St Anne's Church, Kew is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

located 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 ...

, adjacent to the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

. The neo-classical

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

historically in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, which dates from 1714 and is

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 ...

, forms the central focus of

Kew Green Kew Green is a large open space in Kew in west London. Owned by the Crown Estate, it is leased to the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames. It is roughly triangular in shape, and its open grassland, framed with broadleaf trees, extends to abo ...

. Its raised

churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...

, which is on three sides of St Anne's Church, has two Grade II* listed monuments – the tombs of the

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

(1727–1788) and

Johan Zoffany Johan / Johann Joseph Zoffany (born Johannes Josephus Zaufallij; 13 March 1733 – 11 November 1810) was a German Neoclassicism, neoclassical painter who was active mainly in England, Italy, and India. His works appear in many prominent Briti ...

(1733–1810). French Impressionist

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

(1830–1903), a frequent visitor to England was resident at 10 Kew Green when painting St Anne's as ''Church at Kew'' (1892).

Services

Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...

s St Anne's Church holds a traditional

Said Said can refer to: * Speech, or the act of speaking * Saʽid, a male Arabic given name * Said (honorific), a honorific in Islamic culture * Said, Iran (disambiguation), multiple places in Iran * Port Said, a city in Egypt * Saïd Business School ...

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

, a Sung Eucharist and (on the first Sunday of the month)

Choral Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

Music

St Anne's Church houses a 19th-century

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

and is a venue for concerts, including those of the local

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

, ''Kew Sinfonia''.

History

Founded in 1714 as a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

within the parish of Kingston on ancient royal

manorial Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, ...

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

dedicated by Queen Anne, St Anne's Church has been extended several times since. As the settlement of

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

grew attracting prosperous London merchants under royal patronage, St Anne's became a

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

in 1769 being united with St Peter's Petersham and in 1770, King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

undertook to pay for its first extension, designed by

Joshua Kirby Joshua Kirby (1716 – 1774), often mistakenly called John Joshua Kirby, was an English 18th-century landscape painter, engraver, writer, draughtsman and architect famed for his publications and teaching on linear perspective based on Brook T ...

who, four years later, was buried in the churchyard. In 1805, a new south aisle, designed by Robert Browne, was added, along with a

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: * Gallery (surname), a surname Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery ** Online art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ' ...

for the Royal Family's use. Under King

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

it was further extended in 1837 by Sir Jeffry Wyattville. A

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in its own right from 1850, a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

Benjamin Ferrey Benjamin Ferrey List of Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (1 April 1810 – 22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic revival architecture, Gothic Re ...

was added in 1851, and an eastern extension, including a

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

in 1882–84, to the design of

Henry Stock Henry Stock (1824/5–1909) was a British architect. He served as the county surveyor for Essex for nearly 50 years, and as the surveyor and architect to the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers. The latter appointment led Stock to undertake a c ...

. Further extensions were made in 1902, 1979 and 1988. The church ceiling was repainted in 2013 and, to mark St Anne's

tercentenary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

, in 2014 a new

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

was installed. St Anne's present

parish hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church architecture, church, generally for community and Charitable organization, charitable use. In smaller and village communities, it is often a separate building near the ...

, at

right angles In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle of exactly 90 degrees or radians corresponding to a quarter turn. If a ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the adjacent angles are equal, then they are right angles. T ...

to the church incorporating the previous

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

, was built in 1978. Its design echoes the materials and forms of the original church building. A collection of

funerary hatchment A funerary hatchment is a depiction within a black lozenge-shaped frame, generally on a black (''sable'') background, of a deceased's heraldic achievement, that is to say the escutcheon showing the arms, together with the crest and supporters ...

s honouring deceased royal or noble parishioners is on display in front of the church gallery, flanking a rare representation of Queen Anne's coat of arms. A hatchment commemorating George III's son, King Ernest Augustus of Hanover, was hung at St Anne's in 1851 and is now in the

Museum of Richmond The Museum of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is located in Richmond's Old Town Hall, close to Richmond Bridge. It was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 October 1988. An independent museum and a register ...

