A Fishermen’s Church and The Country’s Only Underground Church

May is always a bustling month in Brighton with the city hosting the ever-eclectic Brighton Festival, Fringe, Artists’ Open Houses and The Great Escape. And we should not forget the slightly lower key, but historically important, Mackerel Fayre.

The 2026 Mackerel Fayre is scheduled for 12.30 p.m. Sunday 17th May, on Brighton Seafront near the Fishing Quarter & Museum. It is an annual event that marks the start of the summer season and features traditional celebrations including the Blessing of the Nets usually given by the vicar of nearby St Paul’s church, known locally as the Fishermen’s Church. *

The maritime blessing harks back to the days when Brighthelmstone was the most important fishing town in Sussex and the religious and social links between the fishing community and the church were deeply entwined.

For hundreds of years a thriving herring and mackerel industry had been central to the town’s economic growth, but as Brighton grew and transformed from fishing village to fashionable seaside resort, fishing went into decline and fishermen, along with their families, were driven into poverty.

Revd. Henry Wagner, the dominant Anglican figure in Victorian Brighton, saw the plight of the working-class, many from the fishing community living in the crowded district known as the Fishery (adjacent to West Street) and decided that this would be the location for his next church (fourth out of an eventual 11 churches he and his family built in the town).

Brighton-based builders Cheesman & Son started construction of the church, originally known as ‘St. Pauls in The Fishery’, in 1846. It was consecrated in October 1849, under the ministry of Henry Wagner’s son, Revd Arthur Wagner (who became curate in perpetuity until his death in 1902 at the age of 77). A large room, later known as the Fishermen’s Library, was added to the design to serve as a welfare centre and library. As part of the overarching project to improve the condition of the poor, the library housed an enormous fireplace, ostensibly for the practical use and comfort of the fishing community.

But, as the 19th century progressed, West Street underwent a form of gentrification which included the previously narrow road being widened and upmarket houses being built. And, perhaps inevitably, a sharp divide between the “new” and “old” communities was created, with the middle-class residents having no qualms about expressing their aversion to rubbing shoulders with “the poor” on Sunday mornings!

To resolve this problem, Arthur Wagner built a Chapel of Ease to St Paul’s - the Church of the Resurrection - close-by in Russell Street especially to accommodate the neighbourhood’s working-class community which, according to 19th and early 20th century street directories, included Brighton’s main fishing families: Gunn, Marchant, Rolf, Gillam, Humphrey and Leach.

Unfortunately, the plan didn’t quite work out. Building of this large, red brick church took place between 1876 and 1878 and was, from the very start, hampered by legislation prohibiting building above a certain height. The only way around this was to dig down and for part of the structure to be 15 feet below street level. Wagner, who seems to have had sufficient money and obstinacy, is reputed to have said: “If we can’t go up, we will go down.”

The resulting subterranean construction was uninviting, dark and damp, earning it the title: The Underground Church. Unsurprisingly, attendance declined to such a level that, in 1912, the church closed, was converted to a cold store and was demolished in 1968, when the site became part of the Churchill Square Shopping Development.

While all this was happening, St Paul’s prospered. Its more affluent congregation continued to grow, boosted in the summer season by wealthy visitors such as William Gladstone, leader of the Liberal Party, and by those who were attracted by Wagner’s ritualistic, High Church services.

Different styles of worship are acknowledged as “normal” today, but in the mid-19th century, Brighton’s Anglican Church considered Wagner’s Catholic sympathies controversial; a situation that was made significantly worse when it became public knowledge that St Paul’s heard confessions.

This “incriminating” fact came to light in 1865 when Wagner refused to answer questions relating to information given to him in the confessional by Constance Kent, who was on trial for the murder of her half-brother. Wagner’s actions sparked a protest meeting in Brighton, and a sort of frenzy took hold, resulting in him being shot at by an unidentified (depending on who you read) “ruffian” or “militant Protestant” whilst walking along North Street.

The intense hostility did not, however, deter Wagner; he continued his ministry of St Paul’s and the improvement of the church building in ways that accurately reflected their time. He commissioned a number of stained glass windows, designed by the Gothic revival architect and designer Augustus Pugin and a large new altarpiece which was designed by one of the last Pre-Raphaelites, English painter and designer, Edward Burne-Jones. The triptych depicts the Adoration of the Magi and one of the Magi is a representation of William Morris, the artist, writer and socialist activist.

In 1874 Wagner spent more than £4,100 on a tower and distinctive timber-framed, lead covered, octagonal spire which created a prominent and defining feature on Brighton’s skyline and for many years served as a navigational beacon for seafarers along the Sussex coast. Much later, in 1947 a donation towards the repair of this church tower was made on behalf of Emperor Haile Selassie who had visited Brighton and Hove during his 1936–1941 exile from Italy-occupied Ethiopia. A plaque in the church reads: This plaque commemorates a generous gift towards the repair to the tower of this church in 1947 by H.J. M Haile Selassie Emperor of Ethiopia as a mark of appreciation for the five years spent in England, by his Granddaughter Princess Aida Desta.  

If you find yourself in Brighton’s Fishing Quarter this May walk up West Street, step off the pavement, through the door, down the long-covered way into St Paul’s church. It is open to all and contains some wonderful treasures that should be seen and admired.

• As St Paul’s does not currently have a vicar, Revd Buff Stone of St Luke’s Prestonville will officiate at this year’s Mackerel Fayre.