St Mark's Church is a former Anglican church in the Kemptown area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Originally intended as the private chapel of the adjacent St Mary's Hall school, it was partly built in 1838 at the request of Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol; but arguments over whether or not it should also be open to the public delayed its completion for more than 10 years. It became the parish church of Kemptown in 1873, but declining attendances resulted in a declaration of redundancy in 1986. At that time it was taken over by the school and became its chapel, nearly 150 years after this was first proposed. The Early English-style stone and concrete structure has been criticised by architectural historians, but has been listed at Grade II by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance.
History
Brighton's rapid growth in the early decades of the 19th century resulted in residential development filling in the gap on the cliffs between Thomas Read Kemp's high-class Kemp Town estate and the longer-established area around the Royal Pavilion and Old Steine, the centre of high society activity in the late 18th century. Roads such as Eastern Road and Bristol Road ran from west to east towards Kemp Town, and high-density housing branched off on roads to the north and south. This area became known as Kemptown . Kemp owned much of the land in the area, but in the 1820s he sold about to Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol. He had succeeded to the Earldom of Bristol when his father, the 4th Earl of Bristol (known as the Earl-Bishop), died in 1803. The Marquess, who assumed that title in 1826, was interested in church-building and works of charity. Soon after buying the land, he gave a portion to Reverend Henry Venn Elliott to allow him to build St Mary's Hall School. In 1837, Reverend Elliott began to plan for an Anglican church to serve the area, and the Marquess gave more land next to the school to allow one to be built there. Construction started in 1838, and the Marquess spent about £2,000 (£ in ) to ensure a rapid completion. However, disagreements soon arose over these plans: the Diocese of Chichester had not approved the proposal to open the church to the public, and had only given permission for the building to be a private chapel for the school; and the Vicar of Brighton, Reverend Henry Michell Wagner, disapproved of its location—it was considered to be too close to St George's Church. Correspondence and debate carried on for several years between the men involved, and an independent party—the Commissioners for Building New Churches—eventually had to take charge of the project.
Construction was allowed to continue in 1848, after agreement was reached that the church could be used for public worship, and the Bishop of Chichester Ashurst Turner Gilbert conducted a consecration ceremony on 21 September 1849. The identity of the architect was not recorded, but sources suggest either George Cheesman Jr.—whose Christ Church in Montpelier Road, Brighton was very similar—or Thomas Cooper. Thomas Shelbourne was the builder; he may have had some influence in the design as well. The final cost was £4,800 (£ in ), most of which was contributed by the Marquess and Reverend Elliott.
The church had a capacity of more than 1,000, and about half of the pews were free (not subject to pew rents). The others provided income to offset church expenditure until the pew rent system was abolished in 1930. Reverend Henry Venn Elliott's brother, Reverend Edward Bishop Elliott, became the vicar in 1853 and remained in charge until his death in 1875. Although he was buried at St Andrew's Church in Hove, a memorial stone was installed in the chancel. It is next to a tablet commemorating the Marquess of Bristol, who had died in 1859. The congregation and others also donated money to fund a new window in the east end as a memorial to him.