This Friday 3 July 2015 there are celebrations to mark the 300th anniversary of St Mary’s Church at Rotherhithe which opened in 1715.
There had been a church there before. The present one stands on medieval foundations incorporating Roman bricks.
The Thames Path passes along the north side of the church and churchyard which has the tomb of Prince Lee Boo who sailed to Rotherhithe from the Pelau Islands in the 1780s.
On Friday there is a Solemn Mass at 7pm with the Bishop of Fulham presiding. The preacher is former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
Walkers will usually find the west end of the church open and the main building can be viewed through glass. The very early Georgian church has ships’ masts for pillars and an altar made from the Temeraire painted by Turner as she sailed into the breaker’s yard at the riverside village.