St. Mary's Church, Hanwell
| Saint Mary | |
|---|---|
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 Saint Mary
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| 51°30′49.51″N 0°20′51.4″W / 51.5137528°N 0.347611°WCoordinates: 51°30′49.51″N 0°20′51.4″W / 51.5137528°N 0.347611°W | |
| OS grid reference | TQ 147 807 |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | http://www.stmaryshanwell.org.uk/index.php |
| History | |
| Founded | approx. 954 AD ? |
| Founder(s) | St. Dunstan? |
| Consecrated | Present building: 27 April 1842 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Architect(s) | George Gilbert Scott with W.B. Moffatt |
| Style | Mainly Gothic Revival with some interior Georgian elements. |
| Construction cost | £2,369 (Two thousand, three hundred and sixty-nine Pounds sterling) |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 400 |
| Number of floors | Two |
| Floor area | 518.04 square metres (5,576.1 sq ft) |
| Number of spires | One |
| Materials | Flint-rubble and mortar, white brick quioning and stone dressings. |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Hanwell |
| Deanery | Ealing (West) |
| Diocese | Diocese of London |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | Matthew Grayshon |
| Curate(s) | Helen Cosstick |
| Laity | |
| Reader(s) | John Moore |
| Churchwarden(s) | Mark Cosstick Ken Robertson |
St Mary's Parish Church is a Church of England church situated at the western end of Church Road in Hanwell, London. Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is still in active use today.
Built upon the highest point in Hanwell and providing a commanding view out over the River Brent valley, it is the perfect site for a parish church. No 'hard' archaeological evidence has been found so far, to show that any church existed here earlier than shown in written records. However, due to its commanding topographical position, which enables the distinctive broach spire to be seen from many miles away, it has been suggested that this may have been a pagan place of worship long before Christianity reached this part of the world. There is however, no evidence to support this theory. An early supporter of this hypothesis was Sir Montagu Sharpe KC DL, a local historian and a member of the Society of Antiquaries. In nearby Northolt, the parish church of St. Mary, which is also on high ground, has had much evidence found around it of past occupation by the Beaker people. Historians have further suggested that a Roman villa may have once occupied the site of that church. These two elevated sites along with nearby St. Mary's, Harrow on the Hill and Castle Bar, all being clearly visible to each other, would have been natural places for people to congregate, whatever their beliefs.
Sharpe also pointed out, other possible evidence of the parishes pre-Christian origins. The field boundaries of Hanwell, (the hedges of which, have since been mostly grubbed out), were roughly of the same measurements and orientation of the Roman 'limes' or land divisions. Even more tantalizing he observed: that at exactly the north east corner stood the gate and path of Perivale's parish church of St. Mary's. Had these hedges still been in existence today, it would have been possible to perform an accurate statistical analysis of the field lines to determine the probability against pure chance that these fields were laid out by Roman surveyors.
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