St Bartholomew's Church

Noah's Ark in brick

By Maureen Brand, North Laine resident

Not far away from our North Laine conservation area, in Ann Street just off London Road, is St Bartholomew's church. Arguments occur about whether this is the tallest church in the UK but it is certainly one of the tallest in Europe. I defy you not to utter a 'wow' when you enter this church for the first time and look up and up again at the high walls, patterned in brick with a nave free of transepts, aisles and chancel.

Opened in 1874

St Bartholomew's was built and paid for by Father Arthur Douglas Wagner (1842-1902) at a total cost of £18,000. Fr Wagner wanted to build a church open to all (no pew subscriptions) and the site chosen was that of a small mission church and school, both later demolished. In 1872 the foundation stone was laid for St Bartholomew's and the building opened in 1874.

The architect was Edmund Scott (1828-1895) and the designer of the interior was Henry Wilson (1864-1924). Wilson designed the marble pulpit and the font but the mosaics in the sanctuary were the work of Hamilton Jackson in 1911.

The interior

On stepping into the church its walls, of stock bricks in pattern but bare of ornament, swoop upwards to take the breath away. The overall dimensions of the church are 170 ft (52m) long and 135 ft tall. It rises 144 ft (44m) to the top of the gilt cross. The nave has been said to be 1 metre higher than that of Westminster Abbey.

Fourteen stations of the cross, in stone and wood built in Bruges circa 1881, encircle the nave. Ahead on the sanctuary wall are the mosaics and in the centre the 45ft high colourful baldachino added by Henry Wilson in 1899. (I have to admit to the need to look up the term 'baldachino' or 'baldacchino': a structure in the form of a canopy generally placed over an altar.) St Bartholomew's baldachino is built of brick faced with marble and with a ceiling of gold mosaic and mother of pearl. Above it is a huge cross, chalk looking, partly painted and incised on encaustic tiles. The altar rails were designed and made in Wilson's workshops and installed in 1905. The lady altar has a silver plate frontal on copper, its lamp thought to be of 15th century Italian origin.

Not always appreciated

St Bartholomew's is now a listed building, Grade 1. The church was not always so appreciated. After it was built, local residents in nearby houses blamed the height of the church for down draughts in their chimneys. Fr Wagner bought those houses and reduced their rent.

In A Guide to the Buildings of Brighton it is recorded that: "At a Council debate in 1893 it [the church] was described variously as 'a cheese warehouse', 'Noah's Ark in brick' [some say its overall dimensions were based on those given in the bible for Noah's Ark], 'a monster excrescence', 'uselessly large', 'painfully ugly and sadly out of place' and as 'Wagner's folly'.

Concerts, events and tours

Go to see it for yourself. A dedicated and friendly group of volunteers open the church every day and are happy to answer questions. The church is also used for concerts and events. There is a series of orchestral concerts and during the 2008 Brighton Festival there was a performance of a new play. Guided tours of the church are available.

For details of St Bartholomew's, its opening hours and church masses, more information may be found on http://www.stbartholomewsbrighton.org.uk.

[Photos by Maureen Brand]

Source: School of Architecture and Interior Design, (1987) A Guide to the buildings of Brighton, Brighton, McMillan Ltd of Macclesfield.