The Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin is an Anglican church in Addington, in the Borough of Croydon,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It is associated with the

Archbishops of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

of the 19th century, who lived at nearby

Addington Palace Addington Palace is an 18th-century mansion in Addington located within the London Borough of Croydon. It was built on the site of a 16th-century manor house. It is particularly known for having been, between 1807 and 1897, the summer reside ...

: five of the archbishops are buried at the church.

History

There is evidence for a church on this site since at least 1080 AD. It was once the only church in Addington village when it was the centre of a larger parish then incorporating Shirley. It has an 11th-century

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

and windows. The south aisle, built in the early 13th century, is narrow as it once had a thatched roof, hence its falling roofline. The

belltower 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 towe ...

assumed its current form in 1876. The church tower has a belfry with 6 bells, the earliest probably dating from 1380 as well as two 17th-century bells. The bells were restored in 1957. The chancel was richly decorated in 1898 in memory of Archbishop

Edward White Benson Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral. He was previous ...

. On 29 January 1951, St Mary's became a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. The parish was part of the

Diocese of Canterbury The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest see of the Church of England. The ''Repor ...

until 1984 when it joined 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 Dio ...

Notable burials

The crypt is now inaccessible, but the church is the burial place of a

Lord Mayor of the City of London Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ...

, the

armigerous In heraldry, an armiger is a person entitled to use a heraldic achievement (e.g., bear arms, an "armour-bearer") either by hereditary right, grant, matriculation, or assumption of arms. Such a person is said to be armigerous. A family or a cl ...

Leigh family who were Lords of the manor, and five of the six

who spent time at their residence nearby of

. The archbishops interred at St Mary's are: *Archbishop

Charles Manners-Sutton Charles Manners-Sutton (17 February 1755 – 21 July 1828; called Charles Manners before 1762) was a bishop in the Church of England who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1805 to 1828. Life Manners-Sutton was the fourth son of Lord G ...

– died 1828 (buried in a vault under the vestry). *Archbishop

William Howley William Howley (12 February 1766 – 11 February 1848) was a clergyman in the Church of England. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1828 to 1848. Early life, education, and interests Howley was born in 1766 at Ropley, Hampshire, w ...

– died 1848 (buried in the chancel). *Archbishop

John Bird Sumner John Bird Sumner (25 February 1780 – 6 September 1862) was a bishop in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury. Early life John Bird Sumner was born in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, on 25 February 1780. He was the eldest son of th ...

– died 1862 (buried in the churchyard). *Archbishop

Charles Longley Charles Thomas Longley (28 July 1794 – 27 October 1868) was a bishop in the Church of England. He served as Bishop of Ripon, Bishop of Durham, Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1862 until his death. Life He was born at Ro ...

– died 1868 (buried in the churchyard). *Archbishop

Archibald Campbell Tait Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 18113 December 1882) was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England. Life Tait was b ...

– died 1882 (buried in the churchyard). There is also a memorial to the archbishops in the graveyard. The churchyard also contains

Commonwealth war graves The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

of thirteen service personnel, four from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and nine from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

.CWGC Cemetery report
details from casualty record. (Note: the CWGC site shows 14, but one of these (J. COLLIER) is identified as being an alias of another entry (J. ROSTRON)).

Home Guard Memorial

There is a stained glass window serving as a memorial to the services of the 59th (Addington) Battalion of the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or military reserve force, reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the America ...

during the Second World War. * Above the double window is a small circular window bearing the Paschal Lamb emblem of the

Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British A ...

, along with their motto "Pristinae Virtutis Memor". * At the top of the double windows (spread over both) is a biblical verse "Everyone had his sword by his side and so builded. Neh. 4 v 18". * At the bottom, again spread over the two windows, is the dedication: "To the Glory of God and as a memorial of their service to King and Country by members of the 59th Surrey (Addington) Battalion Home Guard, this window is erected. 1952."

Present day

Now the church ministers to the people living in the more immediate vicinity that includes Addington village, the southern elevation of and escarpment running down from the Addington Hills, the residences along Fieldway on the northernmost part of the

New Addington New Addington is a town in South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon, south of Addington Village and north of Biggin Hill. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addingt ...

estate, Addington and Forestdale. The church stands in the Modern Catholic

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

Notable clergy

John Cavell John Caldicott Cavell (12 January 1813 – 5 February 1887) was a department store proprietor and mayor of Oxford, England. John Cavell was born in Bardwell, Suffolk, the son of Charles and Sarah Cavell, He married Sarah Elliston of Summertow ...

was a curate here between 1947 and 1949, he later became Bishop of Southampton *

Michael Perham Michael Perham (born 16 March 1992) is an English sailor and adventurer from Potters Bar. In 2007 at the age of 14 he became the youngest person in the world to successfully sail across the Atlantic Ocean single-handedly, beating the record ...

was a curate here between 1976 and 1981, he later became Bishop of Gloucester

Images

St Mary's, Addington Village, CR0 - geograph.org.uk - 55142.jpg , The

St Mary's Addington.JPG , The

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bur ...

Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Addington, Surrey - geograph.org.uk - 1031797.jpg , View from the road St Mary's, Addington Village, CR0 - geograph.org.uk - 55139.jpg , View from the west St_Mary_Addington_Memorial_Window.jpg , The Home Guard Memorial Window

References

External links

Church website
*

A Church Near You The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's

Addington Addington may refer to: Places In Australia: * Addington, Victoria In Canada: * Addington, Ontario * Addington County, Ontario (now Lennox and Addington County, Ontario) * Addington Highlands, Ontario * Addington Parish, New Brunswick * Add ...

History of the London Borough of Croydon

Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Croydon