The Vineyard Life Church, Richmond, which is a member of the

Evangelical Alliance The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is a national evangelical alliance, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. Founded in 1846, the activities of the Evangelical Alliance aim to promote evangelical Christian beliefs in government, media and socie ...

, was formed in 2013 as the result of a merger between Richmond Borough Church and The Vineyard Church, Richmond. It meets in a 19th-century church building located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The congregation run a community centre, a food bank and a charity shop, and also use the building as a music venue for young people.

History of the building

The church building, with a gallery, was designed by John Davies (1796–1865) for the Anglican parish: it opened in 1831, to seat a congregation of 500 to 600. It was rebuilt in 1851 after a fire. The church is built in

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

style, in grey brick, with a distinctive

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

. It was attended by Harold Wilson, with his wife

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, during his term in office as British Prime Minister; and Lady Stansgate, mother of the Labour MP

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

, was a parishioner during the 1940s. Between 1971 and 1972, future British Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

and his friend Al Collenette held weekly discos at the church.

References

External links

The Vineyard Life Church website

Vineyard Community Centre website

Richmond's Congregational Church in The Vineyard: articles on the Richmond Local History Society's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vineyard Life Church, Richmond, The 1831 establishments in England 2013 establishments in England Churches completed in 1851 Churches in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Evangelical churches in London Richmond, London Romanesque Revival church buildings in England The Vineyard, Richmond