St Mary Magdalen Bermondsey

St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey
St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey
St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey Location within the Borough of Southwark
Coordinates: 51°29′54″N 0°04′52″W / 51.4984°N 0.0810°W / 51.4984; -0.0810
OS grid reference	TQ333795
Location	Bermondsey in the London Borough of Southwark
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican church
Website	http://www.stmarysbermondsey.org.uk/
Listed Building – Grade II*
Reference no.	1376567

St Mary Magdalen Bermondsey is an Anglican church dedicated to St Mary Magdalen in Bermondsey in the London Borough of Southwark. The present building is late 17th century and is Grade II* listed.

Its parish extends as far as the Thames (including the south tower of Tower Bridge, City Hall and part of London Bridge Station). The parishes of St Olave Tooley Street, St Luke Grange Road and St John Horsleydown have all been merged into it.

A church of this dedication is first recorded on this site in 1290, serving lay workers at Bermondsey Abbey. The design of that building is not known, but in 1680 the church was demolished and rebuilt, retaining the late medieval tower with a gothic window and arches. This rebuilding was completed in about 1690, and was followed by the addition of a north gallery in 1705 and a south gallery in 1794. The south gallery retains its complete original boxed pews but those in the north gallery have had their gates removed.

Further alterations were made under the supervision of the architect George Porter in 1830. He remodelled the tower and west end in an unacademic Gothic style and restored the medieval west window. The changes also involved removing the portico and school which extended into Bermondsey Street. The interior was redecorated in the Gothic Revival style in 1852 and is described in a document which can be dated to 1865–1879 by reference to the then rector. In 1883 the chancel was lengthened and a new stained glass window was installed, as well as other "beautification". Surviving the Blitz, the west end interior was damaged by fire in 1971. The church was first rendered externally in 1829, and was most recently re-rendered in 1994. A detailed description is given in the volume of the Victoria County History covering the area, published in 1912. The church is now the oldest building in the locality, and the medieval arches are still visible inside the tower behind the organ (not normally accessible to the public).