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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
Origins and the Abbey
Bermondsey has had a place of worship for over
1000 years. A monastery was in existence in the 8th C and in 1082 Alwyn
Child funded the construction of a new building which appears to have been
completed by 1089 when there is a first mention of a Prior, Petreius. This
Priory was attached to
the French Abbey of Cluny. A
church is mentioned in the Domesday Book as "a new and handsome church"; this "Conventual
Church" was dedicated to St Saviour and was situated to the south of the present
church on the edge of the present churchyard. In 1399
the Priory became an Abbey, at the request of King Richard II to the Pope. The Abbey was dissolved
in 1537 by Henry VIII, and the estate was acquired by Sir Thomas Pope (who
founded Trinity College Oxford) who built a mansion for himself, Bermondsey
House. The Abbey is still commemorated by many local street names.
Click here for more details about the
origins and the Abbey.
The Church
The first known record of the church of St Mary Magdalen is
in about 1290, when the church appears to have been serving the workers in the Priory.
Little more is known until the late 17th C, when the church was rebuilt by
a clearly wealthy congregation - the only surviving remnant of the previous building
is the mediæval tower with a gothic window and four arches. The new building
was completed by 1690. The North gallery was subsequently erected (in
about 1705), and in 1794 the South
gallery was added. The last major work was the extension of the chancel in
1882/3.
Click here for fuller details about the church and
click here for some internal and external
photographs Previous Rectors of the Church
This is a link to a list of the previous rectors of
St Mary Magdalen Bermondsey, and a photo of the board in the church from which
it is copied.
The Churchyard
The churchyard was handed over to the Vestry of Bermondsey in 1882, and is now
cared for by the London Borough of Southwark. There are a number of listed
memorials and other features in the churchyard, and full details can be found on
www.imagesofengland.org.uk
(which requires free registration). Some details are repeated on this
link to the churchyard. See
also
this link to an on-line copy of "The
history and antiquities of the parish of Bermondsey" By G. W. Phillips,
1841. A fascinating read, especially pages 75-76, which give some
interesting gravestone inscriptions.
Note that the church is not "St Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey" - it
appears Magdalen has always been spelt without the more usual(?)
final "e". Unfortunately, given the workings of the
internet search engines, many people would miss us unless this
paragraph is included!