St George's Church, Brighton

Thomas Read Kemp, born in 1782 in Lewes, East Sussex, returned to the Church of England in 1823, seven years after founding his own independent sect. Turning his attention to architecture and town planning, he decided to create a residential estate on land beyond the existing eastern boundary of Brighton, with large houses for affluent people. Designed by Charles Busby and Amon Wilds and built by Thomas Cubitt, this estate became Kemp Town, although Kemp had fled the country to escape debts by the time construction finished. | introduced_commons = | introduced_lords = | territorial_extent = | royal_assent = 3 June 1824 | commencement = | expiry_date = | repeal_date = | amends = | replaces =…

Busby designed St George's Church in a Neoclassical style, with simple clean lines and strong symmetry. After Revd James Anderson became curate of the church in 1828, his close association with Queen Adelaide, the consort of King William IV, made the church very popular. The queen consort was popular with the British people and often spent time in Brighton. When in the town, she worshipped at St George's. By 1831, the church's seating capacity was being exceeded, and a new gallery was added at the western end. Thomas Cubitt's building firm completed this in one week. The organ had to be moved from the original western gallery to make room for the new structure; unusually, it was erected…

St George's was a chapel of ease until 1879, when it was given its own parish. In its present form, incorporating the former parishes of St Anne and St Mark, this covers a large area of eastern Brighton, including the whole of Kemptown, parts of Whitehawk, Brighton Marina and Roedean School. The church has a community centre at which various groups meet regularly, and a café, in the crypt below the building. The café is operated in partnership with a local special school. The crypt facilities were built (along with some supporting structural work for the rest of the church) with support from the European Union's "URBAN" regeneration fund, for which they had to compete with other local…