St Luke's Church in

Charlton, London Charlton is an area of southeast London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east of Greenwich and west of Woolwich, on the south bank of the River Thames, southeast of Charing Cross. An ancient parish in the county of Kent, i ...

, England, is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 ...

in the

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 ...

. Records suggest that a church dedicated to

St Luke Luke the Evangelist was one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Prominent figu ...

existed on the site around 1077. It was rebuilt in 1630 with funds provided by Sir Adam Newton, of Charlton House. The coat of arms of one of Newton's executors, the Scottish courtier David Cunningham of Auchenharvie is displayed on the pulpit. The 1630s work, constructed of Kentish red brick, forms the core of the present building, which 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 ...

. It was modified in the 17th century, again in 1840 and finally in 1956. Remnants of

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

and

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

walls have been found and may relate to the original building. The church operated under the aegis of

Bermondsey Abbey Bermondsey Abbey was an English Benedictine monastery. Although generally regarded as having been founded in the 11th century, it had a precursor mentioned in the early 8th century. It was centred on what is now Bermondsey Square, the site ...

until the Dissolution of the Monasteries; thereafter, in 1607, the lands upon which it stood passed to Newton. It now practises the Modern Catholic tradition. Marriages of notable people at St Luke's include that of Anne Shovell, granddaughter of Sir

Cloudesley Shovell Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell ( – 22/23 October 1707) was an Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As a captain he fo ...

, to John Blackwood on 28 July 1726.

Burials

Among the people buried at the church are two whose deaths were political assassinations. One of those is the British Prime Minister

Spencer Perceval Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was a British statesman and barrister who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. He is the only British prime minister to have been as ...

, and the other

Edward Drummond Edward Drummond Bass (30 March 1792 – 25 January 1843) was a British civil servant, and was Personal Secretary to several British prime ministers. He was fatally shot by Daniel M'Naghten, whose subsequent trial gave rise to the M'Naghten rul ...

, a personal secretary to several British Prime Ministers whose murder led to the establishment of the legal test for insanity known as the

M'Naghten rules The M'Naghten rule(s) (pronounced, and sometimes spelled, McNaughton) is a legal test (law), test defining the Insanity defense, defence of insanity that was formulated by the House of Lords in 1843. It is the established standard in UK crimina ...

. The church's patron, Sir Adam Newton (former tutor to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

) and his wife Katharine, are buried in the church, as are a number of other royal servants: Edward Wilkinson (d.1567), master-cook to Queen Elizabeth; Brigadier Michael Richards (d.1721),

Surveyor-General of the Ordnance The Surveyor-General of the Ordnance was a subordinate of the Master-General of the Ordnance and a member of the Board of Ordnance, a British government body, from its constitution in 1597. Appointments to the post were made by the crown under ...

to King George I; and John Griffith (d.1713), brigadier of the second troop of Guards, under Queen Anne.

White Ensign

The church is entitled to fly the

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

that was in use prior to the 1800 Acts of Union. It can do so on the saint's days of St Luke and St George, in recognition of its past role as a navigational landmark for ships on 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 th ...

References

Notes Citations

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Luke's Church Charlton 1630 establishments in England Churches completed in 1630 Charlton Anglo-Catholic church buildings in London 17th-century Church of England church buildings Grade II* listed churches in London History of the Royal Borough of Greenwich Charlton, London Grade II* listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Spencer Perceval