Hove church receives grant to preserve it for future generations

A £40,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant will help restore All Saints' two east towers which have suffered from weathering and which need urgent repair to keep them safe for the future.

Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards, vice president of The National Churches Trust, said: “The UK's historic churches and chapels are a vital part of our national heritage. During the coronavirus pandemic churches are doing so much to help vulnerable local people and boost morale”.

“Many churches need to carry out urgent repairs and install modern facilities to ensure their buildings can continue to be used well into the future. But the cost of this work is often far beyond what most congregations can pay for themselves.”

“So I’m delighted that All Saints Church, Hove is being helped with a £40,000 National Churches Trust Grant. The important work to repair two east towers will help secure the future of this really important historic building which is currently on the Historic England ‘At Risk Register’.

Ann Joyce and Adrian Herbert, church wardens at All Saints’s church said: “This is brilliant news that has alleviated a great deal of anxiety, particularly at this difficult time, that will ensure the continuation of a wonderful church and its vibrant community in Hove. We are most grateful to the National Churches Trust”

A total of 31 churches and chapels in England and Wales will benefit from the latest grants from the National Churches Trust, the charity supporting church buildings of all Christian denominations across the UK.

These grants are the first made in 2020. Last year the National Churches Trust distributed over £1.2 million to 176 churches and chapels around the UK.

All Saints', Hove has been described as 'probably the most magnificent of our 19th century parish churches in England'. A late Victorian Gothic style church, built of Sussex sandstone and Sussex oak at near cathedral size, it was designed by John Pearson, best known for Truro Cathedral, and constructed between 1889 and 1901.

All Saints was designed to match the imposing Hove Town Hall, and became the parish church in 1891 when the core of the building had been completed.

Composer Ralph Vaughan-Williams was married in the church in 1897 and the Prince of Wales attendend a service the year before.

The church’s organ is one of the finest Hill organs in England, encased in an outstanding double fronted organ-case of magnificent proportions. Other internal fixtures include oak choir stalls and canopies, a stone pulpit and a red marble seven sided font.

The church has been in constant use since its consecration, and was treated as the main church of Hove, being regularly used for Civic Ceremonies until Brighton and Hove Boroughs amalgamated in 1997.

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