St Augustine, Kilburn

St Stephen Walbrook, City of London

St Andrew, Surbiton

St Andrew is one of the earlier examples of the famous and prolific church architect Sir Arthur Blomfield, and is a short walk north from Surbiton railway station. 

The history of Surbiton is really that of the railway, which arrived in what became known as "Kingston-on-Railway" in 1838. Kingston Corporation resisted the railway passing through Kingston itself, and so the line was built a few miles to the south. The station was originally further east, but was relocated to its present position in the 1840s. This spurred the rapid development of Surbiton as a suburb, and with it came the need for a new church.

The first church, St Mark's, rapidly became too small for the congregation, and a small "iron" mission chapel was opened. This too quickly proved inadequate, so a larger permanent church was planned, on a site given by Coutts Bank. Work began in 1871, and a tower was added later in the year, as a mark of thanksgiving for the recovery of the then Prince of Wales from illness. 

Blomfield's Neo-gothic design has a west front with an apsidal baptistery, a very wide nave with narrow aisles, and large transeptal chapels flanking the chancel. The tower is effectively detached. Pevsner describes this early example of Blomfield's work as "vigorous", with bold patterning of red and yellow brick, and Bath stone dressings. The tower is the only jarring element, as it has a tall gable roof, which provides an odd appearance when viewed from the side, approaching the church from the station.

The brick patterning is particularly evident inside, with bold banding in yellow, red and cream along the walls side walls, and further geometric patterning at the east and west ends. The furnishings are mostly modern, but there is a large painted rood above the Lady Chapel, and a handsome marble font. A  charming feature is the painting of the baptistery roof, which has a ceiling of stars above a frieze depicting the story of Noah's ark, executed in a faux-mediaeval style. 

A new entrance, refectory and choir vestry was added in 2009 to the side. The church is in a joint parish with St Mark's, and the two together offer a regular pattern of services in a variety of styles, including choral eucharist at St Andrew's, alongside family and more informal services.

St Andrew, Maple Road, Surbiton KT6 4DS

St Paul, Covent Garden

St Andrew, Earlsfield

St Andrew's is a late Victorian red-brick neo-Gothic church executed on a grand scale, with some nice Arts & Crafts furnishings.

The church was built in 1889 to designs by Edward William Mountford (1855-1908), architect of Sheffield Town Hall and the Old Bailey. Intended to serve the burgeoning (and then working-class) suburbs growing along the London & South Western Railway line, its present scale derives from the addition of a further two bays to the nave in 1902, together with an imposing west front with twin turrets and three big lancets.

The layout comprises a continuous nave and chancel, with transepts and aisles, a south chancel chapel and north vestry, the roof surmounted by a fleche. Inside, the nave - over 45ft high - has three bays of large pointed arches with aisles, with a further bay for the transepts, and a further two bays for the nave. The exterior and interior are almost inverted in their colour schemes: the exterior is red brick, with golden Doulton stone dressings; the interior is light brown stock brick with red brick dressings, again with Doulton stone piers for the arcades. In contrast, the St Andrew's Chapel has a more intimate, almost cosy feel.

The largely Arts and Crafts fittings are a delight: best is the large but incredibly delicate iron chancel screen, which actually came in the 1920's from the church of St. Mary, Trinity Road; the rather more sturdy screens in the chapel were made by Starke Gardner & Co. The octagonal font is by Doulton & Co, in stone and blur terracotta, and has an impressive cover. Four of the eight sides depict biblical scenes, comprising the finding of Moses, Hannah bringing Samuel to Eli, Christ in the Manger and Christ blessing children. 

In 1911, the west front was graced with a large twin-faced clock with filigree decoration. Almost municipal in style, it was also designed by Mountford, and dedicated to Edward VII. The stained glass is largely unremarkable, although the chapel's east window is unusually in the shape of a saltire cross, with the St Andrew's head in the centre. Four small roundels have glass depicting three different types of fish, and a boat.

The church has both traditional and modern styles of worship, but emphasises an inclusive welcome to all. During the week, the west end of the nave hosts the Home community cafe, which seems to be a very popular venue: I can vouch for the quality of the homemade lemonade, and cakes.

