Church of the Sacred Heart, Hove
Encyclopedia
The Church of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic church in Hove
, part of the English
city of Brighton and Hove. It is the oldest of Hove's three Roman Catholic churches, and one of eleven in the city area. It has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage
in view of its architectural importance.
and the late 18th century. At that time, some Acts of Parliament
were passed to remove some of the restrictions. The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791
allowed Roman Catholic churches to be built for the first time. In Hove's neighbour, Brighton
, a community quickly established itself and built a permanent church, St John the Baptist's
, in 1835. Hove's community took longer to become established; by the 1830s they were meeting secretly in a chapel established in a private house, but there had been no thought of building a permanent church. The first plans were made in the 1870s, when the former priest in charge of St Mary Magdalen's Church in Brighton
, Fr George Oldham, left money in his will for the establishment of a mission church. He died in 1875, and the decision to establish Hove's first church was made the following year. Finding a site was troublesome: the original choice, on Tisbury Road, was abandoned in favour of one opposite Hove Town Hall, which the Church authorities bought for £3,746 (£ as of ). Although an architect—John Crawley, a London-based ecclesiastical designer who had built several churches in Sussex and Hampshire—had been selected, not enough money was available to execute his proposed design immediately; and during the delay, the West Brighton Estate Company (which owned the surrounding land and the houses on it) complained about the supposed negative effect a Roman Catholic church would have on house prices. The Company bought the land back from the Church and agreed to help them find a new site; after Denmark Villas in the far northeast of Hove was considered and rejected, land on the west side of Norton Road was selected in October 1879. John Crawley's plans were approved a year later, and building work started on 3 November 1880 with the laying of the foundation stone.
Only part of the church could be built immediately, because not enough money was available at first. Nevertheless, by the time it officially opened on 28 September 1881, the Church of the Sacred Heart consisted of chancel
, nave
with north and south aisles, two side chapels and a presbytery
. John Crawley died just before the opening; his architectural practice was taken over by Joseph S. Hansom, who carried out the second phase of building in 1887. This added to the nave at the west end, increasing the capacity. Rev Charles Dawes was the benefactor for this extension. More work was undertaken in 1914–1915 when the north aisle was extended and a Lady chapel
was added. After this was opened on 24 February 1915, the church was officially finished. The land for this extension had been bought in 1911 for £400 (£ as of ).
People associated with the church include the Irish stage actor Barry Sullivan
, whose funeral was held there in May 1891; the journalist George Augustus Sala
, whose funeral took place in 1895; composer Luigi Arditi
, who worshipped here; and the sculptor, artist and designer Eric Gill
, who converted to Roman Catholicism and was received into the Church here in 1913.
St Peter's Church in Portland Road, Aldrington
was established as a daughter church in the early 20th century to serve an area of west Hove that was distant from any Roman Catholic churches. It was completed in 1915 and was initially within the Church of the Sacred Heart's parish before being given its own parish.
with rock dressings. John Crawley's design was based on interpretation of the Early English Gothic style as it would have appeared in the 14th century. The chancel has an apse
with three sides and runs through into the nave under the same roof, which is of slate
quarried in Wales
. The north aisle of the nave has the Lady chapel at the east end, while the south aisle has a chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph
. The porch has an entrance in the east end. The window in the Lady chapel is particularly large, with five lights, and is in the Perpendicular style.
The chancel and side chapels have vaulted side-shafts in marble and stone. The internal arches and walls are built of brick, ashlar
and stone, mostly quarried from southwest England. The nave roof is barrel-vaulted
. The apse contains a large reredos
. The pulpit has carvings of Saints Peter
and Paul
, and there is an alabaster
font with tracery
decoration. Nathaniel Westlake
contributed many stained glass
windows and some murals on the vaults, and local firm Cox & Barnard
designed a single window in 2001. It depicts Saint Francis
and is in the centre light of the three in the west window.
The new organ was built by the renowned firm of Copeman Hart in 1998 and was inaugurated in
December of that year by Mr Andrew Reid, the then Assistant Organist of Westminster Cathedral.
