Bringing the church to a touchy prince

3:38pm Wednesday 9th April 2008

When the Prince of Wales started building his grand palace in Brighton more than 200 years ago, there was just one church in Brighton.

It was St Nicholas, some way up a steep hill, and even as a young man the Prince was not fond of exercise.

The Vicar of St Nicholas, the Reverend Thomas Hudson, was determined to attract the Prince, who was regarded as a leader of fashion locally and nationally.

He decided if he could not bring the Prince to the church, he would have to bring the church to the Prince.

Mr Hudson raised money to buy land near the Pavilion so a chapel of ease could be built to St Nicholas and promoted an Act of Parliament so this could happen.

The vicar's motives were not entirely snobbish since St Nicholas was overcrowded with a mixture of old fishing families and newcomers attracted to fashionable Brighton.

A London architect, Thomas Saunders, was employed to design the building in North Street and the Prince laid the foundation stone of the new chapel in 1793.

Two years later it was opened and called the Chapel Royal after its most famous worshipper, who rented a pew for the princely sum of 13 guineas a year.

Many fashionable members of society attended services at the Chapel Royal, which was only open during the main summer season.

But the Prince himself attended infrequently and never came back after Mr Hudson preached a sermon on immorality in the nation, which he took personally.

Instead, he opened another royal chapel in a converted ballroom only a few yards away at Castle Square.

This building was reclaimed by the church authorities when the Pavilion was sold to the town and it was moved stone by stone to Montpelier Place.

After being declared redundant, the building was taken over by Brighton Housing Trust and for many years has been the First Base Housing Centre.

The Chapel Royal was the first example in the resort of a proprietary chapel. It was open only to those who rented pews or were prepared to pay a shilling for a seat.

Although the building was consecrated in 1803 by the Bishop of Chichester, its popularity began to decline as the Regency period ended.

Once Queen Victoria had sold the Pavilion and royalty ceased visiting the town, the Chapel Royal began increasingly to cater for poor and deprived people who had moved into the town centre.

According to a short history available in the church, much of this occurred during the ministry of the Reverend Thomas Trocke between 1834 and 1875.

Once he had retired, the building was seen to be in a poor state and work became vital when nearby shops were demolished to widen North Street.

The Reverend Seymour Penzer employed one of Britain's leading architects, Arthur Blomfield, to repair and rebuild the church.

He added the distinctive red brick clock tower, which is the main feature of the Chapel Royal today.

Bloomfield also put new facades on the south and east sides.

The church began to revive and a notable member of the congregation between 1883 and 1885 was Winston Churchill, who attended a school in Hove as a boy.

In 1897, the Chapel Royal became a parish church in its own right and controlled a small area around the Pavilion. But, as Brighton became a commercial centre, many people moved out of the district and the congregations began to dwindle.

The parish was merged in 1978 with that of St Peter's, the main church for central Brighton. Efforts were concentrated on attracting visitors to the resort and those who worked nearby.

At around this time, extensive vaults, which had been used for storing wine and books for some neighbouring shops, were converted into a church hall.

More changes were made in 1993 to celebrate the bicentenary, chiefly to make the interior more friendly and accessible.

The Chapel Royal also stages concerts and exhibitions, while acting as the centre for several voluntary groups.

It has been a long time since royalty graced the church but the Chapel Royal is today one of the most interesting buildings in Brighton city centre and is well worth a visit.

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