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St Nicholas Church, Chiswick is a Grade II* listed Anglican church in Church Street,
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and ...
, London, near the
River 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 the ...
. Old Chiswick developed as a village around the church from c. 1181. The tower was built at some time between 1416 and 1435. The current church dates from 1882 to 1884, when most of the building except the tower was demolished and rebuilt at the expense of the brewer Henry Smith of the nearby Fuller, Smith and Turner brewery. Several monuments survive, mainly in the tower. In the churchyard is a monument to the Italian poet and patriot,
Ugo Foscolo Ugo Foscolo (; 6 February 177810 September 1827), born Niccolò Foscolo, was an Italian writer, revolutionary and a poet. He is especially remembered for his 1807 long poem ''Dei Sepolcri''. Early life Foscolo was born in Zakynthos in the Ion ...
; his remains were returned to Italy, but the Italian government added an inscription to the monument. The painter
William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-lik ...
's monument, near the church, has an epitaph by the actor David Garrick. In the burial ground is the grave of
Frederick Hitch Frederick Hitch, VC (29 November 1856 – 6 January 1913) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions at the Battle of Rorke's Drift, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to Britis ...
,
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
recipient and veteran of the
Battle of Rorke's Drift The Battle of Rorke's Drift (1879), also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. The successful British defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the ...
.


History

There has been a church on the
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and ...
site since at least 1181 in Norman times. The church was formally visited by a senior clergyman and an inventory made at "the unusually early date of 1252":Phillimore 1897. p. 98. This first inventory lists "a good and sufficient
missal A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a pri ...
sent there from the treasury of St Paul's"; two graduals; a badly bound tropary; an old
lectionary A lectionary ( la, lectionarium) is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, and an ...
; an anthem book; a
psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...
but not the expected manual. Valuables included a small silver chalice; a red velvet chasuble; two vestments; three corporals; five altar cloths; an arras cloth; an old chrismatory; two brass and two tin
candlestick A candlestick is a device used to hold a candle in place. Candlesticks have a cup or a spike ("pricket") or both to keep the candle in place. Candlesticks are less frequently called "candleholders". Before the proliferation of electricity, cand ...
s; and a
font In movable type, metal typesetting, a font is a particular #Characteristics, size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "Sort (typesetting), sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of ...
without a lock. The
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. ...
roof needed repairing, and the church was at the time not dedicated. Visitations were repeated in 1297 and 1458. More recently, Major
Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and ...
, later Field Marshal and 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, married Betty Carver in the church on 27 July 1927.


Architecture

The current church dates from 1882 to 1884, when it was rebuilt to a design by the architect
John Loughborough Pearson John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficienc ...
, except for the west tower which was built for William Bordall (vicar 1416–1435). Because of the small distance between the tower and the road at Church Street, Pearson made the nave short but wide, so it is nearly square in plan. The Duke of Devonshire gave £1,000 for the rebuilding, but most of the cost was paid for by Henry Smith of the nearby Griffin Brewery company, Fuller, Smith & Turner. The church is built of courses of squared Kentish ragstone masonry in the
Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...
style. It has a stone coping with a copper roof. Inside the church, surviving 15th-century features include the tall archway to the west tower and the hood-mould over the window above the west door.


Monuments


Inside the church

The monuments in the church include an unnamed early English foliated cross gravemarker (now in the porch), and the following named memorials: * Ralph Wenwood, d. 1799, wall tablet in
swag Swag, SWAG, or Swagg may refer to: Terms and slang * Swag (motif) or festoon, a wreath or garland or a carving depicting foliage and ribbons ** Swag, fabric dressing for a window valance * Swag, stolen goods, in 1800s thieves cant * Swag (pro ...
surround * Charlotte Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, d. 1773, wall tablet and urn. She was the second wife of
Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset (13 August 16622 December 1748), known by the epithet "The Proud Duke", was an English peer. He rebuilt Petworth House in Sussex, the ancient Percy seat inherited from his wife, in the palatial form which ...
* Sir Thomas Chaloner, d. 1615, and his two wives, d. 1603 and 1615, heraldic achievement over baldachino, stone curtains held open by figures on sides; kneeling figures of Sir Thomas and his wife * Mary Litcott, d. 1599, brass * Thomas Bentley, d. 1780, representation of
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Gre ...
by Thomas Scheemakers; Bentley was Josiah Wedgwood's business partner * Richard Taylor, d. 1698, urn on tasselled swag surround held by
cherub A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...
s * Richard Tayler, d. 1716, Corinthian
aedicule In ancient Roman religion, an ''aedicula'' (plural ''aediculae'') is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns and typically framing a statue,"aedicula, n ...
, heraldic cartouche, statues of
Father Time Father Time is a personification of time. In recent centuries he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device. As an image, "Father ...
and
Angel of Death Angel of Death may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Aviation *"Angel of Death", AC130 gunship's nickname Fictional characters * Adam or Andrew, in ''Touched by an Angel'' * Azrael, in ''Lucifer'' * Loki, in the film ''Dogma'' * Jaff ...
* Charles Holland the actor, d. 1769, bust on
obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
, epitaph by the actor David Garrick * James Howard, d. 1669, flaming urn on Ionic aedicule, inscription panel * Thomas Plucknett, d. 1721, broken pediment and Ionic aedicule * John Taylor, d. 1729, open pediment, heraldic achievement in tympanum over Ionic aedicule * Thomas Tomkins, d. 1816, tablet with medallion portrait * Charles Barnevett, d. 1695, pedimented wall tablet * John Beckwith, d. 1815, rectangular fluted tablet


