Changes: St Mary's Church

Revision as of 00:16, 28 January 2018

St Mary's Church, Rotherhithe, is the local Church of England parish church in Rotherhithe, formerly in Surrey and now part of south east London. The parish is now within the diocese of Southwark and under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Fulham. The 18th-century church is in St Marychurch Street and is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, and it is particularly proud of its connections with the Pilgrim Fathers. It remains a living and working church, supported by local people and serving a broad community.

After being murdered by Reggie Kray, Jack McVitie's body was left outside this church in the back seat of his own car, covered in a candlewick bedspread in the early hours of 30th October 1967. As dawn broke that morning, Freddie Foreman was called to help and McVities's body and car were never seen again.

History

There is documentary evidence that a church has existed on this site since at least 1282. However, Roman bricks were found when the tower was underpinned in 1913, so it is probable that there were even earlier buildings on the site.

The area was eventually served by Catholic priests from Bermondsey Abbey. Following the break with Rome under Henry VIII in 1538, the vestments, silver and gold plate and other gifts of the cathedral were sold to provide money to repair the mediaeval church. Some remains of the mediaeval building can still be seen, for example the stone blocks incorporated into the walls on each side of the organ. In the crypt, parts of the old church walls of chalk and flint are visible, and some later Tudor brickwork. A drawing made of this building in 1623 has survived. Although the artist had difficulty representing the perspective of the old church, this drawing is the only remaining evidence of its appearance. A few memorials from the old church have survived.

In 1710, the parishioners of St Mary's petitioned parliament for a grant to rebuild their church 'which standing very low and near the banks of the Thames, is often overflowed, whereby the foundation of the church and tower is rotted and in great danger of falling'. The petition was not successful but the parishioners went on to collect subscriptions and the local craftsmen, of which there were many, turned their hands and feet to church building. It was rebuilt in 1714–15, to a design by John James, a major architect of his day (and an associate of Sir Christopher Wren). As money was short, the tower (above right) was not finished until 1747, when Lancelot Dowbiggin, a City joiner and surveyor, completed it, perhaps to his own design, following the general plan of James.

Since then, the external appearance of the church has remained almost unchanged. It is set in a narrow street close to the Thames, surrounded by former warehouses and facing the charity school house which was built in 1703. In 1760, Birmingham industrialist Matthew Boulton wed his second wife, Anne, here. The two had journeyed far from home to evade ecclesiastical difficulties; she was his first wife's sister, and the marriage was forbidden by canon law, but not void if no one objected when the banns were read.

In 1838, when the well-known ship Temeraire was broken up, some of her timbers were used to build a communion table and two bishop's chairs in the Rotherhithe church. The interior of the church was much altered in 1876. Between 1996 and 1999, the bells were restored and re-hung, and essential repairs made to the spire. The bells are regularly rung by members of the Docklands Ringing Centre.

Present day

St Mary's Church is within the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England. As the parish rejects the ordination of women, it receives alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Fulham (currently Jonathan Baker).

Jack the Hat's Murder

Jack McVitie's body was left in the backseat of his own car, after he was killed by Reggie Kray, covered in a candlewick bedspread in the early hours of 30th October 1967. This was a nearby location to Freddie Foreman's pub, who was called at dawn, and then disposed of the body with the car and the corpse never to be seen again. Foreman admitted to throwing McVitie's body from a boat into the sea at Newhaven, Sussex. He was also reported to have been buried in a newly dug grave at Gravesend Cemetery in Kent.

