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St Mary Magdalene, Richmond, in the
Anglican 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 ...
, is a
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 ...
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 ...
on Paradise Road,
Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...
. The church, dedicated to Jesus' companion
Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...
, was built in the early 16th century but has been greatly altered so that, apart from the tower, the visible parts of the church date from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Since 1996 St Mary Magdalene's has been part of the Richmond Team Ministry, which also includes the churches of St John the Divine and
St Matthias Matthias (; Koine Greek: , , from Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew ; ; died ) was, according to the Acts of the Apostles, chosen by God through the Twelve Apostles, apostles to replace Judas Iscariot following the latter's betrayal of Jesus and his s ...
. It has a strong musical tradition and offers choral services each Sunday.


History

The initial chapel was built in around 1220. The church was entirely reconstructed during the reign of Henry VII who, after rebuilding the royal palace of Sheen, renamed Sheen as Richmond in 1501. The two bottom sections of the tower that survive from this period were re-faced in
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 ...
in 1904. In the early 17th century, a south aisle was added to the
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 ...
. The north aisle was added in 1699. The original nave and the south aisle were rebuilt in 1750, and iron window frames replaced the original windows in 1850. The plaster ceiling over the nave was replaced in 1866 by the architect Arthur Blomfield with timberwork, described by
Bridget Cherry Bridget Cherry (born 17 May 1941) is a British architectural historian who was series editor of the Pevsner Architectural Guides from 1971 until 2002, and is the author or co-author of several volumes in the series.Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
as "inappropriate". Blomfield also constructed new galleries and replaced the
box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in c ...
s with bench pews. In 1903–04 the architect George Frederick Bodley replaced 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 ...
with a new chancel, two chapels (Chapel of All Souls and Chapel of All Saints) and a
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 ...
in a Neo-Gothic style. The tower was faced with
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 ...
and stone to match the east end. The north and south galleries were removed at this time. The west gallery was removed in 1935–36.


Burials and monuments

*
Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...
, Lord Attenborough (d. 2014), actor, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and politician, who lived on Richmond Green. His ashes are interred in a vault beside those of his spouse Sheila, their daughter Jane Holland and his granddaughter, Lucy, both of whom had died in the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. * There is a memorial inside the church to popular novelist
Mary Elizabeth Braddon Mary Elizabeth Braddon (4 October 1835 – 4 February 1915) was an English popular Novelists, novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel ''Lady Audley's Secret'', which has also been dramatised and filmed seve ...
, who lived in Richmond, died in 1915 and is interred in
Richmond Cemetery Richmond Cemetery is a cemetery on Lower Grove Road in Richmond, London, Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It opened in 1786 on a plot of land granted by an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, Act of Parliame ...
. * Henry Brouncker, 3rd Viscount Brouncker (d. 1688), was Cofferer of the Household to Charles II, and served as
Gentleman of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the Royal Household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Households of the United Kingdo ...
to James, Duke of York (who became James II). He is buried at the church and there is also a memorial to him. *The oldest monument in the church is a brass plaque to Robert Cotton (d. 1591), a courtier to
Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...
and
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
. * The church has a memorial to
Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam (1 August 1745 – 4 February 1816) of Mount Merrion, Dublin, Ireland, and of FitzWilliam House in the parish of Richmond in Surrey, England, was an Anglo-Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Irelan ...
(d. 1816), founder of the
Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...
in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, and his grandfather Sir Matthew Decker (d. 1749), a merchant and writer on trade who was High Sheriff of Surrey in 1729. * The local philanthropist William Hickey (d. 1727), whose bequest funded the building of
Hickey's Almshouses Hickey's Almshouses are almshouses between Sheen Road and St Mary's Grove in Richmond, London. A plaque over the entrance records that the almshouses were built "for Ten poor Men and Ten poor Women by the bounty of William Hickey Esq. Who by ...
in Richmond, is buried in an
altar tomb A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a deceased person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms ranging from a simple commemorative plaque or mural tablet affixed to a wall, to a lar ...
in the churchyard. * Barbara Hofland (d. 1844), author and poet, is buried in the church, and there is also a memorial to her. * The Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean, who died in 1833, is buried in the church. There is also a memorial to him inside the church. *Barabara Lowther (d 1805), by
John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...
. * Samuel Paynter, of Richmond, who died in 1844, is buried in the church. He was High Sheriff of Surrey in 1839. He is commemorated by a memorial tablet with two marble full-length angels, by Edward Hodges Baily RA FRS, who was famous for sculpting Admiral Horatio Nelson on
Nelson's column Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during whi ...
in London's
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...
. *The poet James Thomson, who wrote the lyrics of "
Rule, Britannia! "Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the 1740 poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in the same year. It is most strongly associated with the Royal Navy, but is also used by th ...
" and died in 1748, is buried near the font. There is a brass memorial to him inside the church: it was placed there by
David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan David Stuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan, (1 June 1742 – 19 April 1829), styled Lord Cardross between 1747 and 1767, was a Scottish antiquarian, founder of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and patron of the arts and sciences. Backg ...
in 1792. *George Wakefield (d. 1776) and his sons Thomas Wakefield (who succeeded his father as Minister at the church until his death in 1806) and Gilbert Wakefield (d. 1801), scholar and controversialist, are commemorated by memorials on the north wall. * The actor Richard Yates (d. 1796) was buried at his own request in the chancel by his second wife Mary Ann Yates, who was also a well-known actress; her age is recorded as 49 although she was probably born in Birmingham in 1728.


Bells

The tower contains a ring of eight bells. They bear dates between 1680 and 1761 and were re-hung in a clockwise ring in the 1980s. The
tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
bell weighs almost 19 cwt.


Organ

The organ was built in 1907 by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd, who also cleaned it in 1929 and restored it in 1965. A specification of the organ can be found on the
National Pipe Organ Register The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...
.


Notable clergy

* The
Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated as The Rt Revd or The Rt Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian ministers and members of clergy. It is a variant of the more common st ...
Eyre Chatterton, DD,
FRGS The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
(1863–1950), an eminent Anglican author who served as Bishop of Nagpur, India from 1903 to 1926, as well as being an amateur tennis player, was appointed
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...
at St Mary Magdalene's in 1900.


Gallery

File:Richmond St Mary Magdalene's Church 002.jpg, St Mary Magdalene Church File:Richmond St Mary Magdalene's Church 004 chancel.JPG, Interior, looking towards 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 ...
File:St Mary Magdalene, Richmond - Chancel (geograph 3244443).jpg, Chancel File:St Mary Magdalene, Richmond - West end (geograph 3244448).jpg, West end File:Edmund Kean's grave.jpg, Edmund Kean's grave File:Edmund Kean memorial.jpg, Memorial to Edmund Kean File:Miss Braddon memorial.jpg, Memorial to " Miss Braddon" File:Samuel Paynter Memorial.jpeg, Memorial to Samuel Payntery


References


Further reading

* Boyes, Graham (2004). ''Guide to the Church of St Mary Magdalene Richmond''. Richmond Team Ministry. * * *


External links


Official website


{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary Magdalene, Richmond 13th-century establishments in England 16th-century Church of England church buildings Richmond Arthur Blomfield church buildings Richmond Grade II* listed churches in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Richmond, London George Frederick Bodley church buildings