St Mark's Church, Surbiton, is one of two

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, ...

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 ...

es in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

- the other is St Andrew's. It is dedicated to

Saint Mark Mark the Evangelist ( Koinē Greek: Μᾶρκος, romanized: ''Mârkos''), also known as John Mark ( Koinē Greek: Ἰωάννης Μᾶρκος, romanized: ''Iōánnēs Mârkos;'' Aramaic'': ܝܘܚܢܢ, romanized: Yōḥannān'') or Saint Ma ...

, and is situated near the top of St Mark's Hill, near the junction with Church Hill Road.

History

Saint Mark's is the oldest church in Surbiton, dating back to 1845. During the course of the 19th century, it was extended, and the spire added towards the end of the century. St Mark's suffered severe bomb damage during the

London Blitz London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

of 1940. Its spire survived but the roof and much of the chancel was destroyed, and the graves in the churchyard scattered. The church was closed for two decades before being reopened in 1960, after major restoration work. During this time a temporary church hall with a tin roof was used for worship. In September 2010 the church was closed for restoration again, during which the congregation worshipped at Saint Andrew's. Saint Mark's reopened its doors once more on 24 June 2012. During the restoration, a new hall was installed and the pews replaced by seats. The church has two books of remembrance scribed by the

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Mildred Ratcliffe Mildred Mary Ratcliffe FSSI (1899–1988) was an English painter, commercial artist & calligrapher, known for her poster designs for the Post Office Savings Bank. Biography Ratcliffe was born on 17 October 1899 in Rochester, Kent as the sec ...

Building

Saint Mark's has a light airy interior, with a traditional layout of

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 ...

and

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 ...

, and also a

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

. The church is orientated in the traditional way, with the high

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

at the east end. The main entrance is through the south porch and door. 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 ...

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

and north wall were the only surviving parts of the original church which survived the bombing, although the tower has since had to be repaired. They are thus the only places where the work of the Victorian masons and stone carvers can be seen. Most of the

gravestones 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 ...

have been removed from the

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 ...

, as they were broken and damaged, but some interesting

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

s remain.

Gallery

File:Surbiton, St Mark's Church.jpg, St Mark's Church File:Surbiton, St Mark's Church, stained glass window (1).jpg, Stained glass by W T Carter Shapland (1960) File:Surbiton, St Mark's Church, chancel.jpg, Interior

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mark's Church, Surbiton

Surbiton

1845 establishments in the United Kingdom Churches completed in 1845 19th-century Church of England church buildings

Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom History of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames