St Paul's Church, Brighton
St Paul's Church, dedicated to the missionary and Apostle to the Gentiles Paul of Tarsus, is a Church of England parish church in Brighton, Sussex, England. It is located on West Street in the city centre, close to the seafront and the main shopping areas.
St Paul's Church viewed from the southeast
The eastern end of the church
The eastern doorway facing West Street
The tower from the south
Henry Michell Wagner (1792–1870) was a Church of England clergyman who was Vicar of Brighton between 1824 and 1870. He was a descendant of Melchior Wagner, hatmaker to the Royal Family, and married into a wealthy Sussex family who had a longstanding ecclesiastical connection with Brighton. Wagner paid for and oversaw the building of five churches in the rapidly growing seaside resort, and "dominated religious life in the town" with his forceful personality and sometimes controversial views and actions. His son Arthur Wagner (1824–1902) continued the family's close association with Brighton.
A new vicarage was built for Wagner in 1835.
One of Wagner's first tasks as Vicar of Brighton was to oversee construction of St Peter's Church.
Wagner built St Paul's Church in central Brighton for his son Arthur.
St John the Evangelist's Church (now the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity) served the Carlton Hill district.