St Mary's Church, Wimbledon

Coordinates: 51°25′43.01″N 0°12′37.70″W / 51.4286139°N 0.2104722°W / 51.4286139; -0.2104722

St Mary's Church, Wimbledon, is a Church of England church and is part of the Parish of Wimbledon, south-west London, England. It has existed since the 12th century and may be the church recorded in the Domesday Book in the Mortlake Hundred. It is still in active use today.

History

West Door of St Mary's Church

There have been four churches on the site since 1086:^[1]

• The Medieval Church — 11th century to 13th century.
• The Second Church — Late 13th century until 1786.
• The Georgian Church — 1780s to 1840s.
• The Victorian Church — Completed in 1843 and exists today.

The Victorian Church

The present church dates from 1843, and was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, then working for the architects 'Messers Scott and Moffat'. Scott was given the brief of building the church without exceeding a strict budget of £4000, which he succeeded in doing by incorporating parts of the earlier building. It is still possible to see these older parts today. Another visibly notable addition was the tower and spire, which is 196 feet tall.^[2]

The beams in the chancel roof were re-discovered during renovation work of the chancel in 1860. They are thought to be Medieval in origin. The beams are decorated with a chevron and flower pattern and were restored in 1993 as part of the church's 150th anniversary celebrations.^[2]

Memorials

The oldest memorial in the church dates back to 1537 in memory of Philip and Margaret Lewston, and has survived two church rebuilds.^[3]

Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon, Lord of the Manor of Wimbledon. Sarcophagus situated within Cecil chapel. d.1638

Sir Theodore Janssen, Lord of the Manor of Wimbledon. One of the founders of the Bank of England. Director of the South Sea Company and stripped of his assets because of the South Sea Bubble fiasco. d.1748

At the east end of the churchyard is the large mausoleum of Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, the renowned engineer of the Embankment and the sewer system in London around 1858. There is also a memorial stone to Sir Joseph within the church.^[3]

Church halls

Fellowship House was built in 1974 and replaced a small room above a shop in Wimbledon Village. It was used for many activities both by the church and outside groups. Today, it is a day nursery during the week and is used by the church at weekends. The Parish Office is located in Fellowship House.

The Garden Hall was completed in 2003 due to the need of more space for church activities, especially the growing Sunday School. The building is of modern design, and has won architectural awards. One wall is a large glass window, part of which opens to give access to the grass area outside.^[4] It was officially opened on 3 May 2003 by Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy.

Services

Sundays: ^[5]

• 8:00am — Holy Communion
• 9:30am — Sung Eucharist
• 11:15am — Informal Worship
• 6:30pm — Evensong

Other local churches

See: Parish of Wimbledon

In Wimbledon Team Ministry

• St Mark's Wimbledon^[6]
• St Matthew's Wimbledon^[7]
• St John's Wimbledon^[8]

In local area

• Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon
• Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon (Roman Catholic)
• Holy Trinity South Wimbledon^[9]
• Christ Church West Wimbledon^[10]
• Trinity Church Wimbledon (URC)^[11]

See also

• Parish of Wimbledon
• Wimbledon Manor House

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Mary's Church, Wimbledon.

• St Mary's Church website
• A Church Near You Listing
• Southwark Diocese Listing
• UK Attraction Listing
• History of St Mary's Church