St Mary on Paddington Green Church

St Mary on Paddington Green is an Anglican church in the Parish of Little Venice, London and forms part of Paddington Green conservation area. It stands on the junction of Edgware Road and Harrow Road, overlooking Westway.[1]

Not to be confused with St Mary Magdalene, Paddington.
St Mary on Paddington Green
51.5204°N 0.1753°W / 51.5204; -0.1753
LocationLittle Venice, London, W2 1SP
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
ChurchmanshipAnglo-Catholic
Websiteparishoflittlevenice.com
History
StatusActive
Architecture
Functional statusParish Church
Administration
ParishLittle Venice
DeaneryWestminster Paddington
ArchdeaconryArchdeaconry of Charing Cross
Episcopal areaTwo Cities (London and Westminster)
DioceseDiocese of London
Clergy
Bishop(s)The Rt Revd Richard Chartres (Bishop of London)
Vicar(s)Fr Gary Bradley
Honorary priest(s)Fr Anthony Speakman
Laity
Director of musicJonathan Cunliffe
Churchwarden(s)Alex Wrottesley and Tim Telfer
VergerPeggy Windsor

It is the third church on the site – once forming a centrepiece of the ancient Paddington and Lilestone villages. John Donne preached his first sermon in the original church, while William Hogarth was married in the second.[2]

View to church from Paddington Green

The current church is Georgian and was commissioned in 1788 and consecrated in 1791. Designed by John Plaw, and with a floorplan in the shape of a Greek Cross, it is built in yellow brick and dressed with white stone. It is Plaw's only confirmed surviving building in the UK, apart from Belle Isle on Windermere.[3] A further building in Romford, known as The Round House, has been attributed to him.[4] John Plaw later worked in Southampton before emigrating to Canada, where he designed several public and private buildings.[5]

The church was substantially altered in the 19th century, but was restored by architect Raymond Erith in the early 1970s.[2] The church is notable for its fine monuments to local luminaries, including sculptor Joseph Nollekens and lexicographer Peter Mark Roget.

Gravestones in St Mary’s Gardens

St Mary’s Churchyard

Adjoining St Mary’s Churchyard was converted to a public park in the 1890s and is now known as St Mary’s Gardens. It consists of grassland with scattered trees. The grave of well-known 18th-century actress Sarah Siddons is located towards the northern end. Some other gravestones from the former graveyard are stacked against the west wall of the Gardens.[6]

St Mary’s Gardens showing view to City of Westminster College

The southern part of the Churchyard was removed to make way for Marylebone Flyover in the 1960s, with exhumed bodies being re-interred in an area of Mill Hill cemetery and marked with a plaque.[6]

St Mary's Paddington Green, Reburials in Mill Cemetery, London

Notable burials

Remaining Churchyard

St Mary's Gardens

References
  1. A Church Near You. "St Mary-on-Paddington Green, Paddington Green – London | Diocese of London". Achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  2. Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert, The London Encyclopaedia, Papermac, 1987, p. 743
  3. "The Parish of Little Venice". The Parish of Little Venice. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  4. "Open House | Site Details – The Round House". Londonopenhouse.org. 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  5. "Historic Properties Online: John Plaw". Gov.pe.ca. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  6. "Westminster City Council – Paddington Green and St. Mary's Churchyard". Westminster.gov.uk. 2009-01-08. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
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