We would be delighted if you would join us at any of our services. We also welcome enquiries from groups about holding special services.

Guided tours for groups can be arranged by prior booking. Please contact the Parish Administrator.

Group visits without a guide should also be booked in advance simply to make sure the church is open for you and a welcome provided.

For further information please contact the parish administrator.

In addition to services, the church is usually open for visitors:

Wednesdays 4pm to 5pm; Fridays 12.30pm to 3.00pm; and Saturdays 12.30pm to 3pm.

If you are making a special visit, please contact the Parish office first to check we will be open as circumstances can change.

Admission is free to individuals, but donations are vital to the maintenance of this magnificent ancient church. We receive no financial support from central or local government and ask you to help by giving as generously as you can.

St Nicholas' was awarded the Sussex Heritage Award for 2009 for the restoration work carried out on the Medieval Screen and the East and West Walls. The church is open daily to visitors.

We hold regular events including: concerts, dinners, lectures which give the members the opportunity to come together and enjoy themselves whilst supporting Brighton's ancient Mother Church and helping to safeguard its future.

Thank you for your help.

To become a member of the Friends, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please note that The Friends of St Nicholas' is a separate registered charity.

Founded in 1994 the Friends of St Nicholas' Church Brighton work in partnership with the Parochial Church Council to care for the building and its history.

During the last twenty years the Friends have made grants of over £500,000 to the church council to support its work, which of course includes personal donations and legacies.

Maintenance and restoration of a medieval building is never-ending and major works have included the restoration of the Chancel ceiling, and Rood Screen, the Lady Chapel ceiling, the repair and restoration of the historical Kempe windows, the reordering of the church, repairs to the Wellington Memorial and further restoration of the stained glass and Shrine of St Nicholas in the south east corner of the church.

The Font. The oldest surviving link to this remote past is the beautiful Norman Font, of Caen stone, now considered by experts to have been carved in 1170. In the 17th Century it was placed in the centre of the church and a circular seat built around it, so the font became a backrest, causing some damage to the carved figures. Three of the four scenes carved around it can be identified: The Last Supper (rarely depicted on fonts), The Baptism of our Lord and a legend of St Nicholas. There is doubt about the significance of the fourth scene.

The Tower contains some Norman work and the columns and arches of the Nave, Chancel and Tower, built of Sussexstone, date from about 1380. There is a peal of 10 bells, normally rung on Sunday before the Parish Eucharist.

The Rood Screen is a fine example of carving in oak, dating from about 1480, restored in 1887. The figures that surmount it date from the early years of the 20th Century.

The side chapel, now the Lady Chapel, dates from the early years of the 16th Century and may originally have been a chantry chapel.

This old church is full of history. It has long been a shrine of devotion and still stands to bring us all nearer to God.

This church is dedicated to St Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors and fishermen. Until 1873, St Nicholas was the Parish Church of Brighton and it still is the Mother Church and the only church in central Brighton of ancient interest.

The earliest known reference to a church in Brighthelmstone, the old name for Brighton, comes from William the Conqueror's great census, the Domesday Book, written about 1085. This states that 'there is a church, valued at £12", which had been assessed as worth £ 10 in the reign of the Saxon King Edward. So there certainly was a church here in Saxon times, though no traces of it remain. On the wall of the south aisle is a list of vicars, far from complete and not always accurate, but dating back to 1091.