Question: What is the location of the open church that was surrounded by controversy from the moment it was built ?

text: List of places of worship in Worthing
Open places of worship

The borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex, has 49 extant, operating churches and other places of worship. Sixteen other former places of worship are still in existence but are no longer in religious use. The district, on the south coast of England, is mostly urban: it consists of the seaside resort of Worthing, established in the 19th century, and its residential suburbs, ranging from ancient villages absorbed by the growing town to housing estates built after World War II. Most residents identify themselves as Christian, and there is only one non-Christian place of worship, a mosque. The Church of England, the country's officially established church, is represented by more churches than any other denomination, but Worthing's first church was an Independent chapel. Protestant Nonconformism flourished in the early 19th century during the town's early development, while Roman Catholic worship (after the Catholic Emancipation) took root somewhat later. English Heritage has awarded listed status to 12 of Worthing's extant churches and two former church buildings. A building is defined as listed when it is placed on a statutory register of buildings of special architectural or historic interest in accordance with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, a Government department, is responsible for this; English Heritage, a non-departmental public body, acts as an agency of the department to administer the process and advise the department on relevant issues. There are three grades of listing status. Grade I, the highest, is defined as being of exceptional interest; Grade II* is used for particularly important buildings of more than special interest; and Grade II, the lowest, is used for buildings of special interest.
Name Location Denomination/ Affiliation Grade Notes
St Mary 's Church Broadwater 50°49′40″N 0°22′24″W / 50.8278°N 0.3733°W / 50.8278 ; -0.3733 ( St Mary 's Church , Broadwater ) Anglican I Broadwater 's parish church has Saxon origins , but the present structure is late Norman . Nairn and Pevsner noted that the cruciform building , of flint with stone dressings , has impressive arches . The chancel was extensively remodelled in the 19th century
St Mary 's Church Goring-by-Sea 50°48′47″N 0°25′29″W / 50.8130°N 0.4246°W / 50.8130 ; -0.4246 ( St Mary 's Church , Goring-by-Sea ) Anglican II* Decimus Burton rebuilt this late Norman church in the Gothic style in 1837 . Hans Feibusch 's mural representing Christ in Majesty , designed in 1954 , is above the chancel arch . The exterior is rendered
St Andrew 's Church West Tarring 50°49′29″N 0°23′45″W / 50.8247°N 0.3958°W / 50.8247 ; -0.3958 ( St Andrew 's Church , West Tarring ) Anglican II* West Tarring 's partly 13th-century parish church , in the Early English style , has Italian mosaic designs by William Butterfield in 1885 , when a major restoration took place . Its longstanding ecclesiastical status as a peculier of Canterbury Cathedral may have influenced its design
Christ Church Worthing 50°48′48″N 0°22′25″W / 50.8132°N 0.3737°W / 50.8132 ; -0.3737 ( Christ Church , Worthing ) Anglican II* Worthing 's second Anglican church , built in 1840-1843 as a chapel of ease to Broadwater and parished in 1855 , was reprieved from closure in 2006 . The flint building also uses artificial stone - an early example of this . The chancel was altered in 1894 , when a hammerbeam roof - likened to Bryant and May matchsticks by Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel - was added
St Symphorian 's Church Durrington 50°50′11″N 0°24′48″W / 50.8364°N 0.4133°W / 50.8364 ; -0.4133 ( St Symphorian 's Church , Durrington ) Anglican II The ancient parish church was wrecked during the English Civil War , and remained disused until Lacy W. Ridge built a new structure incorporating its remains . It opened in 1916 and was extended ( with a chancel ) in 1941
St George 's Church East Worthing 50°48′51″N 0°21′26″W / 50.8142°N 0.3573°W / 50.8142 ; -0.3573 ( St George 's Church , East Worthing ) Anglican II George Truefitt 's Bargate stone , Decorated Gothic-style church was consecrated in 1868 and extended in 1875 and 1884 . The chancel and adjacent aisle have large apses , and there is a bell-tower with a spirelet . The interior was refitted in 1990-91
St Botolph 's Church Heene 50°48′49″N 0°23′12″W / 50.8136°N 0.3867°W / 50.8136 ; -0.3867 ( St Botolph 's Church , Heene ) Anglican II The ancient chapel at Heene , was ruined by the 18th century and partly dismantled in 1766 . A fragment remains near the present church flint and stone church , built in the Early English style in 1873 by Edmund Scott and enlarged in 1905
