St Mary’s Church, Upper Street

The first recorded church on this site in Upper Street was erected in the 12th century. The medieval St Mary’s church was demolished in 1751 and a new church built with a semi-circular portico at the west end. Charles Wesley was a curate and John Wesley preached here. The first black African to be ordained a Church of England priest (Philip Quaque, d. 1816 who later returned to Ghana as a missionary) and the first African Anglican bishop (Samuel Ajayi Crowther, d. 1891 who was ordained by the Bishop of London and went on to West Africa, later becoming Bishop in Nigeria) had their first positions at this church. Two Archbishops of Canterbury served their curacies at St Mary’s.

After a fire around 1902 the church’s portico was rebuilt in Portland stone in neo-classical style, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. It is balustraded and the central frieze shows a scene from the Nativity. The church was bombed in 1940 and much damaged. All the eastern part of the church except the steeple and portico was rebuilt in Georgian style in the 1950s (designed by Seely & Paget).

By 2017 the church’s portico was in poor structural condition and the church was placed on the Heritage at Risk Register. Iron cramps in the structure had corroded and were damaging the masonry. Several sections of the stonework had dislodged and the stone was spalling. The restoration project in 2018 included replacement of the structure with new non-ferrous materials and repair and restoration of the pediment frieze.