A Visit To Paddington’s Jewel: St Mary Magdalene Church

Sitting proudly next to the Grand Union Canal, today in its own grassy enclave, you can find the jewel of Paddington: St Mary Magdalene Church. 

It is a Gothic Revival masterpiece and filled with beautiful details, including a breathtaking treasure in the crypt. For me, it was very much a ‘why have I not been here before?’ situation. I was invited to have a look round and went on a brilliant tour with Paul Taylor.

Let’s get into the history.

A Beautiful Church For The poor

The parish was founded here by Reverend Richard Temple West in 1865. West was a High Church Anglican, placing a high value on a formal liturgy, traditional rituals, incense, candles, music and ornate robes. 

This area in the mid 19th century consisted of densely packed, poor quality housing, clustered around the canal, with many living in poverty. The Grand Union Canal here was called the Grand Junction Canal when it was originally laid out and opened in 1805 to link London to Birmingham. 

Services initially took place in a small temporary church on the banks of the canal. Construction on the St Mary Magdalene’s of today began in 1867 and was completed in 1872, designed by G.E. (George Edmund) Street. The first roof was almost immediately destroyed in a fire and had to be replaced. The church was eventually consecrated on the 21st October 1878. 

West wanted the church to be a masterpiece to encourage the locals into services here. By all accounts he was successful and services were highly attended. The church also has never had pews, to avoid social hierarchy and prevent the best seats at the front being ‘bought’ or reserved by richer members of the parish.

A Unique Challenge

Street, who also designed the Royal Courts of Justice and numerous other churches across Britain, had a distinct challenge here. The site was awkward to say the least: it had a steep North-South slope and was hemmed in by housing and the canal. 

The church today:

The ‘slum’ housing, by the way, was eventually demolished by the London County Council from the 1950s.

It has a huge crypt, which I will show you later, to act as a level platform. Street put in a false arcade and aisle on the North side to distract the eye from the proximity of the wall. 

It was also built exceptionally tall to maximise space and features a striking, striped red brick and white stone tower topped by an octagonal needle spire. It reaches 79 metres, making it the second tallest church spire in London behind St Mary Abbotts in Kensington. 

Also outside you can see what was described to us as the ‘big gold Jesus’.

It is made of cast-iron and then gilded with gold leaf, mounted on a large wooden cross. It actually sits on the church’s First World War Memorial.

A Complete Work Of Art

There is so much for the eye to feast on in the church. Street commissioned some of the finest ecclesiastical craftsmen and artists of the period. The idea was that the church would be a complete work of art. 

One of the first details you may well notice is the extraordinary painted ceiling, 20 metres above where you are standing. 

Created by Daniel Bell, each side has twelve sections with female saints depicted on one side and male saints on the other, below rays of divine light. The bodies of the saints were painted directly onto the wood but the faces interestingly were painted on canvas and then attached. 

The stained glass windows are by Henry Holiday. Starting in the Sanctuary, the three central windows depict episodes before, during and after the Passion of Christ, whilst the others deal with his infancy and sacraments.

The nave windows depict Saints or other figures specifically related to British history: St Paul, St Thomas Becket, St Richard, St Osmund, St Hilda, St Bede, William of Wykeham and Archbishop Laud. Some of them were apparently even given the faces of people who donated to the construction of the church. A few, therefore, have distinctly Victorian-looking facial hair!

The sculptures are by Thomas Earp, best known for carving the replica of the Eleanor Cross outside Charing Cross Station.

In the chancel are Salviati mosaics from Venice. 

I then descended down into the crypt…

The Crypt

There is a large, plainer area but the real treasure is the breathtaking Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. 

Designed by Ninian Cooper, the chapel was commissioned in memory of Reverend Richard Temple West, who had died in 1893, after serving the parish for 28 years. 

It was based on the design of a fifteenth century chantry chapel, i.e. where priests would say chants, masses or prayers for the soul of the founder. Chantry chapels were banned in England during the Reformation but the 19th century saw a revived architectural interest in them. 

Spectacular Details

It is almost like a jewel box, with its deep blue star-spangled ceiling, Gothic tracery and decorative tiles. The ceiling has lots of tiny mirrors incorporated into it to reflect light into the space. 

The windows cover the themes of death, judgement, penitence and resurrection. Mary Magdalene is particularly appropriate here because she is seen as the penitent sinner and the first witness of the Resurrection. 

The altar also contains a concealed tabernacle, the container used to store the consecrated bread and wine for the Eucharist. This would ordinarily be in a hanging pyx but they were apparently worried about anti-High Church vandalism. 

Around the walls are the words and notes for a chant from the liturgy. The idea was to turn the space itself into a continuous hymn or prayer, even when no-one is singing. 

You will notice that one wall is unrestored.

This is because it has, from the beginning really, struggled with damp and water penetration from the canal bank on the other side of the wall. It does give it though an evocative historic feel. 

The crypt has been used in many TV shows and films, perhaps most notably in Les Miserables (2012) where Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) has his emotional turning point and soliloquy.

Church And Community

The church has undergone a number of restoration projects in the early 21st century,. This included proposals on how to develop new uses for the building but keeping it as a community hub. 

The Grade I-listed church building underwent a major conservation and restoration from 2017-2018. As part of this a new community building was designed by Dow Jones Architects, home to Grand Junction, a vibrant arts, culture, and community venue. 

This includes youth clubs, art groups, courses, music events and more. They also have a very lovely canal-side cafe- I can highly recommend the Chicken Caesar sourdough sandwich. 

Services still take place in the church, with mass on Sundays and smaller weekday services in the undercroft chapel. 

The church is open for free self-led tours Mondays and Wednesdays 10am-4pm. They also have regular guided heritage tours for just £5.

You can find out more here!

Thank you for reading, more of London’s historic treasures below…