St Paul's Church, Worthing

About

The Venue (formerly St Paul's Church) in Worthing, England hosts live music events. It was opened in 1812 as the Worthing Chapel of Ease. It was built so that the residents and visitors to the newly created town of Worthing would not need to travel to the parish church of St Mary in Broadwater.

As a growing resort, it was felt that for the town to prosper, residents and visitors would demand a local church or chapel. The Chapel of Ease gave its name to Worthing town centre's principal north–south route, Chapel Road. The Reverend William Davison was appointed the chapel's first chaplain.

The Reverend Davison went on to set up schools for boys, girls and infants in the town with money raised from the congregation. The girls' school he established was the original Davison High School. The building of the chapel was funded by the sale and leasing of pews, making the chapel a proprietary chapel.

This policy effectively excluded the poor from the church, which was criticised until 1893 when funds allowed for the building to be extended and the chapel was upgraded to parish church status and dedicated to St Paul. Designed by John Rebecca and built by Ambrose Cartwright, who also built...