St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich

Christianity in Woolwich goes back to the Early Middle Ages. In 2015 Oxford Archaeology discovered a Saxon burial site in the area close to the Thames east of Woolwich Ferry. It contained 76 skeletons from the late 7th or early 8th century. The absence of grave deposits indicates that this was an early Christian settlement. The first church in Woolwich was probably pre-Norman conquest and dedicated to Saint Lawrence. It stood on a promontory about 37 m north of the present-day church, more or less where the belvedere overlooking the river now is. The church was slightly separate from the early riverside settlement in Old Woolwich. From the early 10th till the mid-12th century Woolwich was…

The church consists of a five-bay nave flanked by colonnades (similar to St Nicholas, Deptford), two side aisles with galleries and some 19th-century additions: the chancel, the Lady Chapel to the south (containing the rare iron-cast tomb of Henry Maudslay, designed by himself) and the organ chamber to the north. The interior is painted pale blue and white, including the large red stone columns flanking the chancel and the small columns framing the east window. The royal coat of arms from 1740 once hung above the sanctuary but is now kept in the porch beneath the tower. The pipe organ was made by John Byfield in 1754 and was originally installed in the west gallery. After the building of…