Main Door, St. Paul's Parish Church
Richard Cromwell Carpenter (1812-1855), with help from A. W. N. Pugin
1846-48; restored 1996
Flint, white limestone, and wood
West Street, Brighton
This church in the Decorated or Middle-Pointed style of Gothic architecture bears out what Reginald Turnor has said about the architect: "although he shared the affectations of the Camdenians with Butterfield, R. C. Carpenter exercised a scholarly restraint and so avoided the worst excesses of inventiveness" (69). See Detail: The central figure is St Paul, and the upper relief on the right is probably the purification in the temple, with (left to right) Simeon, Joseph and Mary (Luke 2:22-35).
Photograph and text Jacqueline Banerjee