In the churchyard and burial ground

Among the monuments in the churchyard and the adjacent burial ground are: *
Ugo Foscolo Ugo Foscolo (; 6 February 177810 September 1827), born Niccolò Foscolo, was an Italian writer, revolutionary and a poet. He is especially remembered for his 1807 long poem ''Dei Sepolcri''. Early life Foscolo was born in Zakynthos in the Ion ...
, d. 1812, Italian writer, poet and patriot. In 1871, his remains were taken to Italy, but inscriptions were added to the monument in Chiswick by the Italian government, as part of its campaign of glorification of the new Italian state. * Percy Harris, (1876 – 1952), Liberal Party politician. His monument is Grade II* listed. The relief carving by Edward Bainbridge Copnall depicts the
resurrection of the dead General resurrection or universal resurrection is the belief in a resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead ( Koine: , ''anastasis onnekron''; literally: "standing up again of the dead") by which most or all people who have died ...
; it was carved in the late 1920s and acquired by Harris for display in his garden at Morton House, Chiswick Mall. *
William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-lik ...
the painter, d. 1764, and relatives; epitaph poem by David Garrick * Charles Holland, actor; epitaph by David Garrick * Henry Joy, d. 1893, trumpeter in the
Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimea ...
* Philip James de Loutherbourg, d. 1812, landscape painter; mausoleum was designed by Sir John Soane. * James Abbott McNeill Whistler, d. 1903, artist; a classical tomb in bronze (by the wall) * Richard Wright, bricklayer to Lord Burlington, owner of Chiswick House *
Frederick Hitch Frederick Hitch, VC (29 November 1856 – 6 January 1913) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions at the Battle of Rorke's Drift, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to Britis ...
, d. 1913, Victoria Cross recipient and Rorke's Drift veteran File:Mary Litcott memorial St Nicholas Chiswick 1599 brass plate.JPG, Mary Litcott, 1599 File:Richard Taylor memorial St Nicholas Chiswick 1698.JPG, Richard Taylor, 1698 File:James Howard memorial St Nicholas Chiswick 1669.JPG, James Howard, 1669 File:Thomas Plucknett memorial St Nicholas Chiswick 1721.JPG, Thomas Plucknett, 1721 File:Richard Taylor memorial St Nicholas Chiswick 1716.JPG, Richard Tayler, 1716 File:John Taylor memorial St Nicholas Chiswick 1729.JPG, John Taylor, 1729 File:William Hogarth's tomb 683.JPG,
William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-lik ...
, 1764 File:Ugo Foscolo Memorial St Nicholas Churchyard Chiswick, oblique view.JPG,
Ugo Foscolo Ugo Foscolo (; 6 February 177810 September 1827), born Niccolò Foscolo, was an Italian writer, revolutionary and a poet. He is especially remembered for his 1807 long poem ''Dei Sepolcri''. Early life Foscolo was born in Zakynthos in the Ion ...
, 1812,
reworked 1871


See also

* St Michael and All Angels, Bedford Park, where Henry Smith was also involved


References


Sources

* * *


External links


Chiswick History, by Gillian Clegg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Nicholas Church, Chiswick Grade II* listed churches in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Hounslow
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and ...
Diocese of London History of the London Borough of Hounslow Chiswick Buildings and structures in Chiswick Churches on the Thames