St George's Church, Worthing 2.71

St George's Church is an Anglican church in the East Worthing area of the Borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Built in 1867-68 to serve new residential development in the southeast of the town, the Decorated Gothic-style structure was extended later in the 19th century, and expanded its reach further by founding three mission halls elsewhere in Worthing. English Heritage has listed it at Grade C for its architectural and historical importance.HistoryWorthing experienced rapid development in the first quarter of the 19th century, encouraged by royal patronage and the effect of nearby Brighton—one of England's most fashionable and desirable resorts at the time. In the first few decades of the town's existence, however, little building work took place east of the road from Broadwater to the coast: the land was marshy and difficult to develop. The few houses in existence were economically dependent on the 18th-century brickworks and two smock mills in the vicinity, both of which existed by 1831.Gradually, the town expanded to the east, and in the 1860s a church was proposed to serve the area, which had become known as East Worthing. Work started in 1867, when the Bishop of Chichester Ashurst Turner Gilbert laid the foundation stone. The architect George Truefitt was commissioned to design the church. In its original form, it opened on 10 July 1868 after Bishop Gilbert consecrated it. Long-time East Worthing resident Alfred Longley, who wrote several books about the area, recorded the name of the builder as a Mr Longhurst.