Churches - Bevendean History Project
St James Church, St James Street, Kemp Town
The
first church on the site was erected in 1810, it was square in shape,
with wide galleries running round it, and high box like pews, the altar
stood on the western side of the Church instead of the northern end
where it was sited after the church had been rebuilt.
St James Church view towards the Sanctuary in 1917. © The Keep - Reference: 1916-07 B&H Parochial Gazetteer
St. James’ Chapel was built as an experiment in chapel building, the idea being to raise the funds by a voluntary subscription and then to select a clergyman of the Church of England to minister in it. The Duke of Marlborough, on being apprised that the scheme for the erection of this chapel was on foot and that the expenses attending it would be covered by voluntary contributions, instantly subscribed £100, and expressed a hope that “the playhouse method of receiving shillings for admission, as at the Chapel Royal, would not be adopted when the building was completed.” His Lordship’s hopes were fully realised, and the chapel being built by shares, was called a Free Chapel. In 1809 a subscription list was opened for providing a free Chapel for the poor. The sum of £1,560 was collected, and a piece of ground near St. James’s Street presented by one of the subscribers, and a large chapel was erected capable of accommodating about thirteen hundred persons.
The original St James’ Church built about 1810 viewed from the gallery towards the Altar. © The Keep - Reference: - Reference: 1916-07 B&H Parochial Gazetteer
The building cost £2,166, and a deficiency of some £600 was advanced by Mr. N. Kemp and his nephew, Mr. Read Kemp. The building remained unfinished for two years with the debt still upon it. In July, 1812, a proposal was made that five persons should advance the sum of £2,500 to complete and open the building. The body of the chapel, to hold 900 persons, was to be free, and the seats in the galleries let, the income to be applied to paying the expenses of the services and to gradually discharging the debt. There were five mortgagees, each of whom advanced £500.
In the year 1813, on the recommendation of the Bishop of the Diocese, and with the consent of the Governors, the Rev. William Marsh, D.D., was appointed to St. James’. He, however, resigned after a few months, and the chapel was closed until another appointment could be made. Whilst Dr. Marsh remained, people of all ranks flocked to hear him.
St James Church was reached down a passageway between shops from St James Street as shown green on the plan. © The Keep – Reference: DB/D/7/5348.
Owing to some difficulty with the then Vicar of Brighton, the proprietors had no alternative but to adopt the Nonconformist mode of conducting matters, and the chapel became a dissenting one.
Mr. Thomas Read Kemp, M.P. for Arundel, officiated in St. James’ Chapel for some years until 1817. He had been for some time a seceder from the Established Church, but in that year returned to it, upon which the Chapel was taken over by Mr. Nathaniel Kemp, of Ovingdean, who purchased the shares, became sole proprietor and had it duly consecrated. It thus became an Episcopal Chapel of ease.
In 1822 the minister was the Rev. Hugh Pearson, D.D., and in 1827 the Rev. J. H. Barber, formerly Rector of Ashton, Stanford, Bucks, was the incumbent. Then, in February, 1828, the Rev. C. D. Maitland was nominated as incumbent and continued to minister there until 1865, a period of no less than 37 years. He died in October, 1865, and was buried at Ovingdean.
After Mr. Maitland’s death there was some difficulty as to his successor and for a time, the Chapel was closed. Ultimately, however, it was bought by one of the curates of St. Paul’s Church, Brighton, the Rev. John Purchas, and re-opened for public worship on September 2nd, 1866.
A number of alterations were introduced that made St. James’ Chapel as unlike its former self as possible. For some years there was a great deal of bitter controversy on the Ritualistic practices adopted by Mr. Purchas, culminating in the celebrated action of “Hebbert v. Purchas,” before the Court of Arches (The Court of Arches is the provincial Court of Appeal for Canterbury), and in 1870 the historic “Purchas Judgment” was given. Mr. Purchas was sentenced by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to one year’s suspension, and an order was made for the payment of the costs, amounting to no less a sum than £2,096.
Mr Purchas was an advanced ritualist who might have been expected to deplore proprietary chapels, but who maintained that as minister he was free to conduct services as he wished. Only his death at a relatively young age put an inconclusive end to an increasingly acrimonious dispute with the bishop.
