St Mary Magdalene Woolwich is an 18th-century

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church dedicated to

St Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

, southeast London,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

Christianity in Woolwich goes back to the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

. In 2015

Oxford Archaeology Oxford Archaeology (OA, trading name of Oxford Archaeology Limited) is one of the largest and longest-established independent archaeology and heritage practices in Europe, operating from three permanent offices in Oxford, Lancaster and Cambridge, ...

discovered a Saxon burial site in the area close to the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

east of

Woolwich Ferry The Woolwich Ferry is a free vehicle and pedestrian ferry across the River Thames in East London, connecting Woolwich on the south bank with North Woolwich on the north. It is licensed and financed by London River Services, the maritime arm of ...

. It contained 76 skeletons from the late 7th or early 8th century. The absence of grave deposits indicates that this was an early Christian settlement. The first church in Woolwich was probably pre-Norman conquest and dedicated to Saint Lawrence. It stood on a

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...

about 37 m north of the present-day church, more or less where the belvedere overlooking the river now is. The church was slightly separate from the early riverside settlement in

Old Woolwich Old Woolwich or Woolwich Central RiversideBoth these terms are potentially confusing as Old Woolwich may also refer to the present-day town centre, which is further south. Woolwich Riverside is also the name of an electoral ward constituting a muc ...

. From the early 10th till the mid-12th century Woolwich was ruled by the abbots of St. Peter's Abbey in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, probably as a result of a gift from Ælfthryth, daughter of

King Alfred Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

and Countess of Flanders. Around 1100

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...

gave the church to

Gundulf of Rochester __NOTOC__ Gundulf (or Gundulph) (c. 1024 - 1108) was a Norman monk who went to England following the Norman Conquest. He was appointed Bishop of Rochester and Prior of the Cathedral Priory there. He built several castles, including Rochester, Colc ...

, bishop and prior of

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Kent. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the s ...

. It was probably around this time that the church was rebuilt in stone. The church tower with walls of chalk and flint was partly excavated in 1970. Woolwich parish church, 1698 (cropped)

Woolwich, St Mary's Gardens around 1840, postcard 1905

The parish church was first dedicated to

Saint Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. "Laurel wreath, laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the Persecution of Christians, perse ...

, then, in the 15th century, to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

and, a century later, to

Saint Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurr ...

. The first known rector was John Chaplain, mentioned in 1182. In the late 14th century rector William de Prene rebuilt the bell tower. In the early 16th century rector John Sweetyng assisted in building the ''

Great Harry Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

'' at

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 1 ...

. Rectors of Woolwich in the late 17th century included Thomas Lindsay (1686-1694) and

Philip Stubbs Philip Stubbs (Stubbes) (c. 1555 – c. 1610) was an English pamphleteer. Life Stubbs was born about 1555. He was from Cheshire, possibly the area near Congleton. According to Anthony Wood, he was educated at Cambridge and subsequently at Oxford, ...

(1694-1699). By the 18th century the Elizabethan spire had collapsed and the foundations were showing signs of strain. Thus a new church (the present one) was built from 1732 to 1739, close to the medieval church's site. An architect's name is not known; there probably was none. Plain brick churches with round-headed windows had been built in the London area since the 1670s. The new church was part-funded by the

Commission for Building Fifty New Churches The Commission for Building Fifty New Churches (in London and the surroundings) was an organisation set up by Act of Parliament in England in 1711, the New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710, with the purpose of building fifty new church ...

and built by Matthew Spray, a bricklayer from

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

. A total of 636,000 bricks were used. Dedication took place on 9 May 1740, after which the old church was demolished and the churchyard extended and walled in. In 1875

Adelbert Anson Adelbert John Robert Anson DD (20 December 184027 May 1909) was a clergyman from the Anson family. He served as an Anglican bishop in late 19th century western Canada. Early life Anson was the fourth and youngest son of Thomas Anson, 1st Earl ...

was appointed rector of Woolwich. The 34-year old clergyman had several architects work on designs for a new church, the most ambitious one in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style by James Brooks. Nothing happened and Anson's successor, Samuel Gilbert Scott, prepared plans for a new

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

(including a

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

) and

vestries A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquially ...

