St Nicholas

The site of St Nicholas church is thought to have been a place of Christian worship since the 7th century, and its tower, built in 1425, is considered the oldest building in Chiswick. 

The current church was designed by John Loughborough Pearson and completed in 1884 and is listed by English Heritage as Grade II*. Oliver Cromwell’s daughter Countess Fauconberg lived in Chiswick and it has been suggested that Cromwell’s headless body was buried here after his remains were disinterred when Charles II came to the throne. Cromwell’s men are said to have known the church well and did not destroy its bells or the silver chalice which dates from the reign of Charles I (and remains locked in our safe today).

St Nicholas’s situation on the banks of the River Thames make it an imposing historic landmark, and an attraction to visitors and passersby. The Old Chiswick Protection Society takes a keen interest in it, as does the Victorian Society. The church and its activities receive strong support from our neighbours, as witnessed by their attendance at social events, commitment to our mission work and financial donations. 

The rich history of the church extends to the churchyard, which contains the graves of important artists: William Hogarth, artist and caricaturist, 1764, whose tomb is one of the finest in the graveyard; James Abbot McNeil Whistler, artist and William Kent, artist and landscape gardener, Ugo Foscolo, the renowned Italian poet.