All Saints' Church, Petersham, in Bute Avenue, Petersham, in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

, is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

former

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

which is now used as a private residence.

History

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

architect John Kelly, the church was commissioned in 1899 by Rachel Laetitia Warde (''née'' Walker) (1841–1906) to accommodate the expected suburban expansion of Petersham and, using funds from his

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

, as a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

to her father, Samuel Walker (1812–1898) who had died the previous year. She also commissioned an accompanying church hall and institute as a memorial to her aunt Ellen. The

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

above the hall's front entrance has the inscription "AD 1900. Ellen Walker Thy Kingdom Come. Memorial Church Room". However, Mrs Warde died three years before the project was finished and it was completed by her son Lionel (1876–1963). The church's foundation stone was laid in November 1901 and the church was dedicated by the Bishop of Kingston, Cecil Hook, in April 1909. The church, and the church hall and institute (which is also Grade II listed), were erected in the grounds of Bute House (previously the residence of British Prime Minister

John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British Tory statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He became the ...

, and which was demolished in 1908). The church was never

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

as the anticipated growth in Petersham's population did not take place. However, it was used occasionally by the parish and also by the

Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...

. It continued to be used for weddings until 1981 but ceased to be used as a church in 1986. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was requisitioned and used as a

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

and

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

command post. It was also used as a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

and as a location for filming. In January 1976,

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

recorded his best-selling ''O Holy Night'' album (reissued as a CD in 1990) at the church. Other recordings made at the church include an album of songs by

Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as " The Five", a group dedicated to prod ...

and Alexander Dargomizhsky, performed by

Sergei Leiferkus Sergei Leiferkus (born 4 April 1946) is an operatic baritone from Russia, known for his dramatic technique and powerful voice particularly in Russian and Italian language repertoire. He is most notable for his roles as Scarpia in ''Tosca'', Iag ...

, Semion Skigin, and Leonid Gorokhov, and recordings by

John McCabe John McCabe may refer to: *John McCabe (composer) (1939–2015), British composer and classical pianist *John McCabe (writer) (1920–2005), Shakespearean scholar and biographer *Christopher John McCabe Christopher John McCabe (born 20 Oc ...

and by

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English Conducting, conductor, harpsichordist, and Musicology, musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on h ...

and the

Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the A ...

. Other artists who have recorded there include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Dimitri Ashkenazy, and Vovka Ashkenazy. The

Anglican Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark ( ) is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient ...

sold the church building in about 1996. It is now a private residence, known as All Saints House, and has been converted to include an indoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

, a

jacuzzi Jacuzzi is an American private company that manufactures and markets hot tubs, pools, and other bath products. It is best known for the Jacuzzi hydrotherapy products. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California. It is the largest hot tu ...

and a

steam room A steam bath is a steam-filled room or steam-filled cabinet designed for the purpose of relaxation and holistic treatment. Steam baths have been formally recognized since ancient Greek and Roman Empire, Roman times, yet variations can be found t ...

. The church hall was used as Petersham's

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

until the early 21st century.

Architecture

The church was built in red brick and

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

in the style of a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

. The

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

(bell tower) is 118 feet high, with a pyramidal roof crowned by a figure of Christ overlooking

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

Bridget Cherry Bridget Cherry (born 17 May 1941) is a British architectural historian who was series editor of the Pevsner Architectural Guides from 1971 until 2002, and is the author or co-author of several volumes in the series.Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

described the architectural style as " phatically Italian Early Christian or Romanesque", the interior as "lavish" and the

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

as "quite exceptional". The

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 ...

had a grey and white marble central aisle taken from

Tournai Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady (; ), or Tournai Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral, see of the Diocese of Tournai in Tournai, Belgium. It has been classified both as a Wallonia major heritage site since 1936 and as a World Heritage Site since ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. To the north was an octagonal baptistery including a tank for total immersion. The altar, which was raised to a considerable height above the floor of the nave, had a tall reredos and rood.

History

Architecture

References

Further reading