Strange spaces: Neo-Classical transformed into performance & arts centre

Recently, I was commissioned by St Mary in the Castle, a Hastings-based arts and culture organisation, to document the interior of this mysterious and vast building, perched above the arcade walk and directly below Hastings Castle.

Occupying an unusual location and a strange spiritual resonance to many of those who live and work in the town, the former Neo-Classical church is now a venue for music, events, art and hangouts, all taking place inside its labyrinthine internal windings.

Light stream in through windows in the immense ceiling suspended above the main hall of St Mary in the Castle, a former Neo-Classical church with a semi circular construction with pews enclosing the entire two-storey seating plan.

I enjoyed taking a deep dive into this space as I have history with the building myself. It has always been a point between the modern town centre of the ‘new’ town and the gruff but cosmopolitan Old Town, raised above the seafront in an unusual perch of curved buildings leading to the venue.

I volunteered at the venue for a few years as well, taking photographs to help their nascent events team maximise their publicity and getting a behind the scenes glimpse at the strange spaces behind certain doors that left me intrigued and wanting to know more.

The interior of the building with its huge central chamber and auditorium pews visible. The pews and arrangement are a throw back to the days when the building served as a place of worship.

Luckily, I got the chance to explore the space with my cameras recently as the organisation sought to make a start on building its permanent collection of images, beginning with a thorough documentation of the interior itself.

It’s a challenging environment to shoot in, all cramped spaces and twisting corridors with little line of sight. But its hazards also serve as its charms and the further I got into the space, the more I wanted to see what it held and how I could best represent the hidden gems and grubby corners of a building very much beloved by the team who run it.

Documenting the space was a matter of 2/3 days of descending (into the basement) and climbing (to the industrial looking roof) while keeping an eye on every unusual space and unique feature. I wanted to get a blend of colour and black and white images to show the form of the building as well as the soft colours of the sunlight pouring through windows in contrast to the varied colour temperature of the electric lights dotting the darker corners.

Inside, there were strange relics of former glory ages of the building's past; a working film projector in a raised projection room, softly stained glass in strange locations rarely seen by more than a handful of people and water droplets running down into the channels of a cliff facing basement - a suitable horror movie setting.

The final stage will be deploying a drone above the outside of the building to get some unseen views of the building and its surroundings. We'll also be documenting the interior including that fantastic 50ft+ ceiling inside to create some exceptional photos of floor, ceiling and details hidden from floor level viewers.

I'm looking forward to sharing them as well as any videos I get from the project in the future. St Mary in the Castle plan to use the photos as the start of their first permanent collection in the space, a new way for the space to display it's centrality to the Hastings art scene.