St Mary's Church,  Kemp Town, Brighton
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Building Repairs Gallery

St Mary’s is a Grade-II* listed building and we have a happy obligation to repair and preserve it as part of England’s built heritage. The church has suffered from decades of erosion as well as inappropriate repairs in the mid-20th century.
 
Phase I Repairs: Upper Rock Gardens elevation, 2014-17
In March 2017 we completed the first phase of repairs to the church's west-facing elevation overlooking Upper Rock Gardens. The work included repair of the roofs and rainwater goods, drainage, brickwork, masonry and windows, and replacement of the polycarbonate window shields with rust-proof grilles. We’re thrilled with the results. A finishing touch added in 2020 was the reinstatement of the hood mouldings over the five lower transept windows. 

The work cost over £350,000, and was generously funded with a £235,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and other sums from the National Churches Trust (£40,000), Garfield Weston Foundation (£10,000) and Sussex Historic Churches Trust (£6,500). Plus we added £30,000 ourselves along with £40,000 worth of voluntary labour. 
​
Phase II Repairs: St James's Street frontage, 2017-20
In February 2020, we completed comprehensive repairs to the ‘West Front’, which is the elevation fronting St James’s Street and facing the sea, where our main entrances are. Once again we are indebted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for core funding (£255,000), and to supporting funds from the National Churches Trust (£15,000), Sussex Historic Churches Trust (£12,500), Garfield Weston Foundation (£10,000) and Wolfson Foundation (£10,000). The results are magnificent, and have really helped to make the church feel more open and welcoming. We are grateful to our architects, Thomas Ford & Partners, and our contractors, Stone Edge Conservation Ltd, for their skill and dedication.

Phase III Repairs: East-facing elevation, 2020-21
In April 2021, we carried out emergency repairs to our 'South Aisle', the east-facing elevation overlooking St Mary's Place, with £90,000 funding from the Government's Culture Recovery Fund administered by Historic England. We were not expecting to be able to afford these repairs for several years and were very grateful to access the government's support during the Covid pandemic when the church finances had taken a big hit. Thank you again to our architects, Thomas Ford & Partners, and our contractors, Traditional Stone, for their work to a tight timetable.

Stone vs Cement - the effects of poor repairs in the past
Much of the decoration of the West Front was carved in a pink sandstone that was quarried in Corsehill, Dumfriesshire, in Scotland, and is fortunately still available. This is a soft stone, not ideally suited to such an exposed position near the sea, but it is very beautiful. We think that the architect, William Emerson, chose a combination of pink sandstone and red brick and terracotta because it mimicked the colours of the 16th and 17th-century Mughal buildings in India, where he did most of his work. Brighton Pavilion may echo the domes and minarets of the Mughals’ mosques, but St Mary’s is Brighton’s answer to the Red Forts of Delhi and Agra.
 
Both the sandstone and the terracotta elements have been badly repaired in the past, probably the 1930s or 40s, with a cement-based mortar. These cement-based repairs have worsened the situation. A cement facing or ‘skin’ doesn’t stop water and salt from getting into stone, but it does stop it from getting out again. The stone literally can’t breathe anymore. So the trapped moisture and salts build up behind the cement and rot the stone, turning it to powder. The cement remains intact, however, and so when the stone crumbles the cement can sheer off in a solid sheet. This process is not only unsightly but potentially dangerous to passers-by!
 
The same thing happens when you use a cement-based pointing on old bricks instead of a lime one. The water can’t escape through the pointing, so it erodes the brick instead. This means that the first step in repairing our West Front is actually to undo past repairs – and get rid of the cement.

What have we learned from our repairs?
St Mary’s Church was built in 1876-8 on the site of a private chapel that collapsed when it was being enlarged. We’ve been researching the history of the ‘new’ church and its construction for some time, but we’ve learned a lot recently through the repair work and also been able to take some good photographs of details from the scaffolding. 
 
We were the first church in Brighton to have a concrete core to our walls. The stuff we’ve found has very big aggregate – smooth pebbles that were probably taken straight from Brighton beach. We also have what was, at the time, a brand new and revolutionary form of pre-cast coloured concrete, patented in 1875 by William Lascelles, lining our aisle vaults and window sills. 