It has two manuals and pedals and a total of 41 speaking stops. It was carefully voiced to suit
the wonderful acoustic of the building and, in addition to its principal role of accompanying
the choir and congregation during the various liturgies, it is eminently suitable as a recital
instrument.
There has been a long tradition of choral singing at the Sacred Heart. The choir archives contain
scores for Mozart and Haydn Masses, printed around 1870. One of the early Directors Of Music in the 1890s was the then well known composer Augustus Edmonds Tozer
, compiler of the "Complete Benediction Manual", "Catholic Choralist" (1889),"Catholic Hymns" (1886), "Modern Music For Church Choirs" (1889) as well as the composer of several Masses including the Mass of St Wilfred, the Mass of the Most Blessed Sacrament and several sacred pieces.
on 15 September 1999. It is one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove.
There are three Masses on Sundays (and an evening Vigil service on the preceding Saturday), daily Masses during the week and three services on Holy Days of Obligation
. The Sacrament of Penance is offered on Saturdays.
At the 9:30 a.m. Sunday family mass, the Sacred Heart Youth choir provide enthusiastic contemporary music,
accompanied by guitar, clarinet, flute and trumpet.
The later Sunday Mass at 11:30 a.m. (Missa normativa)
is celebrated in English with Latin and the music includes both Gregorian Chant
and the Polyphony
of the Renaissance.
On major feast days you will probably hear a splendid setting of the Mass by one of the great composers while on ordinary Sundays, the Mass setting is generally plainsong (Orbis Factor;
De Angelis;
Cum Jubilo; Lux et Origo etc. according to the season) and the congregation is encouraged to participate in the antiphonal singing with the choir.
The church is one of eleven Roman Catholic churches in Brighton and Hove. Its former daughter church St Peter's Church
in Aldrington
and St George's Church in the suburb of West Blatchington
are also in Hove; there are six in Brighton
, and one each in Rottingdean
and Woodingdean
.
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
, part of the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
city of Brighton and Hove. It is the oldest of Hove's three Roman Catholic churches, and one of eleven in the city area. It has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
in view of its architectural importance.
History
Roman Catholic worship was prohibited in Britain between the time of the English ReformationEnglish Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
and the late 18th century. At that time, some Acts of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
were passed to remove some of the restrictions. The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791
Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791
The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1791 relieving Roman Catholics of certain political, educational, and economic disabilities. It admitted Roman Catholics to the practise of law, permitted the exercise of their religion, and the existence of...
allowed Roman Catholic churches to be built for the first time. In Hove's neighbour, Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, a community quickly established itself and built a permanent church, St John the Baptist's
St John the Baptist's Church, Brighton
St John the Baptist's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Kemptown area of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It was the first Roman Catholic church built in Brighton after the process of Catholic Emancipation in the early 19th century removed restrictions on Catholic worship...
, in 1835. Hove's community took longer to become established; by the 1830s they were meeting secretly in a chapel established in a private house, but there had been no thought of building a permanent church. The first plans were made in the 1870s, when the former priest in charge of St Mary Magdalen's Church in Brighton
St Mary Magdalen's Church, Brighton
St Mary Magdalen's ChurchSome sources incorrectly give the spelling "Magdalene". is a Roman Catholic church in the Montpelier area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is one of six Roman Catholic churches in Brighton and one of eleven in the city area...
, Fr George Oldham, left money in his will for the establishment of a mission church. He died in 1875, and the decision to establish Hove's first church was made the following year. Finding a site was troublesome: the original choice, on Tisbury Road, was abandoned in favour of one opposite Hove Town Hall, which the Church authorities bought for £3,746 (£ as of ). Although an architect—John Crawley, a London-based ecclesiastical designer who had built several churches in Sussex and Hampshire—had been selected, not enough money was available to execute his proposed design immediately; and during the delay, the West Brighton Estate Company (which owned the surrounding land and the houses on it) complained about the supposed negative effect a Roman Catholic church would have on house prices. The Company bought the land back from the Church and agreed to help them find a new site; after Denmark Villas in the far northeast of Hove was considered and rejected, land on the west side of Norton Road was selected in October 1879. John Crawley's plans were approved a year later, and building work started on 3 November 1880 with the laying of the foundation stone.
