St Mark's Church, Kennington, is an
Anglican church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
on Kennington Park Road in
Kennington, London, United Kingdom, near
Oval tube station
Oval is a London Underground station in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is on the Northern line between Kennington and Stockwell stations and is in Travelcard Zone 2. It opened on 18 December 1890 as part of the City and South London Railway ...
. The church is a
Commissioners' church
A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplie ...
, receiving a grant from the Church Building Commission towards its cost. Authorised by the Church Building Act 1824 (5 Geo 4 Cap CIII), it was built on the site of the old gallows corner on
Kennington Common
Kennington Common was a swathe of common land mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth. It was one of the earliest venues for cricket around London, with matches played between 1724 and 1785.G B Buckley, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'' ...
.
The architect was David R. Roper, possibly with A.B. Clayton, and was opened in 1824. The total cost of the church, including the land and other expenses, was £22,720. This was paid partly by the local parishioners and partly by Parliament through a grant known as "The Million Fund".
Clergy
The first incumbent was
William Otter
William Otter (23 October 1768 – 20 August 1840) was the first Principal of King's College, London, who later served as Bishop of Chichester.
Early life
William Otter was born at Cuckney, Nottinghamshire on 23 October 1768, the son of Do ...
(1824-1832), subsequently
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...
. His son,
William Bruère Otter, subsequently
Archdeacon of Lewes, was another early Stipendiary Curate.
He was followed by the Rev Charlton Lane (1832-1865), whose son, also the Rev
Charlton Lane
Charlton George "CG" Lane (11 June 1836, Kennington, London – 2 November 1892, Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire) was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1854 to 1867.
Lane was a student at Christ Church, Oxford, mat ...
, would go on to play cricket for Oxford University and Surrey.
1865-1869: The Rev Robert Lloyd.
1869-1879: The Ven Edmund Henry Fisher. Fisher was also Chaplain to
Archibald 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 bor ...
, successively
Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
and
Archbishop of Canterbury. He died in 1879.
1879-1889: The Rev
Henry Montgomery. Montgomery was a clergyman who had been born into an
Ulster Scots family in
Cawnpore
Kanpur or Cawnpore (Help:IPA/English, /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (Wikipedia:Media help, help·:File:Kanpur.ogg, info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one ...
. He later served as
Bishop of Tasmania. His son, who was born in Kennington, was
Field Marshal The 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.
1889-1897: The Rev Arthur Gerald Bowman. He was the son of
Sir William Bowman Bt.
1897-1947: For 50 years, including
WWII
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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Vicar was the top-hatted the Rev John Darlington DD, brother-in-law of Bishop Montgomery. Darlington drove a 1904
James & Browne
James & Browne was a British automobile manufacturer, based in Hammersmith, London between 1898 and 1910.
The James & Browne factory was located at the Chiswick end of King's Street in West London, and there was a car showroom on Oxford Stre ...
, which has participated in many
London to Brighton Car Runs.
1947-1963: The Rev Canon Harold Wallace Bird, who rebuilt the Church after wartime damage. Bird was ordained in Lahore, British India, and was then Chaplain
St. Andrew's Church, Lahore
St. Andrew's Church in Lahore, Pakistan, was built by the British Empire, British in 1872, for the Christian employees of the Railways, in the Neo-Gothic style of architecture that was prevalent at the time. The present Vicar Revd. Dr. Irshad John ...
1922–1925; worked for
SPG in the Diocese of York 1925–1927; and was then in Australia from 1927.
1964-1971: The Rev
Colin John Fraser Scott. Scott was subsequently
Bishop of Hulme
The Bishop of Hulme was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester, in the Province of York, England. The See was created by Order in Council on 11 October 1923 (under the Suffragans Nomination ...
, 1984–1998.
1972-1989: The Rev Canon Sir Thomas Nicholas Rivett-Carnac, the 8th
Baronet Rivett-Carnac.
1990-1998: The Rev John Michael Starr.
1999-2008: The Rev Robert Delatour de Berry. For many years de Berry was a director of the
Barnabas Fund
The Barnabas Fund is an international, interdenominational Christian aid agency based in Coventry, in the West Midlands of England that supports Christians who face discrimination or persecution as a consequence of their faith. It was established ...
, which is a charity that supports persecuted Christians.
2009-2011: The Rev Michael Stuart Starkey.
Since 2012: The Rev Canon Stephen Coulson. Previously Vicar, St Mark's Mitcham.
Building
Badly bombed during
WWII
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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the church was restored through the efforts of the post-war Vicar, the Rev Wallace Bird, and reopened in 1949. The church is
listed Grade II* on the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...
and its walls and gate piers are listed Grade II.
The
WWI
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
War Memorial is also separately listed Grade II.
The organ is a 28 stop
Noel Mander
Noel or Noël may refer to:
Christmas
* , French for Christmas
* Noel is another name for a Christmas carol
Places
* Noel, Missouri, United States, a city
*Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community
* 1563 Noël, an asteroid
*Mount Noel, Britis ...
, installed in 1949, and originally located in the former St Andrew's, New Kent Road.
On Saturdays a farmers' market is held in the churchyard. The first market took place in 2007.
See also
*
List of Commissioners' churches in London
A Commissioners' church is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament as a result of the Church Building Act 1818, and subsequent related Act of Parliament, Acts. S ...
*
St. George's Episcopal Memorial Church
St. George's Episcopal Memorial Church, a historic Episcopal church in Bismarck, North Dakota's capital, is unique for its construction incorporating stained glass from English churches bombed in World War II into its own stained-glass windows ...
, a church in the US with a stained glass window containing shards of glass collected from this church when it was damaged in World War II.
References
External links
*
Fifty notable churches of London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Marks Church, Kennington
Kennington
Churches completed in 1824
19th-century Church of England church buildings
Kennington
Religious organizations established in 1829
Evangelicalism in the Church of England
Georgian architecture in London
Greek Revival church buildings in the United Kingdom
Neoclassical architecture in London
1829 establishments in England
Grade II* listed churches in London
Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Lambeth
Grade II listed walls
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Lambeth
Neoclassical church buildings in England