writer "who signed himself 'a true Protestant and no sham', expressed the deepest disquiet over such features as a certain 'dark spiral staircases... off which little and almost dark rooms, or cells... are built.'" The writer accuses these of housing nunneries or anchorites, and questions whether the building is indeed being used solely as a church. In fact, the staircases and "cells" are merely parts of the triforium. A remarkable debate at the Town Council in 1893, at which it was reported that the overall height of the building was two feet higher than that approved in the plans of 1873, led to a further barrage of criticism. As the statutory fine for the planning violation was only 40 shillings (£2), it was considered irrelevant to impose it on the rich Wagner; but records of the debate indicate that a variety of derogatory descriptions of the building were made, including (as per Musgrave) "a cheese warehouse", "a Noah's Ark in brick", "a monster excrescence", "a brick parallelogram", "a huge barn", "uselessly large, painfully ugly and sadly out of place", and "Wagner's folly". (References to "Noah's Ark" are sometimes still heard today, mainly in relation to the shape and dimensions of the building.) Additionally, residents of the houses formerly occupying the land immediately to the west of the church – where the London Road car park, St Bartholomew's school, and the eastern end of the New England Quarter stand today – complained to Wagner that the height of the church caused downward draughts of wind which caused their chimneys to smoke excessively. Wagner's financial resources allowed him to buy some of the houses and reduce the tenants' rents, in order to avoid continued objections. Present The church is a Grade I-listed building, meaning that it is considered to be a building "of outstanding or national architectural or historic interest". Its size gives it distinctive acoustics and the ability to accommodate large numbers of people, making it an ideal venue for classical and other music concerts. Photo gallery See also List of places of worship in Brighton and Hove List of Grade I listed buildings in Brighton and Hove References Bibliography Churches completed in 1874 19th-century Church of England church buildings Saint Bartholomews Church Grade I listed churches in East Sussex Saint Bartholomews Church Anglo-Catholic church buildings in East Sussex