Scaffolding at St Peter's Brighton to come down soon

A landmark church in Brighton is a step closer to removing scaffolding which has encased the building for a decade - thanks to a £10,000 grant from the Sussex Historic Churches Trust.

St Peter's Church - which occupies a very prominent site in the centre of Brighton – is hoping that the grant, plus an additional £5,000 grant from the Wolfson Foundation, will mean that the scaffolding can come down soon. The church celebrated its 200th anniversary last year.

A spokesperson said: "These grants will mean the church will be able to carry out urgent repairs to the building. It is hopeful that this will enable the scaffolding that is obscuring the church to finally be dismantled.

“While there will still be some work after this phase to keep the building watertight and in good condition, it is a huge achievement that the historic fabric of the building will be protected again.

“Without this project, there would have been further deterioration and the church would struggle to continue to host the wide-ranging community groups inside the building.”

St Peter’s Church, which was designed by Sir Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parliament. is a Grade II* listed building which is on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk list. The tower has been a huge concern for years due to eroding masonry and crumbling stone and rust.