St John the Divine Church West Worthing 50°48′53″N 0°24′01″W / 50.8147°N 0.4004°W / 50.8147 ; -0.4004 ( St John the Divine Church , West Worthing ) Anglican II In 1937 , N.F . Cachemaille-Day built a brick and flint church to replace a mission chapel linked to St Botolph 's . This building of 1900 was incorporated into the new structure , which was extended in 1965 when the short , broad tower and spire were added
Holy Trinity Church Worthing 50°48′41″N 0°22′43″W / 50.8113°N 0.3786°W / 50.8113 ; -0.3786 ( Holy Trinity Church , Worthing ) Anglican II Late 19th-century housing development in the Gratwicke area west of the town centre resulted in the building of this church in 1882-1883 . It was parished almost immediately . Henry Coe and S. Robinson 's Early English design , in dark red brick , lacked the present tower ; this was added in 1888
St Andrew 's Church Worthing 50°48′55″N 0°22′39″W / 50.8153°N 0.3774°W / 50.8153 ; -0.3774 ( St Andrew 's Church , Worthing ) Anglican II Worthing 's first High Church Anglican church was so controversial that it stood unused for six years while liturgical differences were thrashed out . Arthur Blomfield 's Early English church , eventually consecrated in 1888 , uses flint and stonework extensively
Queen Street Church Centre Broadwater 50°49′26″N 0°22′34″W / 50.8240°N 0.3760°W / 50.8240 ; -0.3760 ( Queen Street Church Centre , Broadwater ) Anglican - This combined church and community centre was built in 1993-1994 on the site of the former Broadwater Mission Hall , administered from St Mary 's Church . The present church is part of St Mary 's parish
St Stephen 's Church East Worthing 50°49′23″N 0°21′37″W / 50.8231°N 0.3604°W / 50.8231 ; -0.3604 ( St Stephen 's Church , East Worthing ) Anglican - Between 1929 and 1959 , this was a mission chapel to St Mary 's Church in Broadwater ; but it was consecrated in 1959 and became a separate church in its own right . It remains within the parish of St Mary 's
All Saints Church Findon Valley 50°51′01″N 0°23′45″W / 50.8504°N 0.3959°W / 50.8504 ; -0.3959 ( All Saints Church , Findon Valley ) Anglican - A church hall , erected in 1936 , was used for services in this interwar housing estate until Keir Hett 's brick church of 1956 was consecrated on 22 February of that year . The congregation chose the dedication . The church was parished in 1989 , and St Peter 's Church at High Salvington was added to the parish in 2010
St Laurence 's Church Goring-by-Sea 50°48′32″N 0°24′27″W / 50.8090°N 0.4074°W / 50.8090 ; -0.4074 ( St Laurence 's Church , Goring-by-Sea ) Anglican - Part of the parish of Goring-by-Sea , this church was founded in 1936 . An attached hall was added in 1962 . The interior has a 15th-century altarpiece retrieved from St Mary 's Church , Slaugham
St Peter 's Church High Salvington 50°50′55″N 0°24′29″W / 50.8485°N 0.4081°W / 50.8485 ; -0.4081 ( St Peter 's Church , High Salvington ) Anglican - The vicar of St Symphorian 's Church paid for a tin tabernacle to be erected in High Salvington in 1928 . It was part of St Symphorian 's parish between 1951 and 2010 - since when it has been linked to All Saints Church at Findon Valley - and is Worthing 's only iron church
St Richard 's Church Maybridge 50°49′16″N 0°25′06″W / 50.8210°N 0.4183°W / 50.8210 ; -0.4183 ( St Richard 's Church , Maybridge ) Anglican - This postwar housing estate north of Goring-by-Sea received a permanent church in 1966 , when Romilly Craze 's brick building opened . A church hall had accommodated services since 1954 . A parish was created in 1980
St Matthew 's Church Worthing 50°49′04″N 0°22′59″W / 50.8179°N 0.3830°W / 50.8179 ; -0.3830 ( St Matthew 's Church , Worthing ) Anglican - R.S . Hyde 's Early English-style church has an apse and a narrow flèche , and uses locally quarried flint . It was built in 1899 and extended with vestries and aisles in 1911
Broadwater Baptist Church Broadwater 50°49′37″N 0°21′53″W / 50.8270°N 0.3648°W / 50.8270 ; -0.3648 ( Broadwater Baptist Church ) Baptist - R.W . Brough 's 1968 brick structure is the successor to a church hall used since 1937 by Broadwater 's Baptist community , which had first met in 1881 in a former stable . Another building on a different site was also used between 1904 and 1937
New Life Baptist Church Durrington 50°50′07″N 0°24′26″W / 50.8354°N 0.4073°W / 50.8354 ; -0.4073 ( New Life Baptist Church , Durrington ) Baptist - This church acquired its name in 1985 but has its origins in a Free Church of 1912 which became Baptist in 1943 . The present brick building , replacing the earlier structure , was completed in 1939
East Worthing Baptist Church East Worthing 50°48′56″N 0°21′09″W / 50.8156°N 0.3525°W / 50.8156 ; -0.3525 ( East Worthing Baptist Church ) Baptist - In 1933 , an Evangelical community founded a church in East Worthing ; it was opened by Worthing 's mayor the following year . The Baptist Church acquired the building , a brick structure designed by T.R . Hyde , in 1946