St. Matthias CofE Church, Richmond Team Ministry

St. Matthias CofE Church, Richmond Team Ministry Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from St. Matthias CofE Church, Richmond Team Ministry, Religious organisation, Church Road, Richmond, London.

Some celebrations leave more than memories. This one left seeds in the earth.For the Church of England’s first Festival ...
07/09/2026

Some celebrations leave more than memories. This one left seeds in the earth.

For the Church of England’s first Festival of Creation in Christ, our Choral Eucharist began inside St Matthias. After the Peace, our worship passed through the open doors into the church garden, where we gathered around an altar beneath a September sky.

At the close of the service, our Team Vicar, the Revd Anne Crawford, blessed wildflower seeds. Members of the congregation scattered them across the newly prepared borders. Tiny beginnings entrusted to the earth, in hope of new life and colour in the year ahead.

Then we returned inside, where tables were waiting and lunch was shared: food, conversation, friendship and the warmth of being together.

Thank you to Glen McNeill, who coordinated the food, to those who prepared the borders to receive the seeds, and to all who helped make the day possible, in ways both seen and unseen.

The service ended. The tables were cleared. But beneath the soil, something of the day remains, waiting for rain, light and time.

Look closely, and our corner of creation is held in this altar frontal: the River Thames flowing below Richmond Hill, a ...
05/09/2026

Look closely, and our corner of creation is held in this altar frontal: the River Thames flowing below Richmond Hill, a heron at the water’s edge, homes among the trees and, above it all, the much-loved spire of St Matthias.

From this stretch of river, the story opens out across the world. “Living Water” is the theme of this year’s worldwide Season of Creation.

This Sunday, as part of that season, the Church of England will celebrate the Festival of Creation in Christ for the first time.

In the words used to introduce the new festival:

Creation made through Christ.
Held together in Christ.
Destined for renewal in Christ.

Here at St Matthias, we will mark the festival with Choral Eucharist celebrated in our church garden, followed by our congregational lunch: worship, music and a table shared together.

Sunday 6 September
Choral Eucharist at 10.30am
Congregational lunch afterwards

Come for the service. Stay for lunch. There is a place for you.

St Matthias Church, Richmond Hill

Detail from the St Matthias altar frontal by Jacquie Binns.

One week to go.Little Chicks returns next Friday.The toys are beginning to assemble.Some old friends are expected.Some n...
04/09/2026

One week to go.

Little Chicks returns next Friday.

The toys are beginning to assemble.

Some old friends are expected.
Some new friends may also be reporting for duty.
The Little Chicks Express is standing by.

Little Chicks Stay and Play is for babies, toddlers and their grown-ups.
Fridays, 9.15–10.45am at St Matthias, Richmond Hill.
Free, friendly, and all welcome.

Just turn up during school term time.

The last day of August. The dahlias have been flowering for weeks and will keep flowering until the first frost.One bumb...
31/08/2026

The last day of August. The dahlias have been flowering for weeks and will keep flowering until the first frost.

One bumblebee stayed on the same flower, taking its time round the centre, with the whole bed to choose from.

Wishing you an unhurried bank holiday and a good week ahead, from all of us at St Matthias.

Be still…One of the hymns we’ll sing this Sunday begins with those two words.Join us at 9.30am for Choral Eucharist, fol...
29/08/2026

Be still…

One of the hymns we’ll sing this Sunday begins with those two words.

Join us at 9.30am for Choral Eucharist, followed by coffee.

Whether St Matthias is familiar to you or completely new, we’d be glad to see you.

Two weeks to go.Little Chicks is back for the new term.The toys, as you can see, are currently on summer manoeuvres.Norm...
28/08/2026

Two weeks to go.

Little Chicks is back for the new term.

The toys, as you can see, are currently on summer manoeuvres.

Normal service will resume on Friday 11 September.

Little Chicks Stay and Play is for babies, toddlers and their grown-ups.
Fridays, 9.15–10.45am at St Matthias, Richmond Hill.
Free, friendly, and all welcome.

Just turn up - during school term time.

Something rather extraordinary is happening at our sister church, St Mary Magdalene, on 22 September…The Rev Robert Stan...
28/08/2026

Something rather extraordinary is happening at our sister church, St Mary Magdalene, on 22 September…

The Rev Robert Stanier will be preaching and telling stories from dawn until dusk, a full twelve hours.

Do drop in, stay for a while, and support him if you can.

Sometimes a tiny shift in position can change the view.Wishing you a good week, from all of us at St Matthias.
24/08/2026

Sometimes a tiny shift in position can change the view.

Wishing you a good week, from all of us at St Matthias.

The doors will be open at St Matthias Sunday morning.Choral Eucharist is at 9.30am followed by coffee.Please do join us....
22/08/2026

The doors will be open at St Matthias Sunday morning.

Choral Eucharist is at 9.30am followed by coffee.

Please do join us.

On 21 August 1862, at the summit of the 195-foot spire, the Revd Henry Dupuis spread the mortar, watched the capstone lo...
21/08/2026

On 21 August 1862, at the summit of the 195-foot spire, the Revd Henry Dupuis spread the mortar, watched the capstone lowered into place, and checked it with a level. The tower and spire were complete, giving St Matthias, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the silhouette we recognise on Richmond Hill today.

It was the culmination of a story that had begun years earlier.

In 1855, as Richmond grew, it was agreed that “a Church should be built upon the Hill.” The site was gifted, and funds were raised through voluntary contributions and the efforts of many.

There were bazaars too.

In June 1858, one was held over three days at Mrs Grosvenor’s home on Mount Ararat. Among the visitors on the first afternoon was the 16-year-old Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. He stayed for about an hour, making purchases from the ladies at the stalls.

A few weeks later, on 7 August 1858, St Matthias was consecrated by the Bishop of Wi******er. Every available place was occupied. He spoke of a church where those present, and their “children’s children,” would gather for generations to come.

The church was open for worship, but the tower and spire remained unfinished.

Fundraising continued. By June 1862, the parish records noted that “the Spire is now rising rapidly”, soon to become “the most conspicuous object in the neighbourhood.”

When the Revd Dupuis finally laid the capstone that August day in 1862, he remembered all who had helped bring the church forward and all who had laboured with their hands to erect it.

The Royal Standard was hoisted.

And twenty-one guns rang out across Richmond Hill.

More than a century and a half later, the spire still rises above Richmond Hill.

And beneath it, the doors still open into the light.

“In your light we see light.”
Psalm 36:9

Sources: St Matthias parish records and contemporary newspaper reports, 1855–1862.

Address

Church Road, Richmond
London
TW106LR

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 9am
Wednesday 4pm - 4:30pm
Thursday 10am - 11am
Friday 8:30am - 9am
Sunday 9am - 11am

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