# St Anne's Church, Kew

St Anne's Church, Kew is a parish church located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The neo-classical building historically in Surrey, which dates from 1714 and is Grade II* listed, forms the central focus of Kew Green.
Its raised churchyard, which is on three sides of St Anne's Church, has two Grade II* listed monuments – the tombs of the artists Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788) and Johan Zoffany (1733–1810). French Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830–1903), a frequent visitor to England was resident at 10 Kew Green when painting St Anne's as Church at Kew (1892).

## Services

On Sundays St Anne's Church holds a traditional Said Eucharist, a Sung Eucharist and (on the first Sunday of the month) Choral Evensong.

## Music

St Anne's Church houses a 19th-century pipe organ and is a venue for concerts, including those of the local orchestra, Kew Sinfonia.

## History

Founded in 1714 as a chapel within the parish of Kingston on ancient royal manorial land dedicated by Queen Anne, St Anne's Church has been extended several times since. As the settlement of Kew grew attracting prosperous London merchants under royal patronage, St Anne's became a benefice in 1769 being united with St Peter's Petersham and in 1770, King George III undertook to pay for its first extension, designed by Joshua Kirby who, four years later, was buried in the churchyard. In 1805, a new south aisle, designed by Robert Browne, was added, along with a gallery for the Royal Family's use. Under King William IV it was further extended in 1837 by Sir Jeffry Wyattville. A parish in its own right from 1850, a mausoleum designed by the architect Benjamin Ferrey was added in 1851, and an eastern extension, including a dome in 1882–84, to the design of Henry Stock. Further extensions were made in 1902, 1979 and 1988. The church ceiling was repainted in 2013 and, to mark St Anne's tercentenary, in 2014 a new baptismal font was installed.
St Anne's present parish hall, at right angles to the church incorporating the previous choir vestry, was built in 1978. Its design echoes the materials and forms of the original church building.
A collection of funerary hatchments honouring deceased royal or noble parishioners is on display in front of the church gallery, flanking a rare representation of Queen Anne's coat of arms. A hatchment commemorating George III's son, King Ernest Augustus of Hanover, was hung at St Anne's in 1851 and is now in the Museum of Richmond's collection. Inside the church are fine memorials, including those to the families of Sir William Jackson Hooker and Sir Richard Levett, beneath the tower which is inscribed: "Within this vault lie the remains of Sir Richard Levett, Knight, of Kew. Also of Lady Mary Levett, his wife, who died October 15th, 1722".
Just outside the church walls on its south side, is the Kew War Memorial, in the form of a large stone cross, commemorating the local soldiers who fell in the First and Second World Wars. Their names are listed not on the memorial but inside the church on a monument by William Sharpington.

## Parish events
### Baptisms

* Francis Perceval Eliot, 9 October 1755, de jure 3rd Count Eliot and elder surviving son of Major-General Granville Eliot, 1st Count Eliot by Elizabeth Duckett.

### Marriages

* Francis, Duke of Teck married Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge on 12 June 1866, whose daughter "May" married George V becoming known as Queen Mary.

### Burials

* William Aiton (d. 1793), first Keeper of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
** William Townsend Aiton (d. 1849) son of above, English botanist, royal gardener
* Franz Bauer (d. 1840), Austrian microscopist and botanical artist, whose epitaph also pays tribute to his brother the botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer (d. 1826): "In the delineation of plants he [Franz] united the accuracy of a profound naturalist with the skill of the accomplished artist, to a degree which has been only equalled by his brother Ferdinand"
* Prof. Patrick Brenan (d. 1985), British botanist, and director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
* Elizabeth, Countess of Derby (d. 1717), Mistress of the Robes
* Dorothy, Lady Capell of Tewkesbury (d. 1721), benefactor of Kew Gardens
* Sir John Day (d. 1808), Advocate-General of Bengal
* Brigadier-General William Douglas (d. 1747), Member of Parliament
* George Engleheart (d. 1829), Anglo-German miniature painter to the Court of King George III and his nephew John Engleheart (d. 1862)
** Sir Gardner Engleheart (d. 1923) son of above, barrister and travel writer
* Thomas Gainsborough (d. 1788), English portrait and landscape painter
* John Haverfield (d. 1820), English gardener and landscape architect, whose father John Haverfield (d. 1784), was Head Gardener at Kew to Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales
** Revd Thomas Haverfield (d. 1866), Rector of Godington and Chaplain to Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
* Sir William Hooker (d. 1865), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, and his son, botanist and explorer Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (d. 1911)
* Joshua Kirby (d. 1774), 18th-century painter known for his work on linear perspective
* Sir Richard Levett (d. 1711), Master Haberdasher and Lord Mayor of London, his family members including grandsons, Revd Abraham Blackburne (d. 1797) and Lincoln's Inn bencher Levett Blackburne (d. 1781), who sold Kew Palace to the Royal Family
* Jeremiah Meyer (d. 1789), English miniature painter
* John Smith (d. 1888), botanist and the first curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
* Timothy Tyrell (d. 1832), City Remembrancer
* Johan Zoffany (d. 1810), German neoclassical painter active in England.

### Formerly buried at St Anne's

* Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel were buried at St Anne's Church in 1850 and 1889 respectively, before being exhumed and their remains removed in 1930 to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

## Notable clergy and officers

Since 2022, Canon Giles Fraser serves as Vicar of St Anne's, Kew, where Anthony Saxton (1934–2015) was formerly churchwarden.

## Gallery
### Church exterior

* St Anne's Church in the snow
* TRH the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s small-domed cenotaph at St Anne’s, Kew
* Kew Green War Memorial

### Church interior

* St Anne's nave
* Engleheart memorial tablet

### Tombs and gravestones

* Aiton family tomb
* Tomb of Thomas Gainsborough
* Hooker family gravestone
* Tomb of Joshua Kirby
* Botanist John Smith family gravestone
* Tomb of Johan Zoffany