Worthing Christ Church, Sussex Genealogy

England Sussex



Parish History
Worthing Christ Church was formed as a chapel of ease to Broadwater, Sussex and to provide a burial ground for the poor of Worthing. It was consecrated thus in 1843 but by 1855 it became an Ecclesiastical Parish formed from Broadwater, Sussex

CHRIST CHURCH and its burial ground between Grafton and Portland roads were consecrated in 1843, mainly to supply the want of church accommodation for the poor. The church was at first regarded as a chapel of ease to Broadwater, whose rector in 1849 required the officiating minister to take the town under his spiritual care. The rector of Broadwater remained the patron in 1974. A parish was assigned out of Broadwater in 1855, and a perpetual curate licensed. The cure became a vicarage in 1868. With help from Queen Anne's Bounty a house for the incumbent was built in Westbrooke by 1859. In 1975 the vicarage was in Shakespeare Road.

In 1851 c. 380 attended the morning and evening services. ( In 1865 400 sittings were ordinarily let besides 42 seats in the chancel at the height of the season. In 1884 there were two Sunday services and an afternoon service for the children, but the congregation had been reduced, partly by the building of Holy Trinity church. In 1976 the church was described as the parish church of Worthing. A mission hall holding 100 was recorded in 1903, and services were held there thrice weekly in 1910.

Christ Church was built by subscription between 1840 and 1843. The original design by John Elliott of Chichester was apparently altered by the curate of St. Paul's, as a result of strong criticism by the Cambridge Camden Society, and there were disputes between Elliott, the curate, and the rector of Broadwater who had given the site. The church, the first example of the Gothic Revival in Worthing, is of flint with brick dressings, and originally consisted of a chancel, aisled nave, transepts, west tower, and vestry. Galleries were built in the transepts in 1865-6, and the church was restored and improved in 1876. In 1894 the chancel arch was re-designed and other alterations were made. The church was again restored in 1908.

From Worthing: Churches', A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 1: Bramber Rape (Southern Part) (1980), pp. 119-122. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18230&amp;strquery=Worthing

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
West Sussex Record Office has deposited parish Registers Bap1843-1964 Marr 1855-1976

Bishop's Transcripts 1855-1904

no microfilm for this parish

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Sussex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.