St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot

St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot
St Mary Magdalene's from the northwest
St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot Location in Worcestershire
Coordinates: 52°06′13″N 2°10′02″W / 52.1035°N 2.1672°W / 52.1035; -2.1672
OS grid reference	SO 886 450
Location	Croome D'Abitot, Worcestershire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Churches Conservation Trust
History
Dedication	Mary Magdalene
Dedicated	1763
Consecrated	1763
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	25 March 1968
Architect(s)	Lancelot "Capability" Brown, Robert Adam
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival exterior, Georgian interior
Completed	1758
Closed	30 October 1973
Specifications
Materials	Bath Stone

St Mary Magdalene's Church is a former Anglican church in the grounds of Croome Court, at Croome D'Abitot, Worcestershire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of The Churches Conservation Trust. It stands on a hill in Croome Park. Commenting on the church, the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner stated it is "one of the most serious of the Early Gothic Revival outside, one of the most elegant inside".

The first record of a church at Croome D'Abitot is in 1283, when its dedication was to Saint James the Apostle. The precise position of that church is not known, but it is thought it was near the present site of Croome Court. In the 1750s George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry decided to demolish the Jacobean house he had inherited and replace it with another church on higher land. He commissioned Lancelot "Capability" Brown to design the new house, together with a church, and to landscape the surrounding garden and grounds. He appointed Robert Adam to design the interior of the house and the church, and also to design some structures in the grounds. The church was consecrated and dedicated to St Mary Magdalene in 1763. Little has changed to the church since then, other than moving the pulpit and pews during the 19th century. The Coventry family cared for the church while they lived in Croome court, but they moved to Earls Croome in 1949. Although the congregation arranged for repairs to be undertaken in the 1960s, it was decreasing in size and was unable to maintain the church. It was declared redundant on 30 October 1973, and was vested in The Churches Conservation Trust in 1975.