Hove in the Past: St Agnes Church, Hove

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2022)

The church of St Agnes occupied a site on the corner of Fonthill Road and Newtown Road; it was the daughter church of St Barnabas Church in Sackville Road.

The church was not built straight away, in fact there was a Mission Room on the site at first. In May 1900 an appeal was launched to raise £2,500 to build a Mission Room, and £700 to purchase the site.

Before any building work could take place, the site had to be cleared. This meant the disappearance of part of Hove’s rural past – two old semi-detached cottages intended for farm workers. During the process of demolition, and under the gable, the date 1750 was discovered. Latterly, the cottages were occupied by Mrs Juden and Mrs Peacock, who sold sweets to local children.

Originally, there were six cottages for workers at Goldstone Farm, and the last of them, north of St Agnes, was not removed until 1968.

On 2 January 1902 Hove Council approved plans for the Mission Room submitted by F. T Cawthorn on behalf of Revd H. W. Mayrick.

On 14 June 1902 the Bishop of Chichester laid the foundation stone, and afterwards gave an address at an open-air service.

The Mission Room was opened on 18 January 1903 – close to the Feast of St Agnes on 21 January. The cost of the Mission Room came to £4,400, which was more than anticipated. There were also some restrictions because the deeds did not permit the ringing of a bell, or anything else that might annoy the neighbours.

St Agnes

St Agnes was the daughter of a noble Roman family who were Christians. She was very attractive in person, and unfortunately caught the eye of the Prefect of the City’s son, who wanted to marry her. But Agnes rejected him, and refused to offer incense to the Roman god Vesta when ordered to do so. This was a grave insult, and Agnes was put on trial, during which she sang hymns. Agnes was only in her thirteenth year when in A. D. 305 she was beheaded in a public place. Her tomb became a place of pilgrimage for Christians, and her symbol is a lamb. Her grieving parents were somewhat consoled by having a vision of their daughter walking towards them accompanied by a white lamb – she talked to them of her happiness and the glory to which she had been called. The church marked this vision of St Agnes on the 28 January. St Agnes was celebrated as one of the purest of saints, and fittingly in Greek the word Agnes means ‘pure’ while in Latin it signifies a lamb.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
An advert from Brighton Herald 23 October 1909 for
a fund raising event in aid of St Barnabas Athletic Club
at St Agnes Mission Room

The New Church

When it was decided to build a more conventional church, the structure was erected on top of the Mission Hall, which then became a crypt. On 1 May 1913 Hove Council approved the plans submitted by the architect A. G. Humphry, who was a former pupil of the celebrated George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907).

The church of St Agnes was dedicated on 18 October 1913, and the following account was published in The Church Times (24 October 1913):

‘Last Saturday the Bishop of Chichester dedicated the new church of St Agnes, Hove, which was, happily, opened entirely free of debt. Rarely have I attended a more dignified or beautiful service. An outdoor procession, with the Bishop of Lewes in the rear, was formed at St Barnabas Church, and proceeded to St Agnes, where it was met by the Bishop of Chichester’s procession, the Bishop being vested in the magnificent cope and mitre presented by the diocese. The two processions then entered the little Church just as the adjoining football ground discharged its thousands of excited spectators. The reverence and interest of the huge crowd made one realize the possibilities of the Church if only she will shake off her deadly respectability and come out into the by-ways and hedges. The doffed cap and bowed head were almost universal as crosses and Bishops passed by, and many turned aside to try to enter the Church, which was, however, already crowded.

One little incident was not without a touch of humour, though one hopes that it had another side as well as the humorous. As I stood near the door, one burly football enthusiast gained admission – and also a seat which had been reserved for me – on the strength of the somewhat ingenious statement that he came from The Church Times. After the service, he boarded the same bus as myself, and, should this meet his eye, he may be interested to know that the fellow-passenger to whom he related the incident, and also his own impression of the service, was none other than the representative of the paper under whose friendly wing he saw what he himself described as ‘more wonderful than all the football matches ever played’.

The church was consecrated after this service, and on 24 January 1914 the Bishop of Chichester consecrated the nave, font and altar.

It is interesting to note that in 1927 Hove Council granted a theatrical licence to the crypt of St. Agnes – at a cost of five shillings a month – subject to the door leading to the yard on the north side being made to open outwards, and there being a uniformed fireman in attendance at every performance.

The Sussex Daily News stated that in order to enter the church, people had to walk over one of two wooden bridges spanning the chasm. The congregation had decided that these bridges were no longer safe and ought to be demolished. Instead, a south aisle with two porches would be built over the chasm – the foundations already having been laid because a south aisle was part of the original plans.

Inside the church, the only vestry for clergy, servers and the large number of choir members were two tiny cubicles. On important occasions – such as when Father Frostrick was inducted – the clergy, servers and choir had to robe in the crypt, then ascend to road level, before entering the church via the wooden bridges.

H. Milburn Pett, Diocesan Architect, designed the south aisle and porches, which were added to St Agnes in 1928. The final cost was around £2,000. Local artist Harry Mileham executed a large painting at the west end of the church.

