St Mary's Church, Hendon

St Mary's Church is the oldest (and Church of England) parish church in Hendon in the London Borough of Barnet. The mother church of Christ Church, Brent Street, the two form one parish in the Diocese of London.[1]

St Mary's Church, Hendon
St Mary's Church viewed from Church End
LocationChurch House, 49 Church End, London NW4 4JT
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationChurch of England
Previous denominationRoman Catholic
Websitewww.hendonparish.org.uk
History
Foundedin 1080 or before
Founder(s)unknown
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade II*
Architect(s)various
StyleEnglish Gothic
Years built1080, and two main further building phases
Administration
ParishSt Mary and Christ Church, Hendon
DeaneryWest Barnet
ArchdeaconryHampstead
Episcopal areaEdmonton
DioceseLondon
Clergy
Bishop(s)Bishop of Edmonton (London) & Bishop of London
Vicar(s)Gwyn Clement
Curate(s)Damien Mason
Laity
Director of musicRichard Morrison
Churchwarden(s)Pat Morgan
Geoffrey Norris
Norman font

History

The church may date to Anglo-Saxon England. A spurious charter of "959" records the rectory as being owned by Westminster Abbey, and a priest is mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book, strongly implying the existence of a church, which was separately documented six years earlier. Associated archaeology has found near-certain Anglo-Saxon burials. The first definite date is the church built around 1080, and a Norman font (pictured below right) is still in use.[2][3] The building has a thirteenth-century nave, chapel, north aisle and south aracade, together with traces of painting on the walls. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries saw further rebuilding – the tower and south arcade reflect this phase.[4]

In 1914-15 the church was extended with a larger nave designed by Temple Moore, living up to his name. His work was praised by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, a much-published and read critic, as "one of the rare cases in which a Gothic revival architect, by respecting old work and frankly adding new work to it, has considerably enhanced the original effect".[4]

Since 1950, the church has had grade II* listing (statutory protection and recognition, in the mid category).[5]

Memorials and churchyard

One of the most important memorials in the church is to Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, who lived locally at Highwood Hill, where he died in 1826. He is buried in the church. The churchyard is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation together with the neighbouring Sunny Hill Park.[4] It contains the grave of Herbert Chapman, the pre-war manager of Arsenal Football Club. There are buried in the churchyard twenty Commonwealth service personnel, eleven from World War I and nine from World War II, most of whom are commemorated by a special memorial where graves could not be located.[6]

The Church today

The parish is served by a vicar and a curate.

See also

References

  1. The Parish of Mary and Christ Church, Hendon, home page
  2. Stephen Aleck and Andy Simpson. "Roman Hendon - Another Piece of the Jigsaw". Hendon & District Archaeological Society. Retrieved 14 September 2012.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  3. "S 1293". Electronic Sawyer. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  4. "St Mary's Churchyard, Hendon". London Parks & Gardens Trust. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  5. Historic England. "Parish Church Of St Mary (1359029)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  6. CWGC Cemetery Report, breakdown obtained from casualty record.

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