Only part of the church could be built immediately, because not enough money was available at first. Nevertheless, by the time it officially opened on 28 September 1881, the Church of the Sacred Heart consisted of chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
, nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with north and south aisles, two side chapels and a presbytery
Presbytery (architecture)
The presbytery is the name for an area in a church building which is reserved for the clergy.In the oldest church it is separated by short walls, by small columns and pilasters in the Renaissance ones; it can also be raised, being reachable by a few steps, usually with railings....
. John Crawley died just before the opening; his architectural practice was taken over by Joseph S. Hansom, who carried out the second phase of building in 1887. This added to the nave at the west end, increasing the capacity. Rev Charles Dawes was the benefactor for this extension. More work was undertaken in 1914–1915 when the north aisle was extended and a Lady chapel
Lady chapel
A Lady chapel, also called Mary chapel or Marian chapel, is a traditional English term for a chapel inside a cathedral, basilica, or large church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary...
was added. After this was opened on 24 February 1915, the church was officially finished. The land for this extension had been bought in 1911 for £400 (£ as of ).
People associated with the church include the Irish stage actor Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (stage actor)
Barry Sullivan , was an acclaimed stage actor who played many classical parts in England, Australia and America.-Early life:...
, whose funeral was held there in May 1891; the journalist George Augustus Sala
George Augustus Henry Sala
George Augustus Henry Sala , English journalist.-Biography:Sala was born in London; his father being the son of an Italian who came to London to arrange ballets at the theatres, and his mother an actress and teacher of singing...
, whose funeral took place in 1895; composer Luigi Arditi
Luigi Arditi
Luigi Arditi was an Italian violinist, composer and conductor.Arditi was born in Crescentino, Piemonte . He began his musical career as a violinist, and studied music at the Conservatory of Milan. He made his debut in 1843 as a director at Vercelli, and it was there that he was made an honorary...
, who worshipped here; and the sculptor, artist and designer Eric Gill
Eric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
, who converted to Roman Catholicism and was received into the Church here in 1913.
St Peter's Church in Portland Road, Aldrington
St Peter's Church, Aldrington
St Peter's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Aldrington area of Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is one of three Roman Catholic churches in Hove and one of eleven in the wider city area. Built between 1912 and 1915 in a red-brick Romanesque style, its tall campanile...
was established as a daughter church in the early 20th century to serve an area of west Hove that was distant from any Roman Catholic churches. It was completed in 1915 and was initially within the Church of the Sacred Heart's parish before being given its own parish.
Architecture
The church is built of limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
with rock dressings. John Crawley's design was based on interpretation of the Early English Gothic style as it would have appeared in the 14th century. The chancel has an apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
with three sides and runs through into the nave under the same roof, which is of slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
quarried in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The north aisle of the nave has the Lady chapel at the east end, while the south aisle has a chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
. The porch has an entrance in the east end. The window in the Lady chapel is particularly large, with five lights, and is in the Perpendicular style.
The chancel and side chapels have vaulted side-shafts in marble and stone. The internal arches and walls are built of brick, ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
and stone, mostly quarried from southwest England. The nave roof is barrel-vaulted
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
. The apse contains a large reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
. The pulpit has carvings of Saints Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and Paul
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, and there is an alabaster
Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
font with tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
decoration. Nathaniel Westlake
Nathaniel Westlake
Nathaniel Hubert John Westlake was a 19th-century British artist specializing in stained glass.-Career:Westlake began to design for the firm of Lavers & Barraud, Ecclesiastical Designers, in 1858, and became a partner ten years later, making the firm Lavers, Barraud and Westlake, of which he...
contributed many stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows and some murals on the vaults, and local firm Cox & Barnard
Cox & Barnard
Cox & Barnard Ltd is a stained glass designer and manufacturer based in Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The company was founded in Hove in 1919 and specialises in stained glass for churches and decorative glass products. Many commissions have come from Anglican and Roman...
designed a single window in 2001. It depicts Saint Francis
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
and is in the centre light of the three in the west window.
