St Mary's Church, Hendon
St Mary's Church is a Church of England parish church in Hendon in the London Borough of Barnet. It is joined with Christ Church, Brent Street, in the Parish of St Mary and Christ Church, Hendon.[1]
History
The church may date back to the Anglo-Saxon period. A charter of 959, possibly forged, records the parish as being in the possession of Westminster Abbey, and a priest is mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book probably implying a church. There are also probable Anglo-Saxon burials. The first definite date is the church built around 1080, and a Norman font (pictured right) is still in use.[2] The building still 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, and the tower and south arcade still survive from this phase.[3]
In 1914-15 the church was extended with a larger nave designed by Temple Moore. His work was praised by Nikolaus Pevsner 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 enanced the origianl effect".[3]
Memorials and churchyard
The most important memorial in the church is to Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapoer, who lived locally at Highwood Hill. The churchyard is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation together with the neighbouring Sunny Hill Park.[3] It contains the grave of Herbert Chapman, the pre-war mananger of Arsenal Football Club.
Access
There is access to the church from Church End.
External links
References
- ^ The Parish of Mary and Christ Church, Hendon, home page
- ^ "Roman Hendon - Another Piece of the Jigsaw". Hendon & District Archaeological Society. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ a b c "St Mary's Churchyard, Hendon". London Parks & Gardens Trust. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