​We have Asiatic lions! We knew about our African lions, carved in the style of Classical Rome, on the hammer beams of our nave roof.
But no-one, we believe, has ever noticed or photographed the Asiatic lions hiding at the top of the windows in the chancel. At least, we think they're Asiatic lions. They're a rather odd-looking beast.
They may be the architect’s nod to Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India in the 3rd century BC. He erected pillars inscribed with his laws across India - several of which were topped with carved lions. These pillars became very famous during William Emerson's years in India because linguists were finally able to decipher the script and language in which they were written.

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Phase 1 Repairs: The view from the corner of St James's Street before repair, 2015.
Phase 1 Repairs: The view from Upper Rock Gardens before repair, 2015.
Phase 1 Repairs: Discovery of loose bricks and absence of mortar in North Transept Gable, 2016.
Phase 1 Repairs: Composite image showing poor state and repair of North Transept gable, 2016.
Phase 1 Repairs: Upper Rock Gardens elevation after conservation repairs, 2017.
Phase 1 Repairs: The North Transept after conservation repairs, 2017.
Phase 1 Repairs: Before & After views of Upper Rock Gardens Elevation

Phase 1 Repairs: Before photo of poor masonry on North Aisle window, 2014.
Phase 1 Repairs: Loss of oculus cusp on North Transept window, 2014.
Phase 1 Repairs: Newly painted cherub's head to replace poor quality old repair in oculus in North Transept window, 2016.
Phase 1 Repairs: Poor state of masonry in North Aisle windows revealed after glass removal, 2016.
Phase 1 Repairs: Mortar repairs and stone indents to masonry of North-East Chancel window, 2016.
Phase 1 Repairs: Specialist examination of fragile state of glass to middle North Aisle window after removal, 2016.
Phase 1 Repairs: Middle North Aisle window after removal, re-leading, cleaning and reinstatement, 2017.
Phase 1 Repairs: North Transept windows after removal, repair and cleaning, 2017.
Phase 1 Repairs: Spring light reflected through the repaired and cleaned windows of the North Aisle and Transept, 2017.
Phase 1 Repairs: Conservation repair of the west-facing windows

Phase 2 Repairs: West Front, which actually faces South, viewed from compass south-east.
Phase 2 Repairs: Erosion of pink sandstone columns beside Tower entrance.
Phase 2 Repairs: Badly eroded carved griffin above Baptistery window colonettes.
Phase 2 Repairs: Eroded pointing and failing cement-based repairs to Baptistery.
Phase 2 Repairs: Loss of terracotta and masonry detail caused by old cement-based repairs.
Phase 2 Repairs: Removal of decayed griffin from baptistery parapet showing the concrete core used throughout the church's building.
Phase 2 Repairs: Clay remodelling in the workshop of large griffin over remains of old one by Chichester Stoneworks.
Phase 2 Repairs: Newly carved large griffin by Chichester Stoneworks, based on the remains of the old one.
Phase 2 Repairs: Newly carved large griffin awaiting reinstallation on the baptistery parapet.
Phase 2 Repairs: Emma from Chichester Stoneworks hand finishes a new stone rosette for the Tower gable.
Phase 2 Repairs: A newly carved stone rosette on the Tower gable.
Phase 2 Repairs: Repointing of the Nave gable and spirelet.
Phase 2 Repairs: Completion of repointing of the Nave gable.
Phase 2 Repairs: Removal of the old raised plinths and replacement with new, level York stone paving outside the porch entrance.
Phase 2 Repairs: Afternoon sunlight on West Front, showing almost 100% repointing and major stonework repair.
Phase 2 Repairs: Before & After views of the St James's Street elevation

Discoveries: Early concrete core in the walls using aggregate from Brighton beach.
Discoveries: Asiatic lion's head on Chancel window pier.
Discoveries: Photo from the scaffolding of a cherub in the North Transept window by Mayer of Munich, 1882.
Discoveries: Angels beneath the ascending Christ in the North Transept window by Mayer of Munich, 1882.
What have we learned? Discoveries from our repair works.

The Parish Church of St Mary, Kemp Town
61 St James's Street, Brighton BN2 1PR


Vicar: The Revd Andrew Woodward
Phone: 01273 698601
Email: info@stmaryschurchbrighton.org.uk


Registered Charity No. 1158922
Text and images (c) St Mary, Kemp Town 2021