Our last Strict Baptist Chapel faces an uncertain future
The locally listed Galeed Strict Baptist Chapel at the top of Gloucester Road in the North Laine Conservation Area is currently on the market for £1m, as the congregation has moved to the Jireh Chapel in Lewes. The congre-gation had attended mainly from outside Brighton – hence the move. The original church and congregation were a secession from The Tabernacle in West Street, which was demolished in 1965.
Galeed Chapel Image courtesy of The Argus
The Chapel was built in 1868 in an “austere Neoclassical” style for members of a newly formed church who had been worshipping in a hired building in Windsor Street. Benjamin H. Nunn designed it and John Marshall, one of the founding members of the church, built the chapel.
It was formally constituted along Strict Baptist lines on 16 September 1869 with ten members. Among them were John Marshall and Sarah Volk – mother of the inventor Magnus Volk. Many more new members were baptised and joined the church over the next few years.
The building is rendered, with the appearance of two storeys surmounted by a pediment with a small oculus window. Oculus openings, so called from the Latin for “eye”, are a feature of Neoclassical style. The ground floor is rusticated and contains three doorways. There are three hung sash windows to the first floor, separated by pilasters. The inscription “GALEED A.D. 1868” is located below the pediment. The ground floor consists of a large open plan with a separate vestry, office, vestibule and entrance lobby. A further vestry can be found at first floor level alongside a small gallery to the front.
The interior Image courtesy of The Argus
The chapel is the only Strict or Particular Baptist Chapel to survive in the city since their foundation here in 1766. There were many, including Bond Street, Windsor Street, Mighell Street, Sussex Street, Haddington Street, Church Street and West Street; sadly, none of these survive.
As the last surviving Strict Baptist chapel in Brighton, Galeed stands as a fragile link to our city’s past. What troubles us most is the prospect of demolition: that this rare survivor could be lost to an incongruous new build, unworthy of Brighton’s heritage.
