Saint Bartholomew's Church

The Revd Henry Michell Wagner, who had occupied the position of Vicar of Brighton since 1824, died in 1870, giving his son, the Revd Arthur Douglas Wagner (the curate of St Paul's Church in West Street), Building work began on 8 February 1872; but Wagner's plans changed again, in favour of a significantly taller structure. When they were submitted on 16 September 1873, the revised plans reduced the length to 170 ft, but widened the building to 59 ft and, most significantly, proposed a height of 135 ft to the ridge of the roof. The cross on the roof at the south end (the liturgical west end) adds a further 9 ft to this. Construction based on the new plan started shortly after its submission,…

A Brighton-based architect, Edmund Scott, was commissioned by Wagner to undertake the design work—although modern interpretations of the modest nature of the work he undertook elsewhere in Brighton and surrounding areas tend to agree that he may have been directed and influenced extensively by Wagner, "a client who was prepared to disregard expense" on this project. Scott was not associated with any particular architectural movement, and worked alone on most of his projects, many of which no longer survive, although the Gothic Revival St Botolph's Church in the Heene area of nearby Worthing, built in 1873, remains an important example of his work. Two earlier examples of his less grand…