order to the arch. Wooden panelling with elaborate blank tracery, designed by Somers Clarke junior, incorporates a triptych by Matthew Ridley Corbet as the reredos. The sanctuary floor is of coloured marbles. The choir stalls feature poppy heads and were designed by Somers Clarke junior. The wagon roof is decorated with painted ribs and bosses in the manner of G F Bodley.

The chancel screen dates to around 1480 and features blind arcaded panels below with ogee tracery and vaulting to either side. It was repaired in 1887, when rood figures were added; metal gates of about the same date complete the screen, with painted decoration of circa 1890. The east and west walls of the nave carry painted decoration designed by Somers Clarke junior and executed by C E Kempe around 1892: the east wall displays trailing foliage and sacred emblems, while the west wall shows stencilled patterns and coats of arms.

The nave arcade spans 5 bays with octagonal columns and a double-chamfered inner order. A similar arch to the belfry contains a screen of 1897. The nave has a simple wooden panelled roof with curved queen posts; the second beam from the east is inscribed in memory of Somers Clarke junior. The aisles have similarly panelled lean-to roofs of 1894.

The south chapel contains a late 19th-century wooden reredos and panelling with a roof decorated around 1895. It was enlarged around 1900. A statue of St Nicholas, designed by J N Comper around 1924, stands to the right of the arch to the chapel.

The church contains a Norman font, probably dating to around 1165. It is a circular drum of Caen stone carved with scenes from the New Testament and the life of St Nicholas, set between a lower frieze of variegated ornament and a band of nailhead carving. A wooden font cover dates to 1857.

The church holds several monuments: a wall monument to Frances Crosbie in the north aisle by Richard Westmacott, and a portrait bust on a scrolled base at the west end of the south aisle in memory of his wife, also by Westmacott. A Wellington Memorial of 1853, designed by R C Carpenter and carved by John Birnie Philip, stands in the church; it is modelled on an Eleanor cross, though the ogee arches of the third stage are now broken in places. The pulpit dates to 1867.

The stained glass includes an east window designed by J R Clayton and made by Ward and Hughes around 1853. Windows in the south chapel and aisles date between 1878 and 1887, with a tower window of 1897 by C E Kempe. Three lead tablets, dating to 1675–1705, are housed in the belfry.

Historical Context

St Nicholas' served as the parish church of Brighton until 1873. The church is particularly notable for its association with the Reverend H M Wagner, who was vicar from 1824 to 1870 and dominated the Anglican life of Brighton during the early and mid-Victorian periods.