St Andrew, Garrett Lane, London SW18 3QG

St Mary Magdalene, Richmond-on-Thames

St Mary Magdalene feels like a proper "town church": despite later developments, the church itself is still enclosed on three sides by buildings, with a modest churchyard open to one side, albeit sadly bounded by the busy A305.

The church itself is a tale of three parts: the west door leads through the mediaeval Perpendicular Gothic tower, into a bright and spacious classical nave of 1750, and onwards into the neo-Gothic chancel designed by G F Bodley in 1904. The nave takes centre stage, with slender Tuscan columns opening into wide aisles. Executed in brick with round headed widows, the only jarring note is the open frame timber roof, inserted in 1866 by Blomfield. In contrast, the barrel vaults of the aisles, picked out in white, pink and gold, are delightfully harmonious. 

The aisles are so filled with monuments, they feel almost like galleries. The monuments date from the 16th century, and include that of John Bentley (d. 1660) and his wife and daughter, three busts within a simple Classical frame; and Barbara Lowther (d. 1806), a restrained, delicate piece by the notable sculptor John Flaxman (1755-1826). Lord Richard Attenborough (1923-2014) and the celebrated Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean (1787-1833) have memorials here, thespians separated by nearly two centuries. Both font and pulpit are 18th century: the former with a pretty fluted bowl, and the latter balanced precariously on six tall barley-twist legs. Bodley's chancel contains good stained glass of his own design.

The church is known for its rich musical tradition, and services are organised as part of the Richmond Team Ministry, with choral services each Sunday.

St Mary Magdalene, Church Walk, England, TW9 1SN, United Kingdom

St Patrick RC Church, Soho Square, London

The handsome Italianate church of St Patrick's, Soho Square, occupies a prominent location, but I suspect is barely noticed by the crowds in nearby Charing Cross Road. However, as well as its impressive architecture, the church has had a remarkably colourful history.

As one of the oldest post-Reformation Roman Catholic parishes in London, its chapel was the first Catholic place of worship opened there after the passing of the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1791. Originally occupying a former wing of Carlisle House, it was established in 1792 with the aim of serving  the large (and poor) Irish community that had grown up in the area in the 18th Century: through much of the 18th and 19th centuries, the area between Soho and St Giles was notorious for its overcrowding and slums. Soon after its opening, it also witnessed the arrival of hundreds of French clergy fleeing the French Revolution, and in 1799 hosted the official Requiem Mass of Pope Pius VI, who had died a prisoner of the Republic in France.

Parish life expanded throughout the 19th century, albeit always with an emphasis on serving the poor - particularly after a further influx of people from Ireland following the potato famine in 1845. Soon after, efforts began on fundraising for a purpose-built church, and in 1893 the current building, designed by John Kelly - a pupil of G E Street - was consecrated. Kelly's design made good use of the site by acquiring a narrow frontage on the Square, comprising the porch below a tall campanile, with the main body of the church along a short passage to the original site.

The thoroughly red-brick exterior belies the bright, classically white-plastered interior, which comprises a long nave under a barrel vaulted ceiling, with a clerestory and apsed sanctuary. At first appearance it appears to have aisles, but the arcade in fact accommodates a series of chapels, a device which lends the interior a feeling of spaciousness. The sanctuary is decorated with mosaic and marble, and above the altar is an impressive painting of the crucifixion, dating from around 1650 and said to be by a pupil of Van Dyck.

The church was extensively restored in 2010-11, with the crypt developed for pastoral use. As well as offering confession and daily masses, the church is home to services for a variety of expatriate communities in different languages, offers support services to homeless people, and is a wonderful sanctuary from the surrounding bustle for private prayer.

St Patrick, Soho Square, London W1D 4NR

St James, Sussex Gardens

St James sits dramatically at the end of Sussex Gardens, forming the focal point of one of London's most impressive examples of early 19th Century urban planning.