The next appointment was the Rev. J. J. Mallaby, who was a moderate Churchman, Evangelical enough in doctrine to satisfy any of the old congregation of St James’ who were still left, yet sufficiently in favour of modern modes of conducting worship in the Church of England to induce him to model the Church under his care rather upon the cathedral lines than upon those of the meeting house. Gradually he gathered a congregation around him, and at length, in 1874, it was decided that the Chapel which had seen such various fortunes since it was built in 1810, should be raised to the ground, and a new structure take its place.
In order that the new St. James’ Church might not be opened as a proprietary chapel, the Rev. Archdeacon Hannah, father of the Dean of Chichester, made himself responsible for the cost of the freehold. The proprietary rights, including the freehold of the Chapel and School, were purchased by Dr. Hannah from the representatives of the late Mr. Purchas, at a cost of £1,316 8s. 4d.
St James Church viewed towards the Sanctuary c.1920. - © The Keep. - Reference: ACC 13739/82
The new Church, which was of the Early English style, was built of flint, with red brick and stone dressings, and consists of a chancel, nave and side aisles. It was consecrated on October 5th, 1875, by the Bishop of Chichester. Later the Church was beautified by the erection of a handsome reredos and the windows were filled with fine stained glass, the work (with the exception of one or two) of the well-known Mr. Kempe. Other improvements include the installation of a particularly good organ, built under the direction of Mr. H. S. Cooke, who for ten years was the Organist of the Church.
Church Plans dated 23 June 1874
Floor plan for St James Church, St James Street - © The Keep – Reference: DB/D/7/1214.
Section through St James Church in St James Street looking north. - © The Keep – Reference: DB/D/7/1214.
Elevation of St James Church from Chapel Street - © The Keep – Reference: DB/D/7/1214.
The next step, after the completion of the Church, was the formation of a parish. Streets, containing a population of over 4,000, were carved out of the parish of Brighton, and the requirements of the authorities having thus been met, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners constituted St. James’ an Ecclesiastical Parish and gave an endowment of £200 a year. This endowment has been gradually increased to £245 by private gifts of capital sums handed over to the Commissioners.
Later a Mission Room, Sunday School, new Vestries and a Vicarage House were provided.
After an incumbency of 37 years, part of which time he was Rural Dean of Brighton, Prebendary Mallaby resigned in 1909, and went to live in the country a few miles out of Brighton to enjoyment a well-earned retirement from the duties and responsibilities of parish work. He occasional visited his old parish and was always made welcome.
Entrance to St James Church c1920. – © The Keep - Reference: ACC 13739/82.
St James Altar and Reredos c1920. © The Keep. Reference: ACC 13739/82.
The Vicar in 1916, was formerly Curate-in-Charge of St. Thomas’, Hove, and was appointed by the Vicar of Brighton, in whose gift the living was, shortly after the resignation of Prebendary Mallaby, and was inducted to the benefice on December 12th, 1909. With the assistance of the Rev. A. Newland, who has been working in the parish for over 14 years, and a faithful band of workers, many of whom were bequeathed to him by the late Vicar, he has been enabled to carry on and, in some ways, to extend the work which has been handed down to him.
On the 23rd December 1920 a Faculty was granted for a War memorial side Chapel and tablet.
(1) The provision of a side Chapel by fitting up the East End of the North aisle with holy table and other necessary furnishings and
(2) The erection on the North wall of the proposed Chapel of an oak tablet bearing the following inscription: –
“To the glory of God and in grateful memory of the men of this church and parish who laid down their lives in the Great War this Memorial Chapel is dedicated.
“They love not their lives and to the death”
On the 23rd February 1923 a Faculty was granted for a Memorial Brass for the Rev. C. D. Maitland with the following text.
“In affectionate remembrance of the Rev Charles David Maitland B.A., who for 38 years ministered in the Chapel which formerly stood on the site of this church. Died October 12, 1865 Interned at Ovingdean”.
“Make him to be numbered with Thy Saints in Glory everlasting”.
On the same date a Faculty was also granted for a Memorial Brass for Rev John Purchase, with the following text. “In grateful commemoration of the life and work of the Rev John Purchase M.A., who ministered in the Chapel which formerly stood on the site of this church.
Died October 18, 1872”.
