South Street Free Church

South Street Free Church

Church built in 1903 by Henry Ward of Hastings, a prolific architect based in East Sussex. The building retains minor later alterations but remains substantially intact.

The church was constructed as a Congregational Church by a group of non-conformists who had previously worshipped at Pevensey Road Congregational Church and subsequently occupied Grove Hall on Saffrons Road from 1897. At the time of its construction, Eastbourne was developing as a genteel seaside resort, and the congregation would have drawn members from both visitors and local residents. In 1914, the Trustees of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion assumed responsibility for the building.

Exterior

The church presents a single frontage to South Street in the Arts and Crafts style, built of red brick with stone bands and dressings. The façade is composed of four distinct components of different heights and roof lines, creating a lively and characterful composition. The centrepiece comprises a square tower with louvred openings and a short spire, flanked by the main west end with a pointed gable and a large semi-circular relieving arch containing a west window. The window features Arts and Crafts-style plate tracery in an idiosyncratic design. Beneath it sits the main round-arched entrance with moulded surround, hood-mould, carved stops, and an engaged fleur-de-lis finial at the apex. To either side of the tower and west end are plainer sections with smaller pointed gables, mullion and transom windows with cusped-foils, a pointed arched window and door to the left, and a vehicle arch to the right. The return wall to the right is visible in plain stock brick. The façade contains foundation and memorial stones recording that the first pastor was Reverend George Thompson and the builders were Padgham and Hutchinson.

Interior

The five-bay nave features full-height aisle arcades with stiff-leaf capitals and moulded bases supporting a gallery that extends across the west end. The gallery area beneath the west end has been glazed in and the pews removed to create a foyer. The gallery fronts display a quatrefoil design, which continues around the organ loft at the apsidal east end. A clerestory and handsome timber roof with curved arch braces complete the nave structure. All windows are set in stone surrounds and contain panes of coloured and clear glass. Original bench pews survive in the nave, aisles, and galleries. The organ has been removed and reading desks are modern replacements. The altar dates to the 1930s. Other surviving original fittings include doors, windows, fireplaces, and staircases, one of which features an iron balustrade and moulded timber handrail. A hall occupies the left-hand side of the nave with a ceiling supported by iron colonettes, and has been partitioned off from part of the original side aisle.

Architect

Henry Ward (1854–1927) was an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects and prolific designer of buildings throughout East Sussex. He originated in London, studied in Paris, and relocated to Hastings for health reasons. By 1881 he served as Borough Surveyor. In private practice he worked with WL Vernon, primarily on public and commercial buildings. His works include Hastings Town Hall (1881, Grade II listed), Bexhill-on-Sea Town Hall (1898), the Buchanan Hospital Elizabeth Mason Wing in St Leonards on Sea (1907), the Buccaneer public house in Eastbourne, bar and tile murals at the Havelock Public House in Hastings (Grade II), and Plummer Roddis Department Store in Hastings (1927). He also designed St Stephen's (1898) and St John's, Victoria Road (1897), both in Bexhill-on-Sea, and the United Reform Church, Robertson Street (1884), in Hastings.