, designed by his cousin J.O. Scott. These were completed in 1894, two years after Scott's resignation. His successor was Charles Escreet, whose family are named as benefactors of the church on their memorial. Around the same time the churchyard was transformed into a public garden. Some alterations to the interior were made in 1924.Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 46-47. The church suffered little damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, during which years

Cuthbert Bardsley Cuthbert Killick Norman Bardsley (28 March 1907 – 9 January 1991) was an Anglican bishop and evangelist who served as Bishop of Croydon from 1947 to 1956 and Bishop of Coventry from 1956 to 1976. It was during his tenure at Coventry that th ...

, later

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield. The present ...

, was a socially active rector. The building was Grade B listed in 1954, which corresponds to Grade II and Grade II* in the modern scheme. In 1960 another young and socially innovative rector arrived in Woolwich,

Nicolas Stacey Rev. Nicolas David Stacey (27 November 1927 – 8 May 2017) was a priest of the Church of England and social activist. He was Rector of Woolwich in the 1960s, and Director of Social Services for Kent County Council from 1974 to 1985. Early ...

. His "Woolwich Project" (1960–68) was controversial but brought new life to the church. Among the many changes, he had the aisles and galleries shut off with frosted glass panels to make a cafe and offices, before converting the crypt into a youth club. The "Coffee House" was opened by

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

and

Antony Armstrong-Jones Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, (7 March 1930 – 13 January 2017), was a British photographer and filmmaker. He is best known for his portraits of world notables, many of them published in ''Vogue'', ''Vanity Fai ...

in May 1961. Also, starting in 1965 (and ending in 2001), Stacey brought in the local Presbyterians to meet up with the Anglicans. In the 1970s the parish of St Mary Magdalene was merged into the three-church parish of Woolwich. Some restoration work was done in 1977, and in 2008 the gallery partitions were removed, restoring the spatial integrity of the building. In May 2019 St Mary's Church and Gardens became part of a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

. The Woolwich Conservation Area comprises the

Bathway Quarter Bathway Quarter is an area of historic interest in the centre of Woolwich, SE postcode area, South East London. Most buildings in the Bathway Quarter are Listed building, Grade II*, Grade II or locally listed, while the area as a whole is designat ...

, parts of Woolwich New Road, General Gordon Square, Greens End,

Beresford Square Beresford Square is a pedestrianised town and market square in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London, England. It was formed in the early 19th century and was named after the Anglo-Irish general William Beresford, Master-General ...

Powis Street Powis Street is a partly pedestrianised shopping street in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, south east London, England. It was laid out in the late 18th century and was named after the Powis brothers, who developed most of the land i ...

, Hare Street, Mortgramit Square, and parts of Woolwich High Street (south).

The building

Exterior

The site of the church is at the extremity of a spur reaching northwards towards the

. The church is brick-built, with

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

plinth cappings,

coping Coping refers to conscious strategies used to reduce unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviours and can be individual or social. Theories of coping Hundreds of coping strategies have been proposed in an attempt to ...

s, window surrounds and the principal

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. The bell tower, protruding from the west front, is topped off rather bluntly, without a balustrade, spire or lantern. The 1894 brick chancel features

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

buttress capping, band courses and a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

ed gable top.Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 45-47. File:London-Woolwich, St Mary Magdalene, west 1.jpg, West facade File:2016 Woolwich, St Mary Magdalene, detail east gable.jpg, Detail east facade File:2016 Woolwich, St Mary's Gardens 38.jpg, View from the southeast File:2016 Woolwich, St Mary's Gardens 26.jpg, View from the northeast

Interior

The church consists of a five-bay

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

flanked by

colonnades In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...

