THE SOUTH COAST'S PREMIER LIVE MUSIC VENUE

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About

THE VENUE

The Venue is a 500 capacity live music venue and entertainment space in Worthing, West Sussex, England. The Grade 2 Star listed building first opened in 1812 and is noted with English Heritage as a building of great historical interest. Following a £2m refurbishment the building is now one of the UK's leading live music venues...

REWIND OVER 200 YEARS ...

How it all started ..
Construction began in 1808 to build a chapel for the new resort of Worthing. It was built by Ambrose Cartwright who was also responsible for nearby Ambrose Place. The cost of the building would be £12000, with the exterior designed by John Rebecca and the interior by local man Charles Hide, in a Greek revival style. The exterior's distinctive yellow bricks were made from the blue clay taken from Worthing Common, an area now underwater.
The town rapidly began to grow, attracting the well-known and wealthy of the day. The chapel proved so popular that by spring 1893 an application was put in to extend and alter the building. Work began straight away and the chapel became St Paul's Church, Worthing's first Anglican Church. The first chaplin would be The Reverend William Davison who later went on to set up schools for boys, girls and infants in the town. The girls' school he established was the original Davison High School.
Many famous people have passed through the doors in the history of this presigeous building. These include Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde and Harold Pinter. References to Worthing and the characters involved with St Paul's can be found in their works. The building also has a royal connection. Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III presented the church with a Royal Coat of Arms as thanks to the people of Worthing for showing kindness and generosity to her two daughters when they stayed in the town. (This piece of history has been cleaned and restored and is now proudly displayed in The Venue).
June 1944 saw the building play an important role in the D-Day Normandy Landings as hundreds of Canadian soldiers gathered inside to receive their final instructions before setting off across the channel. Following a decade of serious neglect in the hands of the trustees the building is now back in good hands. A large amount of time and money has been invested by The Venue owners and the building is on its way to being restored back to it's original glory. Creating the best live music venue on the south coast as well as preserving the building for another 200 years is priority.
This beautiful building is now much sought after by Promoters and Event Organisers for Concerts and Live Events, by Television and Film Companies for Commercials, Television Programmes, Music Videos and Feature Films, and by the wider community for Corporate Events, Parties, Launches, Awards Ceremonies and Wedding Receptions ...

WHAT'S ON AT THE VENUE

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