Hidden Horsham - Brighton Road Baptist Church

Brighton Road Baptist Church

Brighton Road Baptist Church was re-opened on the 6^th of July of 2008 following extensive redevelopment on the site. The church will be officially opened on Friday 21^st with events continuing until Sunday 23^rd November. This is their third church on the site. The second church was dismantled in January 2007 and the £3m replacement has been built by Farnrise Construction. An extensive photo-history of the redevelopment is on the church web site, see external links below. In the meantime the church used the Royal British Legion premises in Chichester Terrace

The rose window from the front of the building and two others were saved and re-used in the new church, see boxout below. The new church is of brick, glass and steel construction. On both sides of the church are listed buildings which remain unaffected by the new property which is similar in size to its predecessor

The Brighton Road Baptists were founded in 1894 and used The Kings Head Assembly Rooms in East Street as their first place of worship. Two years later, on the Brighton Road site, the first church, together with a school room, was built. It had an iron frame with a brick façade and is as shown on the Francis Frith photograph below. In 1917 it was dismantled and reputed to have been transported to France to be converted to a hospital for use in the first world war

In 1899 the church looked like this...	...then like this in 2006

Worship continued in a small hall until the second church was built in 1923. This church, described as red brick in a Gothic style was to stand until 2007 by which time it was considered to be no longer suitable for its purpose - unlike its successor

The Rose Window

The rose window was removed and by Cliff Durant of New Street and has been rebuilt to fit in the ceiling above a circular chapel. The window was damaged in the 1987 storm and again repaired by Cliff Durant. Two further windows are in storage awaiting use at the church

The new church reflects the needs of the Baptist community and adopts many ecological and economical styles throughout. There is extensive use of natural materials and light; oak beams and slate floors are in abundance. Energy saving features include low energy lighting triggered in some areas by movement so that they switch off when not required

The main hall or Sanctuary is perhaps the largest in Horsham. It is set out in a wide rather than long format with the sermon being delivered to the main floor and upper balcony from elevated flexible staging. The main floor seats can be removed or re-arranged as required whereas the balcony is equipped with cinema style fixed folding seats. Much of the natural light in this hall comes in via the coloured glass window on the Brighton Road frontage. From Brighton Road the message 'Jesus said 'I am the light of the world' is written across an outline map of the world

The building offers much more than a place of worship; a sprung floor on an upper level provides for sports and dancing and there are variously sized meeting rooms throughout. There is an OFSTED approved creche at the back with an external cushioned play area. A range of speakers throughout the building import the sermon when required

There is a large kitchen downstairs that can cater for groups within the building, upper floors being served by a dumb waiter. Although there is still an entrance on Brighton Road the main entrance is now by the car park in New Street; a sky lit passage links the two. Further skylights throughout the building import natural light without imposing on the neighbours' privacy

At the time of writing the congregation are still becoming accustomed to the new accommodation and will continue to maximise its potential over the years. A back lit crucifix has just been affixed to the Brighton Road frontage to compliment the crosses formed by the brickwork on the New Street side of the property

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