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Church in England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St Mary's Church, Twickenham, also known as St Mary the Virgin, Twickenham, is a Grade II* listed[2] Church of England place of worship dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin. It is on Church Street, Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England.[3]
St Mary's Church, Twickenham | |
---|---|
51.447°N 0.3255°W | |
Location | Church Street, Twickenham, Middlesex, England |
Country | United Kingdom |
Denomination | Church of England |
Website | stmarytwick |
History | |
Dedication | St Mary the Virgin |
Consecrated | 1714 |
Associated people | Godfrey Kneller[1] |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | John James[1] |
Architectural type | Neo-classical |
Specifications | |
Materials | brick, stone |
Administration | |
Province | Canterbury |
Diocese | London Archdeaconry of Middlesex (Kensington Area) |
Archdeaconry | Middlesex |
Deanery | Hampton |
Parish | St Mary's, Twickenham |
Clergy | |
Vicar(s) | Revd Jeff Hopkin Williams |
Laity | |
Director of music | Adrian Mumford |
Churchwarden(s) | Judy Britton Katherine Cox |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Church of St Mary |
Designated | 2 September 1952 |
Reference no. | 1080852 |
The parish church stands a short distance from York House and the banks of the River Thames, immediately opposite Eel Pie Island.
The church stands on the site of an earlier one and incorporates its 15th-century medieval tower. On 9 April 1713 the ancient church's 14th-century nave collapsed. The painter Godfrey Kneller was a churchwarden of St Mary's at the time and was active in the plans for reconstruction in the Neo-classical style by the local architect John James.[1][4] A local resident, Lady Wentworth, wrote a month after the collapse that it had been foreseen by a new vicar, Dr Pratt:[4]
Dr Pratt had insisted that a tabernakle be erected in the churchyard, prior to the collapse. Soe he preached there and exhorted al to giv thanks for thear great deleverenc for the church not falling when they wear in it, it being then standing. The people all laughed at him, and in a weeks time it fell to the ground, soe all the parish contrebutse to the building of it.[4]
Inside the 18th-century church some older monuments have survived from the medieval nave, including a brass to Richard Burton, the King's chief cook, and Agnes his wife, dated 1443.[4][5]
Inside the church are some fine monuments including those to:[6]
On 20 June 1721 Dr Pratt baptised at the church "James Shandayes and John Twogood", described as two Indian princes.[7] They were followed in 1747 by Henry Fielding's son William.[8] Hallam Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and eventually second Governor-General of Australia, was christened at the church in 1852.[9]
The 18th-century nave of the church is in red brick with Tuscan pilasters and pediments. Following the reconstruction of 1713–14, the church was enlarged in 1754 and contains fittings of the same period, including a reredos and gallery fronts. The tower has a ring of eight bells, of which one dates from the early 16th century, three from the 17th and four from the 18th.[5]
Like the ancient church on the site, the present one began life as the parish church for the whole of Twickenham. However, housing development in the 19th and 20th centuries led to new parishes being created for several new Church of England churches: Holy Trinity Twickenham (1842), St Philip and St James Church, Whitton (1862), St Stephen's, Twickenham (1875), All Saints Church, Twickenham (1914) and All Hallows, Twickenham (1939). As these came into being, the parish of St Mary's became smaller, but it still takes in most of central Twickenham.[5]
There is a memorial to timber merchant James Montgomrey's wife Henrietta (1818–1905) in the church, but both she and her husband were buried at Isleworth Cemetery[15][16]
The funeral of Neil Aspinall (1941–2008), head of The Beatles' company Apple Corps and sometimes called "the fifth Beatle", took place at the church in 2008, although Aspinall was buried at Teddington.[17]
The church is featured in Osmund Caine's painting Wedding at Twickenham Parish Church (1948), which is in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Art Collection.[18][19]
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