Croydon Addington Deanery
West Wickham, St Mary of Nazareth
(a parish within the united benefice of West Wickham, St Francis and St Mary of Nazareth)
Sunday Services
Details of all Sunday and weekday services and activities may be obtained from the parish contacts
Details of Church
Built: 1954
Architect: C W Fowler
Listing: not listed
The development of West Wickham between the two World Wars necessitated the formation
of two new parishes - St Mary of Nazareth and St Francis of
Assisi. The parish of St
Mary's began as a conventional district in 1933, made up of parts of three neighbouring
parishes. A dual purpose church
hall was built in 1934 to the design of Martin Travers Twenty years later a church was
built on to the church hall, with a vestibule in between with folding doors, enabling all
three parts to be merged in one for special occasions, giving a total accommodation of
600. A chapel, dedicated to the Annunciation, and vestries built over the vestibule were
dedicated in 1962.
The interior of the church is boat-shaped, with light-coloured bricks. The nave has a single span roof, lancet windows and oak pews and furniture. A memorial window lists the names of fourteen parishioners who died in the Second World War. The chapel has plain white walls, a blue altar frontal and a gold dossal behind the altar. Also in the chapel are two old side panels from the original sanctuary, carved in blue and gold.
A new organ was installed in 1977.
The vicarage, adjacent to the church, was opened and blessed in 1936. The buildings thus form an homogenous whole.