The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Putney, is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

, London, sited next to the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, beside the southern approach to

Putney Bridge Putney Bridge is a Grade II listed bridge over the River Thames in west London, linking Putney on the south side with Fulham to the north. Before the first bridge was built in 1729, a ferry had shuttled between the two banks. The current for ...

. There has been a centre of Christian worship on the site from at least the 13th century, and the church is still very active today. It is also noteworthy as the site of the

Putney Debates The Putney Debates, which took place from 28 October to 8 November 1647, were a series of discussions over the political settlement that should follow Parliament's victory over Charles I in the First English Civil War. The main participants wer ...

on the English constitution in 1647, during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. It has been

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

since 1955. Parts of the existing church have survived from medieval times, such as the 15th-century tower and some of the nave arcading, and the early 16th-century Bishop West Chapel, built by Bishop

Nicholas West Nicholas West (146128 April 1533), was an English bishop and diplomatist, born at Putney in Surrey, and educated at Eton College, Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1486. He also had periods of study at Univers ...

. Most of the building dates from the substantial reconstruction of 1836 to the designs of Edward Lapidge, which largely rebuilt the body of the church in yellow brick with stone dressings and

perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

windows. Some of the medieval pillars and arches in the nave were retained, and the north and the south arcades were widened. In 1973 an arson gutted of much of the church. Rebuilding was not completed until nearly ten years later, when the church was rehallowed by Rt. Revd. Michael Marshall the

Bishop of Woolwich The Bishop of Woolwich is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Woolwich, a suburb of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Two o ...

, on 6 February 1982. Since the restoration, the altar has not been positioned, as is usual, in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

or even at the eastern end of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, but instead halfway down the northern side of the nave, with the seating arranged to reflect this. The architect of the restoration was Ronald Sims. The pipe organ is by the Danish firm of

Marcussen & Søn Marcussen & Søn, also known as Marcussen and previously as Marcussen & Reuter, is a Denmark, Danish firm of pipe organ builders. They were one of the first firms to go back to classical organ-building techniques, and have been producing tracker ...

. Inscribed on a wall of the church is a quote from the Putney debates (1647) by Colonel

Thomas Rainsborough Thomas Rainsborough, or Rainborowe, 6 July 1610 to 29 October 1648, was an English religious and political radical who served in the Parliamentarian navy and New Model Army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. One of the few contemporaries who ...

: In 2005 a new extension to the church, the "Brewer Building", built at a cost of £1.7m was opened by the Bishop of Southwark. St. Mary's is one of the two churches in the Parish of Putney, the other being

All Saints' Church, Putney Common All Saints Church is a Grade II* listed Anglican church located on Putney Common, London. All Saints is one of the two churches in the Parish of Putney, the other being St Mary's Church, Putney. The parish is within the Wandsworth Deanery, the ...

. The parish is within the Wandsworth Deanery, the Kingston Episcopal Area and the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark ( ) is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient ...

Notable people associated with St Mary's

(1461 – 28 April 1533),

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and diplomat, was born at Putney, and educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, of which he became a fellow in 1486. He built two chapels, one in St. Mary's and the other in

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 67 ...

, where he is buried. *

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

, born in Putney, was

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

between 1533 and 1540 *

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

mentions St. Mary's in his diary for 1667. He attended a service where he heard 'a good sermon'. He saw the girls of the school, 'few of which were pretty'. *

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

made St. Mary's the setting for

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

's marriage to

Dora Spenlow Dora Spenlow is a character in the 1850 novel ''David Copperfield'' by Charles Dickens. She is beautiful but childish. David Copperfield (character), David, who is employed by her father, the lawyer Mr Spenlow, falls in love with Dora at first sig ...

Giles Fraser Giles Anthony Fraser (born 27 November 1964)1970s fires in the United Kingdom 1973 disasters in the United Kingdom 1973 fires Building and structure arson attacks in London

Grade II* listed churches in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Wandsworth

Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom Religious buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson Putney Churches on the Thames