BHOD 13 - St Nicholas’ Church

Description - This church is dedicated to St Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors and fishermen. Until 1873, St Nicholas was the Parish Church of Brighton and it still is the Mother Church and the only church in central Brighton of ancient interest. The earliest known reference to a church in Brighthelmstone, the old name for Brighton, comes from William the Conqueror's great census, the Domesday Book, written about 1085. This states that there was a church, valued at £12, which had been assessed as worth £10 in the reign of the Saxon King Edward. On the wall of the south aisle is a list of vicars, far from complete and not always accurate, but dating back to 1091. The side chapel, now the Lady Chapel, dates from the early years of the 16th Century and may originally have been a chantry chapel. In 2009 the wall paintings adorning the Chancel and West walls and the 14th century screen were restored.