(similar to St Nicholas, Deptford), two side aisles with galleries and some 19th-century additions: the

, the Lady Chapel to the south (containing the rare iron-cast tomb of

Henry Maudslay Henry Maudslay ( pronunciation and spelling) (22 August 1771 – 14 February 1831) was an English machine tool innovator, tool and die maker, and inventor. He is considered a founding father of machine tool technology. His inventions were a ...

, designed by himself) and the organ chamber to the north. The interior is painted pale blue and white, including the large red stone columns flanking the chancel and the small columns framing the east window. The royal coat of arms from 1740 once hung above the sanctuary but is now kept in the porch beneath the tower. The pipe organ was made by John Byfield in 1754 and was originally installed in the west gallery. After the building of the new chancel in 1894, the

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

of the old chancel (made of oak) were adjusted to be installed in the south chapel. Above is a

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window by

Herbert Hendrie Herbert Hendrie (Manchester, 1887–1946) was an English stained glass artist. He is known for his strong simple designs with scintillating jewel-like effects. Among his best-known works are the fifteen windows for Kippen church and the tall st ...

from 1922. A rail-mounted moveable

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

(walnut, with inlays) was installed in 1899, funded by a public subscription on

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's Diamond Jubilee. File:London-Woolwich, St Mary Magdalene, interior 1.JPG, View towards the east File:London-Woolwich, St Mary Magdalene, interior 3.JPG, North gallery File:London-Woolwich, St Mary Magdalene, interior 4.JPG, Royal coat of arms File:London-Woolwich, St Mary Magdalene, interior 5.JPG, List of rectors

St Mary's Garden

The churchyard is now a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

, Saint Mary's Garden, in the

English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

style. It was designed in 1893 by

Fanny Wilkinson Fanny Wilkinson (1855–1951) was a British landscape designer. She was the first professional female landscape designer in Britain, and responsible for the design and the layout of more than 75 public gardens across London in the late 19th centu ...

, Britain's first professional woman landscape gardener. Her design features gravel paths, lawns and mature trees. Some gravestones can still be seen along the northeastern border. Nearby stands the tomb of

bare-knuckle boxer Bare-knuckle boxing (or simply bare-knuckle) is a combat sport which involves two individuals throwing punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time without any boxing gloves or other form of padding on their hands. It is a regulated ...

Tom Cribb Tom Cribb (8 July 1781 – 11 May 1848) was a world champion English bare-knuckle boxer of the 19th century. Cribb was born near Bristol but moved to London before starting professional fighting. He undertook a series of fights between 1805 and ...

who lived in Woolwich. It has the shape of a lamenting lion resting its paw on an urn. Stairs lead up to the park entrance from Woolwich Church Street. Other entrances are at Church Hill, St Mary Street and John Wilson Street. Two belvederes, one just outside the park, offer fine views of the river Thames and the

, although the view is threatened by several tall buildings going up along the river. In the early 1960s the park was enlarged and redesigned by G.P. Youngman who added new paths, raised beds and alpine rockeries. A drinking fountain and several tombs were removed, the foremost of which was that of Woolwich-born engineer

.Saint & Guillery (2012), pp. 48-49. File:London-Woolwich, St Mary's Gardens 14.jpg, Autumnal view File:London-Woolwich, St Mary's Gardens 07.jpg, Belvedere and view File:2016 Woolwich, St Mary's Gardens 06.jpg, Gravestones File:2016 Woolwich, St Mary's Gardens 30.jpg, Tom Cribb's tomb

Notes and references

* , ''Woolwich – Survey of London, Volume 48'', Yale Books, London, 2012.
online text chapter 9
please note page numbers online do not correspond with the book)

External links

British History Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary Magdalene, Woolwich

Grade II listed churches in London

Woolwich History of the Royal Borough of Greenwich Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom 18th-century Church of England church buildings