St Andrews was built as a proprietary chapel to serve Brunswick Town on land that did not form part of the estate, but which belonged to the Revd. Edward Everard, perpetual curate of St. Margaret's Chapel, Cannon Place, situated to the east of Brunswick Town. In 1828 he was granted an Act of Parliament allowing him to erect a privately-owned chapel. Like Brunswick town itself, it was a speculative development and, if successful, Everard stood to recoup his initial outlay, and give himself a potential income for the future. The Act allowed him to keep two-thirds of the income which would arise from pew rents and fees for christenings,the churching of women and burials, but not from marriages. It was to be another hundred years before the building was licensed for weddings. The remaining third of the income would go to the Vicar of Hove, in whose parish St. Andrew's stood. Everard was also allowed to appoint each successive minister of the chapel for the first 40 years, after which the right of presentation would also pass to the Vicar of Hove.

Whilst Brunswick Town is regarded as Busby's masterpiece, the chapel built to serve the Town,and to be the focal point of worship for the development, was not to be of his design. Edward Everard was also Joint Secretary of the Sussex County Hospital which was then being built by the young architect Charles Barry, and it was this link that gave Barry the commission for Everard's new chapel. It is recorded that Busby was furious and saw the loss of this prestigious commission as an act of betrayal by Everard. the 'plum' commission had gone to someone else.

Charles Barry Senior (1795 - 1860), who is now regarded as the most versatile of the leading early Victorian architects, had already built St. Peter's church in brighton in the Gothic style in 1824 At St. Andrew's, designed just three years later, he was able to display his versatility by using the classical form, here in the Italian Renaissance style.

From the opening service on 5th July 1828 the chapel became the most fashionable place in the resort in which to worship. This was mainly because, with the exception of 80 free seats for servants in the gallery, one could not attend worship here unless one paid pew rent. This reinforced the social hierarchy of Brighton and Hove, and a pew at St.Andrews was seen as a reflection of your position in society. Soon after the opening it was recorded that on one Sunday 'the congregation included no less than three Dukes and three Duchesses'. Queen Victoria's aunt, the Duchess of Gloucester, together with their daughter Princess Mary of Cambridge, were among the worshippers here, giving St. Andrew's the highest cachet of all - royal approval. Pew rents, although now on a voluntary basis, were still being collected at St. Andrews in the 1960's.

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