The present church is largely the work of G E Street: it was in fact his last church, the foundation stone being laid two months after his death in 1881. His design incorporated the chancel of an earlier church built in 1841-43, which he turned into a west chapel. The style is mostly late 14th Century, with huge and dramatic east and west windows, the former Decorated and the latter Perpendicular. The most dominant external feature is robust tower from the earlier church, surmounted by a belfry stage and spire. 

The interior conveys an impressive sense of space: the lofty and wide nave is aisled and has a wooden coved roof. The space beneath the tower forms a vast baptistery, framed by a huge west tower arch which provides a counterpoint for the larger but more delicate chancel arch. The chancel has a reredos by James Forsyth, framed by blind arcading filled inlaid coloured marble, the east window filled with glass by Clayton & Bell. The church was badly damaged in World War II, and the west window dates from this rededication. It includes a charming image of a steam locomotive of the Great Western Railway departing from nearby Paddington station.

The church has been associated with a varied group of notable people: Bishop James Hannington preached here before going to Uganda (and his martyrdom); Lord Baden Powell was baptised in the earlier church; Alexander Fleming worshipped here; and Oscar Wilde and Constance Lloyd were married in the newly completed church in 1884.

The church has always had a reputation for social outreach (particularly social housing), as well as vigorous worship in the Anglo-Catholic style with a daily mass and monthly Evensong and Benediction. It is noted for the quality of its church music, and hosts regular concerts.

St James, Sussex gardens, London W2 3UD

St Michael, Croydon

Some churches appeal because of their architecture; others from their history or location, and still others for their atmosphere. Saint Michael is one of the last group: located in an unprepossessing part of central Croydon, sandwiched between dull tower blocks on one side and bus and railways stations on the other, the church belies its location. 

The architect was John Loughborough Pearson, whose cathedral at Truro and churches of St Augustine in Kilburn and St Stephen, Bournemouth, are rightly celebrated.  The foundation stone was laid in 1880 and the church consecrated just 3 years later. The exterior is in red brick with ashlar dressings, and impressive not just in its scale, but for the huge and fortress-like south porch, the base for an intended (but never-built) tower.

Inside, the layout comprises a soaring nave, transepts and an apsed chancel, complete with ambulatory, as at St Stephen Bournemouth. The piers, ribs and arches are executed in ashlar, with stock brick walls and vaults stained the colour of tobacco (it is vaulted throughout). The south chapel is itself aisled, the view across it to the ambulatory comprising a veritable forest of columns. This is all best viewed on a sunny day at the end of a service: shafts of light pour through the lancet windows of the nave clerestory, cutting dramatically through the clouds of the incense. If architecture can reflect the divine, this must surely be it.

Many of the richly coloured fittings, including the organ case, font and pulpit, were the work of G F Bodley; the south chapel furnishings are by Sir Ninian Comper. The church is the centre of a very active ministry, with daily masses in the Anglo-Catholic tradition supported by a rich choral repertoire, and extensive outreach to the local community.

St Michael, Poplar Walk, Croydon CR0 1UA

St John the Evangelist, Hyde Park

The former Connaught Chapel occupies an enviable site in the heart of the Hyde Park Estate, where (for once) the post-war rebuilding of the surrounding housing has respected the church in its design - though, not being on a major thoroughfare, it does take a little searching out.

When the area was being developed in the early 1800s, the original proposal was for a classical Ionic design by the architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell (best known for Admiralty House). On his death in 1827, the Church Commissioners turned instead to Charles Fowler, architect of Covent Garden Market. His design was very different - a Perpendicular church with a nave of 8 bays of clustered shafts, tall aisles and clerestory, and a small square chancel. As completed in 1832, the church had galleries above the aisles and could seat over 2,000. The large east and west windows were inserted in their present form by Arthur William Blomfield,  along with the addition of a front porch, in 1888.

The removal of the galleries and pews have a resulted in a feeling of lightness and spaciousness: the entry from the west door towards the altar is something of a coup de théâtre. That said, the huge east and west windows, filled with good early 20th century glass, rather steal the show by their sheer size.

The church today is home to a vibrant parish life in the Liberal Catholic tradition, with a particular reputation for music (concerts cover a wide repertoire) and a strong emphasis on inclusivity. The church is open weekdays for private prayer (evening prayer is celebrated Monday to Thursday) as well as Sunday services.

