St Luke's Church is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church on Gibbon Road in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, London. Designed by the

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

architectural firm

Kelly & Birchall Kelly & Birchall, a partnership between Edward Birchall (1839 – 6 March 1903) and John Kelly (1840–1904), was an architectural practice based in Leeds, England, from 1886 to 1904 and specialising in churches in the Italianate and Gothic Rev ...

, it was constructed between 1886 and 1887 by a local building firm, W. H. Gaze.

History

St Lukes church, Kingston-upon-Thames, interior

The church was built to serve the railway workers whose houses form the surrounding streets, situated to the north of the railway station in Kingston. The parish was poor but, through the well-connected wife of the first vicar, received sponsorship from society figures, most notably

Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge Princess Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of Cambridge (27 November 1833 – 27 October 1897), later Duchess of Teck, was a member of the British royal family. She was one of the first royals to patronise a wide range of charities. Mary Ade ...

, granddaughter of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

and mother of Queen Mary, consort of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

. This allowed for the prominent church which stands today, the spire of which was completed in 1891 following a further donation of funds by Lady Wolverton. A painting showing the original design for the church survives. It shows that the building was constructed largely as it was intended by the architects, with only the design of the spire being slightly modified and a clock inserted into the tower. Following extensive research by Justin Lynch and Owen Millard, the painting was discovered on 2 August 2019; it now rests with the vicar of St Luke's Church, Fr Martin.

Present day

St Luke's Church stands in the

Traditional Catholic A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays o ...

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

of the Church of England. As the parish rejects the

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

, it receives

alternative episcopal oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...

from the

Bishop of Fulham The Bishop of Fulham is a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of London in the Church of England. The bishopric is named after Fulham, an area of south-west London; the see was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by Order in Council dated ...

(currently Jonathan Baker). Services are held on Sunday mornings and evenings, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and on Wednesday evenings. The vicar is Fr Martin Hislop.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lukes Church Kingston upon Thames 1886 establishments in England 19th-century Church of England church buildings

Anglo-Catholic church buildings in London Anglo-Catholic churches in England receiving AEO

Churches completed in 1887 Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Grade II listed churches in London History of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames