St John the Evangelist's Church, Preston Village, Brighton

St John the Evangelist’s Church stands in Preston Village, a former downland settlement now part of Brighton and Hove. Built between 1901 and 1927, the church replaced an earlier medieval building destroyed by fire. Sir Arthur Blomfield designed it in the Early English style, with a long nave, a small wooden flèche on the roof, and stone walls dressed with rock-faced blocks. The church occupies the former vicarage garden at the corner of Preston Road and Knoyle Road. Its parish once stretched across Preston Manor’s estate before the area was sold for housing in the 1860s. After the 1906 fire at St Peter’s Church, this became the parish church. The church’s architecture reflects Blomfield’s careful planning. The nave has five-and-a-quarter bays, and the chancel’s roofline rises slightly behind it. Inside, pointed lancet windows line the aisles and clerestories, five pairs on each side. The interior includes a carved stone reredos showing the Ascension, a marble font with an angel holding a shell, and a multi-sided pulpit of green marble. The vestry sits at the northeast corner, with a baptistery and choir stalls arranged around the chancel arch. An ornate triptych screen separates the nave from the chancel. Visitors find a Grade II-listed building set among modern homes and mature trees. The iron hall used in the early years was replaced by a permanent structure in 1913, with a second hall added in 1927. The parish now covers parts of Preston Park and Ditchling Road, absorbing former churches like St Augustine’s and St Saviour’s. The churchyard and surrounding streets offer quiet walks away from the city’s busier routes.