St John's Hyde Park, Hyde Park Crescent, London, W2 2QD

St Cyprian, Clarence Gate, Regent's Park

Tucked away, a short walk behind Baker Street station, St Cyprian is a favourite of church enthusiasts  (among them John Betjeman), and is notable for being the first complete design by Sir Ninian Comper.

Built in 1902-3, the exterior is plain red brick and hardly registers as you walk past the mansion blocks on Glentworth Street. It certainly gives little hint of what lies inside, which comes as something of a revelation: a nave of six bays of tall, slender, clustered shafts with generous aisles, lit by large Perpendicular windows on each side, filled with clear glass. This delivers a beautifully balanced but rather austere space, all the more to focus the eyes towards the chancel and its flanking chapels, which are filled with Comper's richly gilded fittings, sumptuous hangings and brilliantly stained glass. The nave is in fact modelled on that of Attelborough, Norfolk, and the English Heritage listing states that Comper's aim was to "to fulfil the ideal of the English Parish Church... in the last manner of English Architecture". 

Foremost of the fittings is a tall but delicate screen, with figures of saints and apostles very much in the Norfolk style, running the entire width of the church. Above the Rood, the roof is similarly richly decorated, with a painted tympanum depicting Christ seated in glory. The stained glass is also by Comper, as is the later font at the west end: indeed, he worked on the church, completing the various elements, for over 30 years (early photographs show a much plainer interior). The evolution of his style is seen most clearly in the font and its tall, gilded cover, which were completed in 1930-32. The  inclusion of more classical forms illustrates his concept of "Unity by Inclusion", blending the best of gothic and classical.

The church today has regular services in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, and I received a cheerful welcome on my visit.

St Cyprian, Clarence Gate, London NW1 6AX

St James, Spanish Place, Marylebone

 

Hinde Street, Methodist Church, Marylebone

St Lawrence Whitchurch, Little Stanmore

This exceptional and well-preserved baroque chapel sits close to the northern edge of London, and is well worth making a journey to see.

There has been a church on the site since Saxon times, but in 1712 James Bridges, later Lord Chandos, acquired the adjacent Canons Park and its house. He rebuilt the house in the latest baroque style, and did pretty much the same to the parish church. Although the 14th century mediaeval tower was retained, the rest was replaced in 1715 by architect John James (1673-1746) with what amounts to a proprietary chapel. 

The classical exterior, in red brick with prominent stone dressings, is restrained, almost severe; a splendid foil for the interior, which can only be described as theatrical. One enters under a large west gallery, which has a grand central box for the Duke and family, with flanking (and smaller) ones for his staff and guards. The view forwards through the unaisled but spectacularly painted nave leads to the sanctuary and retrochoir, with the organ effectively acting as the reredos. This is all framed by a screen which takes the form of a classical proscenium, attributed to Grinling Gibbons.

Every surface is decorated: the ceilings have trompe l'oeil of decorative plasterwork and panels depicting familiar miracles from the Bible, and on the walls there are 'statues' of the virtues and evangelists, all executed in restrained greys. At the east and west ends, more traditional (and colourful) paintings by Antionio Belluci (1654-1726) depict the Nativity and Pieta, with the Adoration of Jehovah above the sanctuary; and on the ceiling of the Duke's box, the Tranfiguration. Either side of the organ are more paintings, of Moses with the Tablets from Mount Sinai and of the Sermon on the Mount. These are said to have come from the house - demolished by the Duke's son to help pay off his debts.

The original furnishings match the setting: a complete set of high box pews, wrought-iron communion rails, the charming classically-shaped font; and the organ (its case also by Gibbons). The Duke's composer in residence in 1716-18 was Handel, and it was on this organ that he composed the Chandos anthems, a number of hymns and the oratorio Esther: one could say the chapel was, in effect, the Duke's personal concert hall - and the acoustics are certainly superb. 

