St Mary's Church, Battersea

St Mary's Church, Battersea, is the oldest of the churches in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth, in the inner south west of the UK's capital city. Its parish shared by three Anglican churches is in the diocese of Southwark. Christians have worshipped at the site continuously since around 800 AD. It is a Grade I listed building for its combined heritage and architectural merit.

St. Mary's is among the earliest five documented Christian holy sites south of the River Thames in London, historically in Surrey, in the Diocese of Winchester. The original church was built around 800 AD, and the present building was completed in 1777. The church is built of brick, with stone used for quoins and other dressings. It consists of a nave, rectangular in plan, an apse at the east end forming the sanctuary, and a west tower. The west front has a single storey entrance porch with Tuscan columns supporting a pediment. The tower, rising immediately behind it, is topped with a clock chamber and a small spire. Inside, the whole width of the church is spanned by a flat ceiling, and there are wooden galleries supported by columns on three sides. The nave windows are in two tiers, the upper ones round headed. The modern triptych in the side chapel is by John Napper (1946). It shows the Annunciation with Battersea Park and the Power Station in the background. To the right Christ walks on the Thames and to the left Lazarus rises beneath the church porch. The organ is by Saxon Aldred (1993), with a carving of a ram in recognition of the Ram Brewery. The Dove and Lamb windows, originally from 1796, by James Pearson, were restored in 1946 after being damaged by a V1 in 1944. and J. M. W. Turner, who painted the river from the vestry window.

There are four new windows by John Hayward added between 1976 and 1982. The Blake Window. It includes the figure of Albion at the bottom of the window. In the centre is 'Emanation', a winged image of a figure. The portrait of Blake is from his portrait by Thomas Phillips. The figures either side represent Innocence and Experience. At the bottom left is Blake's signature from the marriage register, together with two drawings by Blake and his wife Catherine. The Turner Window. Turner lived in Chelsea and visited Battersea to paint in the vestry window. The window was given by The Morgan Crucible Company Ltd to commemorate their long association with the Parish of Battersea. The Curtis Window. William Curtis, the botanist and founder of the Linnean Society, is buried in the churchyard. The frame of the portrait is from 'Flora Londinensis': Geranium, wild daffodil, snowdrop, cuckoo pint, grasses, vetch, blackberry, bryony, bindweed, primrose, daisy, dandelion, wild rose, angelica, lovage, mistletoe, buttercup. The epitaph is from the now lost headstone. There is the emblem of the RHS, the arms of the Society of Apothecaries and the arms of the Linnean Society. The map shows the locations of his gardens (Bermondsey, Charlton, Lambeth Marsh and Brompton) and the Chelsea Physic Garden. The Arnold Window. Below the portrait of Benedict Arnold are the arms of George Washington, with the modern 'Star 'n' Stripes', an earlier flag with 13 States, Union flag of 1777, and the 'Union Jack'. After fighting with George Washington in the American War of Independence he changed side to become an officer in the British Army.