The Ascension, Lavender Hill

The Ascension of The Lord, Lavender Hill
Exterior photo of The Ascension, Lavender Hill
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Website	Parish Website
Architecture
Architect(s)	James Brooks
Administration
Parish	Lavender Hill, The Ascension and Battersea, St. Philip with St. Bartholomew
Diocese	The Diocese of Southwark Formerly the Diocese of Rochester
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Bishop of Southwark (Diocesan) Bishop of Fulham (Pastoral Care)
Priest(s)	Fr Iain Young SSC

The Ascension of The Lord, Lavender Hill, is an Anglican church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, situated on Lavender Hill, in Battersea, South West London. It is thought to be the first church in England dedicated to The Ascension of The Lord. Built to the designs of the architect James Brooks, its foundation stone was laid in 1874, and it was consecrated in 1883.

The church is one of three in the parish of Lavender Hill, The Ascension and Battersea, St. Philip with St. Bartholomew. The other two are no longer used by the Church of England. St Philip the Apostle, Queenstown Road is now home to the Ethiopian Orthodox Parish of Saint Mary of Debre Tsion, and St Bartholomew the Less, Wycliffe Road is now home to the Greek Orthodox Parish of St Nectarious.

The Ascension, Lavender Hill, was principally conceived by Fr John Bourdieu Wilkinson SSC. As a young man Wilkinson had often sat on Clapham Common and gazed down upon the blue fields of lavender which made up the historic Lavender Hill. He often dreamt that if he ever was called to become a priest, it would be upon the Lavender Hill where he would build a church for the faith to be proclaimed.

Eventually his priestly calling began to materialize and he was ordained. Now a priest, Wilkinson was sent to St Barnabas, Pimlico where the effects of the "ritual riots" – a series of protests against high church practices in use there – were being felt. It was these riots that influenced Wilkinson, supported by a number of wealthy ladies from the Pimlico congregation, to conceive the idea of an Anglo-Catholic sanctuary away from the troubles of Central London.