Church organ and music
The original organ was a three-manual Bevington organ, but around 1996/97 this was dismantled and removed.The new organ was built by the renowned firm of Copeman Hart in 1998 and was inaugurated in
December of that year by Mr Andrew Reid, the then Assistant Organist of Westminster Cathedral.
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
It has two manuals and pedals and a total of 41 speaking stops. It was carefully voiced to suit
the wonderful acoustic of the building and, in addition to its principal role of accompanying
the choir and congregation during the various liturgies, it is eminently suitable as a recital
instrument.
There has been a long tradition of choral singing at the Sacred Heart. The choir archives contain
scores for Mozart and Haydn Masses, printed around 1870. One of the early Directors Of Music in the 1890s was the then well known composer Augustus Edmonds Tozer
Augustus Edmonds Tozer
Augustus Edmonds Tozer F.R.C.O., L.R.A.M., A.R.C.M., Mus. Doc was an English composer and organist.-Early life:...
, compiler of the "Complete Benediction Manual", "Catholic Choralist" (1889),"Catholic Hymns" (1886), "Modern Music For Church Choirs" (1889) as well as the composer of several Masses including the Mass of St Wilfred, the Mass of the Most Blessed Sacrament and several sacred pieces.
The church today
The Church of the Sacred Heart was listed at Grade II by English HeritageEnglish Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 15 September 1999. It is one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove.
There are three Masses on Sundays (and an evening Vigil service on the preceding Saturday), daily Masses during the week and three services on Holy Days of Obligation
Holy Day of Obligation
In the Catholic Church, Holy Days of Obligation or Holidays of Obligation, less commonly called Feasts of Precept, are the days on which, as of the Code of Canon Law states,-Eastern Catholic Churches:...
. The Sacrament of Penance is offered on Saturdays.
At the 9:30 a.m. Sunday family mass, the Sacred Heart Youth choir provide enthusiastic contemporary music,
accompanied by guitar, clarinet, flute and trumpet.
The later Sunday Mass at 11:30 a.m. (Missa normativa)
Mass of Paul VI
The Mass of Pope Paul VI is the liturgy of the Catholic Mass of the Roman Rite promulgated by Paul VI in 1969, after the Second Vatican Council...
is celebrated in English with Latin and the music includes both Gregorian Chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
and the Polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
of the Renaissance.
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
On major feast days you will probably hear a splendid setting of the Mass by one of the great composers while on ordinary Sundays, the Mass setting is generally plainsong (Orbis Factor;
Kyriale
The Kyriale is a collection of Gregorian chant settings for the Ordinary of the Mass. It contains eighteen Masses , six Credos, and several ad libitum chants...
De Angelis;
Kyriale
The Kyriale is a collection of Gregorian chant settings for the Ordinary of the Mass. It contains eighteen Masses , six Credos, and several ad libitum chants...
Cum Jubilo; Lux et Origo etc. according to the season) and the congregation is encouraged to participate in the antiphonal singing with the choir.
The church is one of eleven Roman Catholic churches in Brighton and Hove. Its former daughter church St Peter's Church
St Peter's Church, Aldrington
St Peter's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Aldrington area of Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is one of three Roman Catholic churches in Hove and one of eleven in the wider city area. Built between 1912 and 1915 in a red-brick Romanesque style, its tall campanile...
in Aldrington
Aldrington
Aldrington is the name of an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, previously part of the old borough of Hove. For centuries it was meadow land along the English Channel stretching west from the old village of Hove to the old mouth of the River Adur, and it is now a prosperous residential area...
and St George's Church in the suburb of West Blatchington
West Blatchington
West Blatchington is an area in Hove, East Sussex, England.The area grew rapidly in the inter-war period, but unlike nearby Hangleton it had more infrastructure, with St Peter's Church, a working farm, a windmill and an industrial area grouped around the Goldstone Pumping Station and its workers'...
are also in Hove; there are six in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, and one each in Rottingdean
Rottingdean
Rottingdean is a coastal village next to the town of Brighton and technically within the city of Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, on the south coast of England...
and Woodingdean
Woodingdean
Woodingdean is an eastern suburb of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, separated from the main part of the city by downland and the Brighton Racecourse.-Source of name:...
.