“Hold him father to the breast; give him everlasting rest.”
St James Church viewed from the Nave towards the Altar c1920 - © The Keep. - Reference: ACC 13739/82.
In 1932 a report appeared in the Brighton and Hove Herald about the need to close some of the churches in Brighton. It said that there were many erstwhile prosperous churches in Brighton with very small congregations and dwindling incomes. The smallness of the congregations is attributed partly to the religious indifference of the times particularly to the popularity of motoring and other open air pursuits at weekends, and partly to the drifting away of the residential population from the centre of the town.
A conference of the clergy of Kemp Town was held to consider the question of “redundant churches” in that district which had many churches, and following up on that conference it was announced that preliminary steps have been taken towards the appointment of a commission to consider the amalgamation of St James’s church and St Mary’s.
St James’s Church continued to operate until the Second World War. The last marriage took place in St James Church on 24 October 1940. The last baptism took place in the church on 17 November 1940 after which the church was closed for the duration of the war.
Services were then held at St Marys Church which is also in St James Street.
The Brighton and Hove Herald reported the closing of St James’s on 30th July 1949.
The war memorial chapel in St James's Church has been transferred to St Mary's Church, in St James Street and placed in the west aisle in the north-west corner of the church. It was dedicated on Monday 25th July 1949, on St James's Day, by the Bishop of Lewes, the Bight Rev. G. H. Warde, at a service conducted by the vicar, the Rev. H. J. Kingston.
The Bishop welcomed the opportunity of performing the dedication, recalling that it fell to him when Rural Dean of Brighton to announce the closing of St James's. "I remember," he said, “how well St James's people took it and how nobly they responded.
St. James's Church Demolition from the Brighton Herald on 16 September 1950.
The church was finally demolished in 1950 and there is now a Brighton Co-operative Society’s store at the corner of Chapel Street.
Editors Note.
The Arches Court, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the Province of Canterbury. The Court of Arches is the provincial Court of Appeal for Canterbury. It has both appellate and original jurisdiction. It is presided over by the Dean of the Arches, who is styled The Right Honourable and Right Worshipful the Official Principal and Dean of the Arches. The dean must be a barrister of ten years' High Court standing or the holder or former holder of high judicial office. The appointment is made by the two archbishops jointly.
St James Church view towards the Sanctuary in 1917. © The Keep - Reference: 1916-07 B&H Parochial Gazetteer
St. James’ Chapel was built as an experiment in chapel building, the idea being to raise the funds by a voluntary subscription and then to select a clergyman of the Church of England to minister in it. The Duke of Marlborough, on being apprised that the scheme for the erection of this chapel was on foot and that the expenses attending it would be covered by voluntary contributions, instantly subscribed £100, and expressed a hope that “the playhouse method of receiving shillings for admission, as at the Chapel Royal, would not be adopted when the building was completed.” His Lordship’s hopes were fully realised, and the chapel being built by shares, was called a Free Chapel. In 1809 a subscription list was opened for providing a free Chapel for the poor. The sum of £1,560 was collected, and a piece of ground near St. James’s Street presented by one of the subscribers, and a large chapel was erected capable of accommodating about thirteen hundred persons.
The original St James’ Church built about 1810 viewed from the gallery towards the Altar. © The Keep - Reference: - Reference: 1916-07 B&H Parochial Gazetteer
The building cost £2,166, and a deficiency of some £600 was advanced by Mr. N. Kemp and his nephew, Mr. Read Kemp. The building remained unfinished for two years with the debt still upon it. In July, 1812, a proposal was made that five persons should advance the sum of £2,500 to complete and open the building. The body of the chapel, to hold 900 persons, was to be free, and the seats in the galleries let, the income to be applied to paying the expenses of the services and to gradually discharging the debt. There were five mortgagees, each of whom advanced £500.
In the year 1813, on the recommendation of the Bishop of the Diocese, and with the consent of the Governors, the Rev. William Marsh, D.D., was appointed to St. James’. He, however, resigned after a few months, and the chapel was closed until another appointment could be made. Whilst Dr. Marsh remained, people of all ranks flocked to hear him.
St James Church was reached down a passageway between shops from St James Street as shown green on the plan. © The Keep – Reference: DB/D/7/5348.
