St Mary's Church, Twickenham

St Mary’s Church stands on Church Street in Twickenham, beside the River Thames and opposite Eel Pie Island. The present building replaced an earlier medieval church whose 15th-century tower still forms part of the structure. In 1713 the nave collapsed, and the painter Godfrey Kneller helped organise its rebuilding in the Neo-classical style under architect John James. The church holds older monuments from the medieval nave, including a brass dated 1443 to Richard Burton, the King’s chief cook, and his wife Agnes. Among later memorials are works by sculptors Sir Richard Westmacott, John Bacon Junior and John Michael Rysbrack. The church has strong literary and historical links. Alexander Pope, who lived nearby, is buried under a simple stone slab marked only with the letter P. Hallam Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was christened here in 1852. In 1721 Dr Pratt baptised two Indian princes, and in 1747 Henry Fielding’s son William was also christened at the church. The tower contains eight bells, one from the early 16th century and others from the 17th and 18th centuries. Inside, the red-brick nave shows Tuscan pilasters and pediments from the 18th-century rebuilding. The gallery fronts and reredos date from the same period. Outside, the churchyard holds graves of figures such as General William Tryon, the actress Kitty Clive and Neil Aspinall of The Beatles. A memorial window honours Sir William Berkeley, former Governor of Virginia, whose lead-fitted burial case remains in the ancient crypt. The churchyard also contains a memorial to tea merchant Thomas Twining.