Brighton’s cathedral wants to mark 200 years with your memories

In May this year St Peter’s Church, often called Brighton’s “cathedral”, will celebrate 200 years since its foundation stone was laid.

This will be commemorated by a one-year community heritage project, called “One Moment in Time”, funded by Historic England.

The vicar, the Rev Dan Millest, is inviting the people of Brighton and Hove to join the celebration of the bicentenary by helping to research the 200-year history of St Peter’s and providing their personal memories of the church.

Mr Millest is also inviting people to attend “Life by Luxmuralis”, a sound and light display created by artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper.

It is due to take place in the church from Tuesday 7 May to Saturday 11 May as part of the Brighton Fringe festival. The artists have held similar events in other venues, most recently Exeter Cathedral.

St Peter’s is a worthy site for this event. The church dominates the entrance to Brighton where the mysterious underground Wellsbourne river flows and the great London and Lewes Roads meet.

Above the scaffolding, the white stone of the newly restored tower is a beacon to residents and visitors alike. It’s a beautiful church and very popular, packed on a Sunday and full of activity at other times.

It’s hard to believe that, just 16 years ago, this church was threatened by closure. My daughter and I were active in the Friends of St Peter’s Church, the campaign to save the church. It was, as I’ve said before, one of the most inspiring campaigns I have  experienced.

Since I’d lived in Brighton, I had grown to love the church, but I came to realise how little I knew of its history and traditions. I met parishioners who had worshipped there for decades, who knew every inch of the place, whose families had for generations been intimately entwined with it as the historic parish church.

The Friends’ campaign argued that the church should stay open because of its central importance to the people of the city. However, I think it was only when the campaign went public and started a petition that we came to realise just how deep that affection ran.

We were overwhelmed by people wanting to sign the petition. In the end, 7,000 people did. Several London Road shops, including the old Co-op food hall agreed to take petition sheets.

Every few days campaigners would gather up completed forms, though they had to be quick or sheets would be “collected” by those who wanted the church to close. It didn’t matter. There were many more signatures to come.

As we stood each Saturday in the Open Market, passers-by would tell us of their experiences with the church.

Many were baptised or had married there. One might have buried his grandparents, another been bridesmaid at an aunt’s marriage, still others had attended scouts parades or remembered Easter outings or celebrations of the late Queen’s life.

Many had lost fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers in the world wars, all commemorated in the church. Several people reminded me that the Church Hall was built as a memorial to the dead of the First World War.

One day, a group of “bin men” passed by and signed. One took a handful of petition sheets, waved them in the air and promised: “I’ll get them filled in up the depot.”

A Muslim restaurant manager whispered to me that he’d “signed it four times”. I grinned and said I was very touched by that. He replied seriously: “We have to protect our holy places.”

More than one young man or woman told us that they no longer went to services but did go in on weekdays to sit quietly or pray.

I have no way of knowing where that restaurant manager is, or those refuse collectors, or the people who helped in shops and stalls around the London Road or the thousands more who signed the petition.

However, if any of them read this opinion piece, I hope they know they played a part in saving the church and will contact the church with their memories, stories and photographs.

The organisers have made it plain they are not just interested in the history of the clergy and the rich and powerful. They want to know what St Peter’s means to ordinary people.

I hope the people of Brighton (and Hove and Portslade) will respond.

Anyone interested in helping the project is asked to email heritage@stpetersbrighton.org.

To book tickets for the son et lumiere event “Life by Luxmuralis”, visit the church’s website at www.stpetersbrighton.org/life-by-luxmuralis.

Note that “Life by Luxmuralis” is described as an “immersive sound and light display” … “offering a unique sensory experience”. This may not be suitable for people with light-sensitive epilepsy, However, the church has promised to explore ways they can reduce risk.