St Luke'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 ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

. It is part of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

and, locally, is a member of Churches Together in Kew. Together with St Philip and All Saints (the Barn Church), it is one of two parishes within the united

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 ...

of Kew, St Philip & All Saints with St Luke. Its

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 ...

, Rev Dr Melanie Harrington, took up the role in June 2021. The church, built in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style by architects Goldie, Child and Goldie, is also host to the Kew Community Trust and acts as a

community centre A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

Communications

The parish publishes a magazine, ''The Link''.

History

Kew's population increased considerably when the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines), Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One br ...

was extended to Richmond and a railway station was opened at Kew Gardens. To meet the needs of the extended parish, a temporary "iron church" (later Victoria & St John's Working Men's Club) was opened in Sandycombe Road. St Luke's Church, in The Avenue, was built to replace it, in 1889. The large Victorian church could seat a congregation of 400, built in irregularly coursed sandstone with a large towerless nave and a chancel of equal height. The initial design also included a spire that was never built. The population of Kew was increasing at this time, brought about partly by the extension of the London and South Western Railway to Kew and Richmond, and St Luke's was built in anticipation of a growing population and growing congregation, although it is doubtful whether it ever regularly enjoyed full congregations. By the 1970s, the congregation had dwindled (sometimes to just as few as 12), and there were frequent complaints of the church being uncomfortable and cold. In the late 1970s, ambitious plans to turn the church in to a secular day centre for the elderly, with a much-reduced area for worship were drawn up, £600,000 was budgeted for the conversion, and the church hall was sold for £50,000 with the proceeds going towards the cost of the work. The work was carried out in two phases, phase 1 from 1984-1985, and phase two in 1989. The upstairs room, which opened in 1990, was opened by HRH Princes Alexandra, after whom it was named. The works reduced the church area to just the former chancel and aisles, with the rest of the building given to secular uses, occupied by the Kew Community Trust, which leases the premises from the parochial church council. This portion of the building is known as 'The Avenue Halls', and can be hired for adult or children’s parties, weddings and other celebrations. A rebuilt and restored Walker pipe organ (1880) was installed in 1999, originally built for the Brentford Free Church. The church originally had an organ by Henry Willis from 1897. Former

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chairman Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley, was priest in charge from 1986 to 1991.

Other uses

The community spaces in the building are currently occupied by the Kew Community Trust. The core activity of the Trust is the Avenue Club, a non-profit making social centre offering a range of recreational activities for the whole community.

Gallery

File:St Luke's church, Kew - south porch - geograph.org.uk - 1526472.jpg, South porch File:St Luke's church, Kew - chancel - geograph.org.uk - 1526475.jpg, The

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

References

External links

*
Official website

Kew Community Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Luke's Church, Kew 1889 establishments in England 19th-century Church of England church buildings