View source for St Mark's Road, "St Mark's Church"

[[File:St_Marks_Rd_St_Marks_Church.jpg|200px|thumb|left|St Mark's Church, St Mark's Rd]]

[[File:St_Marks_Rd_St_Marks_Church2.jpg|200px|thumb|left|St Mark's Church, St Mark's Rd]]

[[File:St_Marks_Rd_St_Marks_Church4.jpg|200px|thumb|left|St Mark's Church, St Mark's Rd]]

'''Road''':   [[St Mark's Road]]  

'''Property''':  St Mark's Church

The present church of St Mark, in St Mark's Road, South Teddington, was opened in 1939. In 1875 a National school, which also served as a mission building, had been opened in [[Schoolhouse Lane]], and in 1880 a mission church on the corner of [[Fairfax Road]] and Bushy Park Road was opened. It was pulled down when the new church was built. St. Mark's was separated from the mother parish in 1938. The church was designed by C.A. Farey. It is cruciform with a tower at the crossing and is built of grey brick with stone dressings and a tiled roof. Inside it has an open roof and low narrow aisles with round-headed arcades.

"St Mark's Church is one of Teddington's undiscovered gems. The exterior is muted blocky brickwork but inside the interior is a fine example of simple early 20th century neo Romanesque design with plain walls, simple arches and circular windows. The newly restored floor is constructed in oak and teak and the rich colour of the floor compliments the dark interior roof tiles, exposed beams and pale walls. The church was consecrated in 1939; [possibly the last in England before the outbreak of the second world war.  
 
Many of the church furnishings are second hand. Some such as the memorial board in the Remembrance Chapel dedicated to St Martin of Tours came from the 1915 church which was on the same site as St Mark's Church and was used as the church hall until it burnt down in 2009. The pews, the stations of the cross and the statue of St John the Baptist came from the church of St John the Baptist Great Marlborough Street which was demolished in 1938. Perhaps this reuse of church materials was an early ecclesiastical example of the wartime saying 'make do and mend.'
  
 
Revd Karen Wellman  August 2018


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This page is part of the [[Directory of Buildings of Townscape Merit (BTMs) and Listed Buildings]] in Teddington assembled
by the [[Planning Group|Planning]] and [[History Group|History]] Groups of [https://www.teddingtonsociety.org The Teddington Society].
Click on any photo for a higher resolution version. Copyright for the material on this page rests with the contributor.

[[Category:BTMs]]
[[Category:Buildings]]