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 {{Public house
 |title1=St Mary's Church
-|image1=File:St Marys Church, Battersea 3.jpg
+|image1=File:Stmary.jpg
 |caption1=The church in 2015
-|location=Battersea Church Road<br> Battersea, London, SW11 3NA
+|location=St Marychurch Street<br>Rotherhithe, London, SE16
+|notable_events=[[Jack McVitie]]'s body left outside in the back of a car on the 30th October 1967.
-|built=1777
-|notable_events=[[Jack McVitie]]'s body left outside in the back of a car on 30th October 1967.
 }}
-'''St Mary's Church''', Rotherhithe, Battersea, is the local Church of England parish church in Battersea, formerly in Surrey and now part of south London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. The parish is now within the diocese of Southwark. Christians have worshipped there regularly for over a thousand years. It is a Grade I listed building.
+'''St Mary's Church''', Rotherhithe, is the local Church of England parish church in Rotherhithe, formerly in Surrey and now part of south east London. The parish is now within the diocese of Southwark and under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Fulham. The 18th-century church is in St Marychurch Street and is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, and it is particularly proud of its connections with the Pilgrim Fathers. It remains a living and working church, supported by local people and serving a broad community.
 After being murdered by [[Reggie Kray]], [[Jack McVitie]]'s body was left outside this church in the back seat of his own car, covered in a candlewick bedspread in the early hours of 30th October 1967. As dawn broke that morning, [[Freddie Foreman]] was called to help and McVities's body and car were never seen again.
 ==History==
+There is documentary evidence that a church has existed on this site since at least 1282. However, Roman bricks were found when the tower was underpinned in 1913, so it is probable that there were even earlier buildings on the site.
-St Mary's stands on one of the earliest known consecrated sites on the south bank of the River Thames. The original church was built as early as 800 AD, presumably by the Saxons, and the present building was completed in 1777. It was designed by Joseph Dixon, a local architect.
+The area was eventually served by Catholic priests from Bermondsey Abbey. Following the break with Rome under Henry VIII in 1538, the vestments, silver and gold plate and other gifts of the cathedral were sold to provide money to repair the mediaeval church. Some remains of the mediaeval building can still be seen, for example the stone blocks incorporated into the walls on each side of the organ. In the crypt, parts of the old church walls of chalk and flint are visible, and some later Tudor brickwork. A drawing made of this building in 1623 has survived. Although the artist had difficulty representing the perspective of the old church, this drawing is the only remaining evidence of its appearance. A few memorials from the old church have survived.
-The church is built of brick, with stone used for quoins and other dressings. It consists of a nave, rectangular in plan, an apse at the east end forming the sanctuary, and a west tower. The west front has a single storey entrance porch with Tuscan columns supporting a pediment. The tower, rising immediately behind it, is topped with a clock chamber and a small spire. Inside, the whole width of the church is spanned by a flat ceiling, and there are wooden galleries supported by columns on three sides. The nave windows are in two tiers, the upper ones round-headed.
+In 1710, the parishioners of St Mary's petitioned parliament for a grant to rebuild their church 'which standing very low and near the banks of the Thames, is often overflowed, whereby the foundation of the church and tower is rotted and in great danger of falling'. The petition was not successful but the parishioners went on to collect subscriptions and the local craftsmen, of which there were many, turned their hands and feet to church building. It was rebuilt in 1714–15, to a design by John James, a major architect of his day (and an associate of Sir Christopher Wren). As money was short, the tower (above right) was not finished until 1747, when Lancelot Dowbiggin, a City joiner and surveyor, completed it, perhaps to his own design, following the general plan of James.
-The church has strong connections with art and literature through the artist and poet William Blake, who married Catherine Boucher there on 17 August 1782, and J. M. W. Turner, who painted the river from the vestry window. Benedict Arnold and his family are buried in the crypt, and the church has links with the explorer Robert Falcon Scott.
+Since then, the external appearance of the church has remained almost unchanged. It is set in a narrow street close to the Thames, surrounded by former warehouses and facing the charity school house which was built in 1703. In 1760, Birmingham industrialist Matthew Boulton wed his second wife, Anne, here. The two had journeyed far from home to evade ecclesiastical difficulties; she was his first wife's sister, and the marriage was forbidden by canon law, but not void if no one objected when the banns were read.
-The church is used weekly by Thomas's Battersea for their Thursday morning church service and also holds a Thomas's Kindergarten.
+In 1838, when the well-known ship Temeraire was broken up, some of her timbers were used to build a communion table and two bishop's chairs in the Rotherhithe church. The interior of the church was much altered in 1876. Between 1996 and 1999, the bells were restored and re-hung, and essential repairs made to the spire. The bells are regularly rung by members of the Docklands Ringing Centre.
-===Jack the Hat's Murder===
-[[Jack McVitie]]'s body was left in the backseat of his own car, after he was killed by [[Reggie Kray]], covered in a candlewick bedspread in the early hours of 30th October 1967. This was a nearby location to [[Freddie Foreman]]'s pub, who was called at dawn, and then disposed of the body with the car and the corpse never to be seen again.
+===Present day===
+St Mary's Church is within the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England. As the parish rejects the ordination of women, it receives alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Fulham (currently Jonathan Baker).
+==Jack the Hat's Murder==
+[[Jack McVitie]]'s body was left in the backseat of his own car, after he was killed by [[Reggie Kray]], covered in a candlewick bedspread in the early hours of 30th October 1967. This was a nearby location to [[Freddie Foreman]]'s pub, who was called at dawn, and then disposed of the body with the car and the corpse never to be seen again. Foreman admitted to throwing McVitie's body from a boat into the sea at Newhaven, Sussex. He was also reported to have been buried in a newly dug grave at Gravesend Cemetery in Kent.
 [[Category:Churches]]
 [[Category:Buildings]]