St Augustine's Church, Brighton

Brighton and Hove, which were then separate towns, experienced a surge in churchbuilding during the Victorian era, but St Augustine's church was a relative latecomer. Its construction was a consequence of the gradual development of housing around Preston Village—an ancient village about 1.5 mi north-northwest of central Brighton. It was surrounded by large estates whose land was owned by families such as the Stanfords. The village became popular with daytrippers from Brighton in the early 19th century, with its large park, tea-rooms and other attractions, but residential development did not start until the 1860s, when the Stanford estate began to be broken up and sold. A hall, commemorating…

es.]] Granville Streatfield designed St Augustine's in the Perpendicular Gothic style using red brick with stone dressings. The brick is laid in a Flemish bond pattern, and the roof is tiled. The nave has 5½ bays, and the later chancel is also quite long (four bays). It terminates in an ornately designed apse at the east end; in contrast, the plain west end was never completed and the tower planned for that end by Streatfield was not built. The entrance is at the west end, in a small porch above which are two lancet windows and a central arched window. There is another porch on the south side (facing Stanford Avenue), with a sundial bearing the inscription (John 9:4). The nave has pairs of…