Harry Mileham (1873-1957) has been dubbed Hove’s lost Pre-Raphaelite, and sadly by the time he died his style of painting was out of fashion. But he created many beautiful works locally, in particular the wonderful Stations of the Cross for St Thomas Church, Hove (now in St Mary’s. Kemp Town) and the stained-glass Last Supper above the altar, also for St Thomas. Mileham designed a window depicting David playing his lyre for St Andrew’s Old Church, Hove, (still in situ) two stained-glass windows for St Anne’s, Kemp Town (since demolished) and a triptych altar-piece for the Chapel Royal, Brighton.

Football Troubles

When Brighton and Hove boys played football at the Goldstone Ground on the same day the Albion were to play a home game, boys and visitors changed into their football gear in the crypt of St Agnes. A newspaper man asked the vicar if this arrangement provided a good source of income, but the vicar replied that they did not make a charge, saying, ‘My dear chap, we do try to be Christian.’

On 26 December 1929 there was a home match at the Goldstone, and the event was so well-attended that the gates had to be closed because the ground was full. Frustrated late-comers climbed on to the scaffolding that had been erected against the west wall of the church, in order to be able to see the match. But the scaffolding was not designed to hold so many men, and collapsed, bringing down coping stones as well. It was a miracle nobody was killed, although there were some injuries. However, all the men involved managed to make a quick getaway before church authorities could ascertain who was responsible for the damage.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
The photograph caption reads:- A football match between Hove F.C. and Witten-Hattingen F.C. (Germany) on the 4 September 1937 at the Goldstone Ground. St Agnes Church can be seen in a prominent position on the left.

Revd Walter George Frostrick

In 1917 Revd Frostrick arrived at Hove, serving firstly as a curate at St Barnabas Church, In 1920 Father Frostrick attended the first ever Anglo-Catholic Congress at the Church of St. Alban, Holborn. In 1927 he became the first vicar of St Agnes. He was described as an ever-smiling priest ‘with a sympathetic understanding of his people and a charming personality’. He never had the slightest trouble in recruiting volunteers for various projects, and indeed there was a fine crowd of young people at St Agnes. For example, at the week-day celebration of Holy Communion at 6.30. a.m., between 70 and 80 young people would attend.

Father Frostrick was a pioneer in the production of Church Pageants – starting off in 1930 with a Missionary Pageant. Then there were pageants at Christmas and during Holy Week, and there was a Pageant of St Francis. The most successful pageant, The Great Adventure, took place at Hangleton in 1934, and all the local churches were represented. The pageant was given a marvellous reception, and the collection came to £63, although no charge had been made for entry.

In 1936 Father Frostrick celebrated 21 years in the priesthood but he was also struck down by a serious illness. He decided it was time for him to retire from the onerous duties of a busy parish priest. But it was a wrench for him to leave the area after twenty years of service at Hove. In 1937 he became chaplain to St Francis Hospital, Haywards Heath.

In 1943 Father Frostrick became rector of Storrington; he died in April 1966.

(Father Frostrick's scrap books and press-cuttings book relating to Anglo-Catholic affairs are held by East Sussex Record Office)

Decline

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Revd Ellam the Vicar of St Agnes, Revd O’Beirne the Vicar of St Barnabas, Very Revd Horden, the Bishop of Lewes and Revd Smythe the Archdeacon of Lewes at St Agnes Church, Hove on 1 January 1938.

It is sad to record that after the huge popularity of St Agnes during Father Frostrick’s tenure, after he left there was a steady decline in church numbers. For example, by the late 1950s Evensong was very sparsely attended.

The parish of St Agnes was a tiny one, consisting of just 2,000 souls, and by its latter days the average number of the congregation stood at thirty. The lack of a vicarage was no help either. The last priest of St Agnes, Father Day, lived with his mother at 28 Hove Park Villas, and after his sudden death, she sold the property.

On 27 July 1977 the church of St Agnes was declared redundant. Then came the sad task of dismantling the church furnishing. There was a significant gift to St Nicolas Church, Portslade, consisting of the consecration stone from the altar, some oak furnishings, and the large wooden crucifix. The statue of St Agnes was taken to St Barnabas, while in 1984 it was stated that the church organ had turned up in Hoeven, Holland.

In December 1979 Brighton & Hove Albion purchased the building for £17,500 – it being only around 100 yards from the Goldstone Ground. In 1980 work started to turn the interior into a gymnasium.

By 1990 the old church building was home to Brighton & Hove Gymnastics Club.

Vicars

1913-1916 – Revd H. E. V. Day, priest-in-charge

1927-1937 – Revd W. G. Frostick, first vicar

1938-1944 – Revd H. G. Ellam

1944-1948 – Revd Trimming

1949-1970 – Revd E. F. Day, son of Revd H. E. V. Day, he died while still in office

Sources

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Forty Years of St Barnabas, Hove. A Short History (1923)

Hove Council Minute Books

Macdonald, T. J. The First Century of St Barnabas’ (1983)

Sussex Daily News (24 October 1923 / 27 August 1937)

The Church Times (24 October 1913)

See the Church web-site of The Parish of St Barnabas & St Agnes website

page layout by D.Sharp

18 November 2019

St Agnes Church, Hove