Parish of St Mary at Lambeth , Church of England

The church of Saint Mary at Lambeth was the ancient parish church of Lambeth. The original foundation existed before the Norman conquest. The church had a unique position as it was placed so close to Lambeth Palace, the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and many of its rectors also held positions in the Archbishops' household. The medieval building was demolished and rebuilt in 1851 to the designs of Philip Charles Hardwick. Some of the old stones and features were incorporated into the new building. As the population of Lambeth expanded in the nineteenth century it became necessary to reduce the size of the parish of Saint Mary and create new, smaller parishes. This process began in 1824 with the construction of the churches of Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Luke, West Norwood. Saint Mary at Lambeth church was closed in October 1972.

Source of information: 'Church of St Mary, Lambeth', Survey of London: volume 23: Lambeth: South Bank and Vauxhall (1951), pp. 104-117.