's collection. Inside the church are fine memorials, including those to the families of Sir William Jackson Hooker and Sir Richard Levett, beneath the

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

which is inscribed: "Within this vault lie the remains of Sir Richard Levett, Knight, of Kew. Also of Lady Mary Levett, his wife, who died October 15th, 1722". Just outside the church walls on its south side, is the

War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

, in the form of a large stone cross, commemorating the local soldiers who fell in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

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 ...

s. Their names are listed not on the memorial but inside the church on a monument by

William Sharpington William Sharpington (1900–1973) was a British lettering artist who worked in sign painting and the design of monuments. In the view of John Nash and Gerald Fleuss, his workshop "produced, from the 40s to the 60s, some of the most distinguished ...

Parish events

Baptisms

Francis Perceval Eliot Francis Perceval Eliot (September 1755 – 23 August 1818) was an English soldier, auditor, and man of letters. In 1814 he succeeded his half-brother as Count Eliot, however he did not feel it was proper to assume the title.Marshall, John, ''Ro ...

, 9 October 1755, ''de jure'' 3rd Count Eliot and elder surviving son of Major-General Granville Eliot, 1st Count Eliot by Elizabeth Duckett.

Marriages

Francis, Duke of Teck Francis, Duke of Teck (Francis Paul Charles Louis Alexander; 28 August 1837 – 21 January 1900), known as Count Francis von Hohenstein until 1863, was an Austrian-born nobleman who married into the British royal family. His wife, Princess M ...

married

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

on 12 June 1866, whose daughter "May" married

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. George w ...

becoming known as Queen Mary.

Burials

William Aiton William Aiton (17312 February 1793) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist. Aiton was born near Hamilton, Scotland, Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Phi ...

(d. 1793), first Keeper of the

William Townsend Aiton William Townsend Aiton (2 February 1766 – 9 October 1849) was an English botanist. Early life and education Aiton was born at Kew on 2 February 1766, the eldest child of the four daughters and two sons of Elizabeth (née Townsend) (''c''.1 ...

(d. 1849) son of above, English botanist, royal gardener *

Franz Bauer Franz Andreas Bauer (later Francis) (14 March 1758 – 11 December 1840) was an Austrian microscopist and botanical artist. Born in Feldsberg, Lower Austria (now Valtice, Czech Republic), he was the son of Lucas Bauer (died 1761), court pain ...

(d. 1840), Austrian

microscopist Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view subjects too small to be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of microscopy: optical, el ...

and

botanical artist Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive about subjects depicted and are often found printed alongside a botanical description in boo ...

, whose epitaph also pays tribute to his brother the botanical illustrator

Ferdinand Bauer Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (20 January 1760 – 17 March 1826) was an Austrian botanical illustrator who travelled on Matthew Flinders' expedition to Australia. Biography Early life and career Bauer was born in Feldsberg in 1760, the youngest son ...

(d. 1826): "In the delineation of plants he

ranz Ranz was an automotive marque owned by Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. which specialises in electric cars. It was launched in April 2013 but following showing three concept cars between 2013 and 2017, no production cars were sold. History T ...

united the accuracy of a profound naturalist with the skill of the accomplished artist, to a degree which has been only equalled by his brother Ferdinand" * Prof. Patrick Brenan (d. 1985), British botanist, and director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew * Elizabeth, Countess of Derby (d. 1717), Mistress of the Robes * Dorothy, Lady Capell of Tewkesbury (d. 1721), benefactor of

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

* Sir John Day (d. 1808), Advocate-General of Bengal * Brigadier-General William Douglas (d. 1747), Member of Parliament *

George Engleheart George Engleheart (1750–1829) was an English painter of portrait miniatures, and a contemporary of Richard Cosway, John Smart, William Wood, and Richard Crosse. Family and home Engleheart is generally thought to have been born in Kew, S ...

(d. 1829), Anglo-German miniature painter to the Court of King George III and his nephew John Engleheart (d. 1862) ** Sir Gardner Engleheart (d. 1923) son of above, barrister and travel writer *

(d. 1788), English portrait and landscape painter *

John Haverfield John Haverfield (1744–1820) was an English gardener and landscape architect. Early life He was born at Haverfield House on Kew Green, the son of John Haverfield Sr (1694–1784) and Ann Drew. His father, a surveyor at Twickenham, was Head ...