Owing to some difficulty with the then Vicar of Brighton, the proprietors had no alternative but to adopt the Nonconformist mode of conducting matters, and the chapel became a dissenting one.
Mr. Thomas Read Kemp, M.P. for Arundel, officiated in St. James’ Chapel for some years until 1817. He had been for some time a seceder from the Established Church, but in that year returned to it, upon which the Chapel was taken over by Mr. Nathaniel Kemp, of Ovingdean, who purchased the shares, became sole proprietor and had it duly consecrated. It thus became an Episcopal Chapel of ease.
In 1822 the minister was the Rev. Hugh Pearson, D.D., and in 1827 the Rev. J. H. Barber, formerly Rector of Ashton, Stanford, Bucks, was the incumbent. Then, in February, 1828, the Rev. C. D. Maitland was nominated as incumbent and continued to minister there until 1865, a period of no less than 37 years. He died in October, 1865, and was buried at Ovingdean.
After Mr. Maitland’s death there was some difficulty as to his successor and for a time, the Chapel was closed. Ultimately, however, it was bought by one of the curates of St. Paul’s Church, Brighton, the Rev. John Purchas, and re-opened for public worship on September 2nd, 1866.
A number of alterations were introduced that made St. James’ Chapel as unlike its former self as possible. For some years there was a great deal of bitter controversy on the Ritualistic practices adopted by Mr. Purchas, culminating in the celebrated action of “Hebbert v. Purchas,” before the Court of Arches (The Court of Arches is the provincial Court of Appeal for Canterbury), and in 1870 the historic “Purchas Judgment” was given. Mr. Purchas was sentenced by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to one year’s suspension, and an order was made for the payment of the costs, amounting to no less a sum than £2,096.
Mr Purchas was an advanced ritualist who might have been expected to deplore proprietary chapels, but who maintained that as minister he was free to conduct services as he wished. Only his death at a relatively young age put an inconclusive end to an increasingly acrimonious dispute with the bishop.
The next appointment was the Rev. J. J. Mallaby, who was a moderate Churchman, Evangelical enough in doctrine to satisfy any of the old congregation of St James’ who were still left, yet sufficiently in favour of modern modes of conducting worship in the Church of England to induce him to model the Church under his care rather upon the cathedral lines than upon those of the meeting house. Gradually he gathered a congregation around him, and at length, in 1874, it was decided that the Chapel which had seen such various fortunes since it was built in 1810, should be raised to the ground, and a new structure take its place.
In order that the new St. James’ Church might not be opened as a proprietary chapel, the Rev. Archdeacon Hannah, father of the Dean of Chichester, made himself responsible for the cost of the freehold. The proprietary rights, including the freehold of the Chapel and School, were purchased by Dr. Hannah from the representatives of the late Mr. Purchas, at a cost of £1,316 8s. 4d.
St James Church viewed towards the Sanctuary c.1920. - © The Keep. - Reference: ACC 13739/82
The new Church, which was of the Early English style, was built of flint, with red brick and stone dressings, and consists of a chancel, nave and side aisles. It was consecrated on October 5th, 1875, by the Bishop of Chichester. Later the Church was beautified by the erection of a handsome reredos and the windows were filled with fine stained glass, the work (with the exception of one or two) of the well-known Mr. Kempe. Other improvements include the installation of a particularly good organ, built under the direction of Mr. H. S. Cooke, who for ten years was the Organist of the Church.
Church Plans dated 23 June 1874
Floor plan for St James Church, St James Street - © The Keep – Reference: DB/D/7/1214.
Section through St James Church in St James Street looking north. - © The Keep – Reference: DB/D/7/1214.
Elevation of St James Church from Chapel Street - © The Keep – Reference: DB/D/7/1214.
The next step, after the completion of the Church, was the formation of a parish. Streets, containing a population of over 4,000, were carved out of the parish of Brighton, and the requirements of the authorities having thus been met, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners constituted St. James’ an Ecclesiastical Parish and gave an endowment of £200 a year. This endowment has been gradually increased to £245 by private gifts of capital sums handed over to the Commissioners.
Later a Mission Room, Sunday School, new Vestries and a Vicarage House were provided.