Added onto the north side of the church is the Mausoleum, erected in 1735-6. It is a stunning set-piece in its own right, and was built to house the large classical memorial (again by Grinling Gibbons) to the Duke. He is depicted, larger than life sized, in Roman costume and periwig, flanked by two of his three wives. The walls are painted with yet more trompe l'oeil, which the latest Buildings of England describes as providing 'a pantheon-like setting'. Both it and the ante-room contain impressive memorials to other members of the family.

The church describes itself as inclusive Anglican Catholic, and incorporates both the contemporary and traditional in its worship. It was wonderfully welcoming on my visit. It also serves the nearby Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore. There are also occasional concerts - granting the ability to experience Handel's settings on the instrument (and in the setting) for which they were composed. 

St Lawrence Whitchurch, Whitchurch Lane HA8 6RB

St James, Muswell Hill

The tower and spire of this Edwardian Gothic-revival church soars just shy of 180ft high, and is a prominent landmark in this part of north London. It is a short (but hilly) walk from Alexandra Palace.

A church was first built here in 1842 and extended in 1874, but by the end of the Century it was too cramped for the growing congregation and in poor condition. A new church was therefore built to replace it, to the designs of John Samuel Alder (1848-1919). He had settled with his family in nearby Hornsey, and was to design many churches in this part of London. St James was built in stages, with the chancel, chapels, and two bays of the nave consecrated in 1901. The rest of the nave and west end followed in 1902, and the upper stages of the tower and spire in 1910. The church was badly damaged in World War II, and was restored by Caroe & Sons.

Alder chose a mix of Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic for the church, executed in coursed limestone. The tower and spire are in the 14th century style and reminiscent of many Lincolnshire churches. The adjacent 7-light west window is similarly impressive, with a combination of Decorated and Perpendicular detailing. Inside, the spacious, aisled nave is lit by tall clerestory windows, and the pale wooden ceiling lends a surprisingly modern feel. The spacious chancel has similar proportions to the nave, but the chapel to its north is more intimate. Despite the war damage, the building retains some lovely stained glass, including two War Memorial windows by Morris & Co, and dignified modern woodwork.

St James is home to a thriving congregation, rooted in the evangelical tradition, with flourishing youth ministry and outreach activities. I had a great welcome on my visit.

St James, St James Lane, Muswell Hill, London N10 3DB

St Margaret of Antioch, Barking

Few who live outside Barking - and I suspect many who live there - will be aware that at the edge of the bustling town centre is a delightful (and substantial) mediaeval church, which is well worth a visit.

St Margaret of Antioch was built as a chapel within Barking Abbey, and in 1300 it became the town's parish church. It sits east of the centre in a wide expanse of green - once the Abbey grounds, of which only the Curfew Tower remains. The church has been expanded over the years, so it now contains a happy mix of all periods from the 13th to the 16th centuries. 

Inside, the oldest part is the chancel and part of the nave, which date from c. 1215, although most of the fabric is 15th Century:  the outer north aisle and chapel were added in the 16th Century using materials from the dissolved abbey. In 1772, the church was heavily remodelled under the direction of a local landowner, Bamber Gascoyne, who had much of the original fabric encased in decorative plasterwork. Of this, the lovely chancel ceiling remains, complementing the fine mediaeval roofs in the nave and north aisles. Traces of mediaeval painting remain in the chancel arch.

However, the true joy of the church is its furnishings, testament to the wealth of Barking from the 17th Century onwards, when it was a sizeable fishing port. In the chancel, the memorial to Sir Charles Montagu (d. 1625) shows him in his tent on campaign, dozing while armed musketeers stand guard. Nearby is the fine engraved tombstone of Martinus, the first recorded Vicar of Barking, dating from 1315. Of special note is that to Captain John Bennett (d. 1715) and his mother and father, his figure surrounded by the fore and aft of a fully-rigged sailing ship, navigational instruments and globes. He also has a fine tomb in the churchyard in the same style.

The nave has poppyhead pews incorporating 18th century woodwork, and the classical-style font (c.1635) is topped by a jolly cover, decorated by Jessie Jack, daughter of the Arts & Crafts craftsman George Jack. There is some good stained glass, and the Fisherman's Chapel includes statues of local notables associated with the parish, including Captain Cook (who married Elizabeth Batts here in 1762), the Quaker and prison reformer Elizabeth Fry, and St Ethelburga, the first Abbess of Barking.

