Hove in the Past: Hounsom Memorial United Reformed Church, Hangleton, Hove.

07 May 2021

Hounsom Memorial United Reformed Church, Hangleton, Hove.

Judy Middleton 2002 (revised 2021)

On 16 March 1938 Mrs D. A. Pike laid the central foundation stone of the Hounsom Memorial Church in Nevill Avenue. She was chosen because she was the niece of William Allin Hounsom who had donated money towards the building of Rutland Hall, and when the hall was sold for £2,000, the money went towards the new church.

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Mrs D. A. Pike laid the central foundation stone of the Hounsom Memorial Church on 16 March 1938

There was a stone on either side, and the men laying them were as follows:

Revd Stanley Blomfield, on behalf of the Congregational Church (he was the minister at the Congregational Church in Ventnor Villas, also known as the Cliftonville Congregational Church.)

Me Scott E. Graves, on behalf of the Pioneers.

The Sussex Pioneers were a group of dedicated ministers and laymen from the Congregational Church – and it is interesting to note that W. A. Hounsom had been a member – who identified new areas of growth that needed a church. The Pioneers were responsible for the founding of new churches in Sompting and Goring, besides the Hove one.

During the ceremony, the Salvation Army Bandsmen accompanied the hymns, and afterwards there was tea in the Bishop Hannington Memorial Hall.

John Denman, the architect of the new church, described the features with the aid of a model of the building. He explained that there were ‘aisles and clerestory windows without the divisional units which usually separate aisles from the central part of the church. As to the tower, he mentioned that the vital question of cost had meant that it could not be too imposing. Warmth would be provided by panel heating along the ceiling with flat radiators merged in the ceiling … extremely effective and comfortable’.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
The architect's 1938 model of the proposed church building, which was to have a minister's manse to the left and a church hall at the rear of the church.

There were 350 sittings. The walls were of Sussex mottled brick and the roof was covered with red tiles – both bricks and tiles having been made at Ringmer. Braybon & Son built the church.

Church Opening

On 17 September 1939 (fourteen days after the outbreak of the Second World War) Mr E. H. Hamilton opened the Hounsom Memorial Church. He had been an old friend of W. A. Hounsom, and it was Hounsom’s own Bible that was placed in the church. On the fly-leaf an inscription recorded that it had come into Hounsom’s possession on 22 October 1855, and he had used it twice daily for family prayers.

The building was constituted a Congregational Church on 22 October 1939, and became part of the United Reformed Church in 1972.

Early Days

The first minister was Revd Jason S. Wright, and when he arrived in August 1938, the church had not yet opened and there no members. It really was an Act of Faith, and the minister knew of only four people who would commit themselves to church membership. One of the four was Mrs Winterflood who soon started a Sunday School in the front room of her house. Organisations were formed as follows:

1938 – the Women’s Fellowship

1939 – the 2^nd Hove Girls’ Life Brigade

1941 – the 29^th Brighton (Hove) Boys’ Brigade

By 1948 the debt had been paid off.

The Tower

The tower is embellished with three bas-reliefs, and it is somewhat startling to find such images on a non-conformist church. At the top is St Christopher, the patron saint of travellers, and lower down appear the pelican and the lamb, two ancient Christian motifs symbolizing sacrifice. The pelican was believed to wound her own breast in order to feed her young, while the Lamb of God signifies Jesus Christ.

In the 1950s there was much discussion as to whether or not the church should change its name to St Christopher’s. It was felt that the name Hounsom did not have much resonance in the present day, and was perhaps not appropriate. But those arguments did not prevail because the church retains the Hounsom name to this day.

Church Hall

In 1951 an adjacent church hall was built, and once again John Denman provided the plans. The new hall was significant because it was the first community centre in Hangleton. Part of it was devoted to a branch library, and so ‘The Library’ became a popular name for it. But in 1962 Hangleton Library moved to its own purpose-built premises on the ground floor of a block of flats. The Queen opened Hangleton Library in the same year.

A Grand Piano

In April 1990 it was stated that some years ago money left to the church was used to purchase a Kawai grand piano from Steinway’s in London. It was this piano that came to the rescue of international singing star Tony Bennet for his concert at the Dome on 8 April 1990. Just as he warmed up on the piano at the Dome, the pedal action broke. Mr Tony Purkiss, who hired the pianos when the Brighton & Hove Philharmonic Orchestra were playing at the Dome, remembered the one at Hounsom’s, and it was rushed to the Dome. Mr Purkiss was well aware of the piano’s virtues, having played it himself.

Ministers

1938 – Revd James S. Wright

1943 – Revd J. Harvey Goldsmith

1954 – Revd Gordon K. Hawkes

1964 – Revd Owen Coxen

1971 – Revd John Slack

1987 – Revd Cecil White

1993 – Revd Peter McIntosh (he later became Chief Moderator)

1996 – Revd Charles Martin

2016 – Revd Sue Chapman

Sources

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Roberts, G. N. editor The First Ten Years 1938-1948. The Story of Hounsman Memorial Church

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove