St. Mary the Virgin Church, Brighton

Saint Mary the Virgin Church, located in the Kemptown area of Brighton, is an Anglican church with a rich history and striking architectural features. The current building, constructed in the late 1870s, replaced an earlier church that collapsed unexpectedly during renovations. This Gothic-style church, notable for its Early English and French Gothic Revival elements, is recognized as a Grade II* listed building, a status it has held since August 20, 1971, underscoring its architectural and historical significance.

The church is constructed primarily from Flemish-bonded red brick, with external sandstone and terracotta accents, and features Bath stonework on the interior. Its design includes a chancel with a distinctive pentagonal apse and ambulatory, transepts with large windows featuring sexfoils, and a four-bay nave with aisles on either side, spanned by large arches. The nave is unique, being on two levels, with the higher level forming the baptistery. The planned tower adjacent to the semicircular baptistery was never completed, leaving only a stump, which now houses one of the two entrance porches.

The church’s windows are another key feature, with lancet windows in the apse and organ chamber, and larger, more ornate windows in the transepts. Despite threats of closure over the years, Saint Mary’s Church remains in use, serving a parish that covers an area of Brighton just behind the seafront and east of the city center, bounded by the seafront, Old Steine, White Street, Sussex Street, the top of Queen's Park, Sutherland Road, and Bedford Street.

Saint Mary’s continues to be an important part of Brighton's architectural heritage, contributing to the city's rich tapestry of historical buildings.