The church is the centre of a busy parish life, and includes an excellent tea room in the adjoining church centre, where I enjoyed a lovely lunch and a very friendly welcome.

St Margaret of Antioch, Broadway & North Street, Barking, IG11 8AS 

St Anselm, Kennington

 

St Anselm is located where Kennington Lane and Kennington Road cross, and so must compete with traffic rushing past day and night. Just getting there can be a challenge. But it is a surprise - an inter-war church with some interesting modernist sculpture.

Originally a mission church, the foundation stone of the present building was laid by the Prince of Wales in 1914, but work stopped almost immediately because of the First World War. When it recommenced, the original design - based on a Latin Cross with an elaborate dome - was reduced owing to lack of funds. The present simple basilica design, in stock brick with stone detailing, was completed in 1933.

The interior is described in the listing by English Heritage as "barn-like", and so it is: a vast single chamber with foreshortened aisles of three bays, all with sheer walls. The dark and windowless east end is particularly unforgiving, but there are exciting plans to redevelop this, inserting a gallery, which will surely add some much some needed structure, interest, and light.

Nevertheless, the building has some wonderful detailing. This starts at the main entrance door (see below), where the tympanum depicts St Anselm flanked by a lion and a lamb. The work is by modernist sculptor Alfred Horace Gerrard RBS (1899 – 1998), professor of sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art 1949-1968. He also carved the four charming and unusually decorative capitals of the arcade, each depicting different animals: birds, foxes, owls, and - appropriately for a church - bats.

The vast space of the side walls is broken up by a series of huge abstract murals painted in 1971 by Norman Adams (1927-2005). The parish's website explains that their subject is the "idea of a progression from every day, material experience towards spiritual existence in Paradise" inspired by the The Pilgrim's Progress. Known for the spiritual intensity of his work, at the time Adams regarded these as his major achievement, although they are much darker in tone than many of his better-known works. (To me, they are reminiscent of Blake, and something of an acquired taste.)

My favourite piece, however, is the font (see top). The depiction of Christ with Angels, carved in high relief by Derrick Frith (a scion of the Frith family of sculptors and artists), is a wonderfully tender piece.

St Anselm's is part of the North Lambeth parish, is an inclusive church with informal and traditional worship, and serves this diverse inner-city community through a variety of outreach activities.

St Anselm, Kennington Road, London SE11 5DU

Holy Trinity, Upper Tooting

All Saints, Carshalton

St Stephen, Norbury & Thornton Heath

Located just off the London Road, midway between Norbury and Thornton Heath, St Stephen's is a classic brick-built Gothic Revival church - albeit, in this case, Edwardian rather than Victorian.

The architect was William Samuel Weatherley (1851-1922), a former assistant of Sir George Gilbert Scott. He eventually became commercially successful in his own right, designing and restoring churches as well as houses and commercial buildings. His plans for St Stephen's provided a large aisled nave of four bays with a generous clerestory, chancel, south west and north east porches, and a south chapel. An intended tower was never completed - the familiar story of a lack of funds. The foundation stone was laid in 1908 and the church was consecrated in 1912.

The church is built of brown brick with red brick and stone detailing, and has a mix of Perpendicular and Reticulated style tracery in the windows. The wagon roof is in a rich, dark brown wood, which helps to make what could otherwise be a rather barn-like space more intimate. A notable feature is that the nave and chancel are the same height, so that, looking through the chancel arch, the chancel actually appears higher. Weatherley exploited this further by raising the level of the floors successively from the nave to the chancel and sanctuary and the high altar itself, thus drawing the eye to the high altar as a focal point. 

The pulpit, rood screen and font cover are all beautifully carved in dark wood to compliment the ceiling, and there is also a jolly brass eagle lectern. World War II air raids took much of the stained glass, though it survives in the Lady Chapel and fragments in the north aisle.

The Church describes itself as progressive Catholic in tradition, and has a busy parish life with a Sunday School, Youth Alive group, and other groups and events through the week.