(d. 1820), English gardener and landscape architect, whose father

(d. 1784), was

Head Gardener {{no footnotes, date=July 2020 A head gardener is an individual who manages all horticultural aspects of a property or garden, including staff and volunteers. The properties they manage include historic gardens and private estates, as well as ameni ...

at Kew to Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales ** Revd Thomas Haverfield (d. 1866), Rector of Godington and Chaplain to

Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (27 January 1773 – 21 April 1843), was the sixth son and ninth child of George III, King George III and his queen consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was the only surviving son of George III ...

* Sir William Hooker (d. 1865), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, and his son, botanist and explorer Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (d. 1911) *

(d. 1774), 18th-century painter known for his work on

linear perspective Linear or point-projection perspective () is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, generally on a flat surface, of ...

* Sir Richard Levett (d. 1711), Master Haberdasher and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

, his family members including grandsons, Revd Abraham Blackburne (d. 1797) and

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

Levett Blackburne (d. 1781), who sold

Kew Palace Kew Palace is a British royal palace within the grounds of Kew Gardens on the banks of the River Thames. Originally a large complex, few elements of it survive. Dating to 1631 but built atop the undercroft of an earlier building, the main surv ...

to the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

Jeremiah Meyer Jeremiah Meyer (born Jeremias Majer; 18 January 1735 – 19 January 1789) was an 18th-century English miniature painter. He was Painter in Miniatures to Queen Charlotte, Painter in Enamels to King George III and was one of the founder membe ...

(d. 1789), English miniature painter * John Smith (d. 1888), botanist and the first curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew * Timothy Tyrell (d. 1832), City Remembrancer *

(d. 1810), German neoclassical painter active in England.

Formerly buried at St Anne's

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (Adolphus Frederick; 24 February 1774 – 8 July 1850) was the tenth child and seventh son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until ...

, and his wife

Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (Augusta Wilhelmina Louisa; 25 July 1797 – 6 April 1889) was the wife of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the tenth-born child, and seventh son, of George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenb ...

were buried at St Anne's Church in 1850 and 1889 respectively, before being exhumed and their remains removed in 1930 to

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal peculiar, Royal Peculia ...

Notable clergy and officers

Since 2022, Canon Giles Fraser serves as

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of St Anne's, Kew,www.richmondandbarnesdeanery.org
/ref> where Anthony Saxton (1934–2015) was formerly

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion, Lutheran Churches or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' mem ...

Gallery

Church exterior

Image:St Anne Kew Green 4879crop.JPG, St Anne's Church in the snow File:St Anne's Churchyard, Kew Green in London.jpg, TRH the Duke and

Duchess of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge is a hereditary title of nobility in the British royal family, one of several royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom. The title is named after the city of Cambridge in England. It is heritable by male descendants by primogeni ...

’s small-domed

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

at St Anne’s, Kew File:War Memorial, Kew Green - London. (6776025499).jpg,

War Memorial

Church interior

File:St Anne's Church, Kew, interior.jpg, St Anne's

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 ...

File:Kew, St Anne's, George Engleheart memorial.jpg, Engleheart memorial tablet

Tombs and gravestones

File:Kew, St Anne's Churchyard, The Aiton family tomb.jpg, Aiton family tomb File:Grave of Thomas Gainsborough, St Anne's Church, Kew.jpg, Tomb of

File:St Anne's, Kew, Hooker family grave.jpg, Hooker family

gravestone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

File:Kew, St Anne's Churchyard, tomb of Joshua Kirby 2.jpg, Tomb of

File:St Anne's Church, Kew, John Smith and family headstone.jpg, Botanist John Smith family gravestone File:Tomb of Johan Zoffany.jpg, Tomb of

References

External links

Official website
*
The Friends of St Anne's Church, Kew

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Anne's Church, Kew 1714 establishments in England 18th-century Church of England church buildings

Kew Green Anne, Queen of Great Britain Churches in Kew

Church buildings with domes Domes in the United Kingdom Jeffry Wyatville buildings Grade II* listed monuments and memorials History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Camille Pissarro Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew World War I memorials in London World War II memorials in London