After an incumbency of 37 years, part of which time he was Rural Dean of Brighton, Prebendary Mallaby resigned in 1909, and went to live in the country a few miles out of Brighton to enjoyment a well-earned retirement from the duties and responsibilities of parish work. He occasional visited his old parish and was always made welcome.
Entrance to St James Church c1920. – © The Keep - Reference: ACC 13739/82.
St James Altar and Reredos c1920. © The Keep. Reference: ACC 13739/82.
The Vicar in 1916, was formerly Curate-in-Charge of St. Thomas’, Hove, and was appointed by the Vicar of Brighton, in whose gift the living was, shortly after the resignation of Prebendary Mallaby, and was inducted to the benefice on December 12th, 1909. With the assistance of the Rev. A. Newland, who has been working in the parish for over 14 years, and a faithful band of workers, many of whom were bequeathed to him by the late Vicar, he has been enabled to carry on and, in some ways, to extend the work which has been handed down to him.
On the 23rd December 1920 a Faculty was granted for a War memorial side Chapel and tablet.
(1) The provision of a side Chapel by fitting up the East End of the North aisle with holy table and other necessary furnishings and
(2) The erection on the North wall of the proposed Chapel of an oak tablet bearing the following inscription: –
“To the glory of God and in grateful memory of the men of this church and parish who laid down their lives in the Great War this Memorial Chapel is dedicated.
“They love not their lives and to the death”
On the 23rd February 1923 a Faculty was granted for a Memorial Brass for the Rev. C. D. Maitland with the following text.
“In affectionate remembrance of the Rev Charles David Maitland B.A., who for 38 years ministered in the Chapel which formerly stood on the site of this church. Died October 12, 1865 Interned at Ovingdean”.
“Make him to be numbered with Thy Saints in Glory everlasting”.
On the same date a Faculty was also granted for a Memorial Brass for Rev John Purchase, with the following text. “In grateful commemoration of the life and work of the Rev John Purchase M.A., who ministered in the Chapel which formerly stood on the site of this church.
Died October 18, 1872”.
“Hold him father to the breast; give him everlasting rest.”
St James Church viewed from the Nave towards the Altar c1920 - © The Keep. - Reference: ACC 13739/82.
In 1932 a report appeared in the Brighton and Hove Herald about the need to close some of the churches in Brighton. It said that there were many erstwhile prosperous churches in Brighton with very small congregations and dwindling incomes. The smallness of the congregations is attributed partly to the religious indifference of the times particularly to the popularity of motoring and other open air pursuits at weekends, and partly to the drifting away of the residential population from the centre of the town.
A conference of the clergy of Kemp Town was held to consider the question of “redundant churches” in that district which had many churches, and following up on that conference it was announced that preliminary steps have been taken towards the appointment of a commission to consider the amalgamation of St James’s church and St Mary’s.
St James’s Church continued to operate until the Second World War. The last marriage took place in St James Church on 24 October 1940. The last baptism took place in the church on 17 November 1940 after which the church was closed for the duration of the war.
Services were then held at St Marys Church which is also in St James Street.
The Brighton and Hove Herald reported the closing of St James’s on 30th July 1949.
The war memorial chapel in St James's Church has been transferred to St Mary's Church, in St James Street and placed in the west aisle in the north-west corner of the church. It was dedicated on Monday 25th July 1949, on St James's Day, by the Bishop of Lewes, the Bight Rev. G. H. Warde, at a service conducted by the vicar, the Rev. H. J. Kingston.
The Bishop welcomed the opportunity of performing the dedication, recalling that it fell to him when Rural Dean of Brighton to announce the closing of St James's. "I remember," he said, “how well St James's people took it and how nobly they responded.
St. James's Church Demolition from the Brighton Herald on 16 September 1950.
The church was finally demolished in 1950 and there is now a Brighton Co-operative Society’s store at the corner of Chapel Street.
Editors Note.
The Arches Court, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the Province of Canterbury. The Court of Arches is the provincial Court of Appeal for Canterbury. It has both appellate and original jurisdiction. It is presided over by the Dean of the Arches, who is styled The Right Honourable and Right Worshipful the Official Principal and Dean of the Arches. The dean must be a barrister of ten years' High Court standing or the holder or former holder of high judicial office. The appointment is made by the two archbishops jointly.
