Chapel Royal, Brighton

In the 18th century, Brighton was a small town based on a declining fishing industry and still suffering the effects of damage caused by the Great Storm of 1703. Its population in the middle of the century was approximately 2,000. Its fortunes improved after a doctor from nearby Lewes, Richard Russell, wrote a treatise encouraging the use of seawater as a cure for illness, in particular glandular swellings. He recommended bathing in the sea and drinking the water at Brighton. This form of medical therapy became popular, and helped make the town a fashionable place to visit. Brighton became increasingly popular throughout the rest of the century, but received its next significant boost when…

The original chapel was a stuccoed building in a broadly Classical style, with rounded sash windows and a pediment with the Prince's coat of arms. A row of Doric columns flanked the entrance. The alterations of 1876–1877 removed the gallery above the altar and added a chancel, separated from the nave by an iron rood screen, new pulpit and lectern. The rebuilding of the exterior in 1882–1883 (south elevation) and 1896 (east elevation), prompted by the demolition of buildings adjacent to the south side of the chapel to allow North Street to be widened, involved replacing the stucco with red brick, enlarging the pediment and giving the new south elevation a similar appearance. It is neither as…

The main weekly service at the Chapel Royal is held on Sundays at 10.00am. There has been a long musical tradition at the chapel; concerts have been held right from the beginning, A coffee shop, run jointly by parishioners from the Chapel Royal on behalf of local charities, operates every Saturday. The building is also a venue for regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, as part of the chapel's pastoral responsibility to help people in the city who face difficulties in their lives. The chapel was listed at Grade II* on 30 July 1992.