St. Mary's is the Church of England parish church for Bedfont, a historic village that is now a ward in the London Borough of Hounslow. We are in the Ecclesiastical Area of Kensington of the Diocese of London.
Our ancient church building sits on the northern edge of Bedfont Green, near the junction of the A315 Staines Road and Hatton Road. Our Church Hall and Vicarage (postcode TW14 8JR) are close nearby. Click here to find us on Google Maps (other on-line mapping services are available)
Our Vicar is Revd. Philip Smith. The vicarage telephone number is 020 8751 0088.
For a report on his Institution, Induction, and Installation service in September 2015, click here.
For more information, click here to download our Parish Profile.
The additional restrictions that were brought in under the Government’s Plan B were lifted from the 27th January 2021. We are currently holding Holy Communion services on Sundays at 08:00 and 09:30, and on Wednesdays at 09:30. If you attend any of this week’s services, please note that in compliance with Church of England guidelines you are requested to wear a face covering except while seated, unless you are exempt. Also, please sanitise your hands in the porch on entry, and maintain social distancing when possible. If you have the NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app on your smartphone please scan the church’s QR code to register your presence. Contact details collected for ‘Test and Trace’ purposes will kept for 21 days, and will not be used for other purposes.
The Sunday 09:30 service is still being streamed live on on Facebook here, and our YouTube channel here. This is then available to watch at a later time.
You can also interact with us on Twitter here. There is also a parish Instagram page that can be found at ‘stmaryschurchbedfont’.
As part of the Diocese of London, St. Mary's is committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults to worship and grow in Christ safely. We have safeguarding arrangements in place, including:
Our policies govern the work undertaken with children, young people and vulnerable adults who attend church and take part in activities organised by the church or on church premises. For more information, please click here to see our Parish Safeguarding Policy.
St. Mary's is keen to comply with the 2018 General Data Protection Regulations. For full information, you can download our Privacy Notice and a Consent Form.
The first underfloor heating in St Mary's was installed in the 1960s and failed in stages from about 2000. The church was cold and the fabric of the building starting to suffer from damp. It cost additional money for electric heating and wasted energy.
Our architect recommended replacement of the underfloor heating and a new stone floor more in keeping with the historic nature of the building. This would make the church warmer and protect the historic fabric of a beloved building in Bedfont. Also, it is expected to make the church a better venue for many community events. There are many aspects to the project including preserving and restoring the mediaeval pictures and the organ.
We started in January 2018, and completed the bulk of the work by the end of that March. Sunday and Wednesday morning services were held in the Church Hall during the period of work.
Although the work has been completed,
you can still sponsor a flagstone to help us raise a total of £267,000 to replace the floor and the under-floor heating and thus protect the fabric of the church for future generations.
Anyone who joined in with this scheme before 20th January 2018 had their names inserted into a time capsule buried into the floor during the work.
A book recording all sponsorships was created and has been placed on view within the church.
You can get more details and donate to us
at JustGiving here.
Alternatively, you can download a
sponsorship form, and return it to the address on there.
The additional restrictions that were brought in under the Government’s Plan B were lifted from the 27th January 2021.
We are currently holding Holy Communion services on Sundays at 08:00 and 09:30, and on Wednesdays at 09:30.
If you attend any of this week’s services,
please note that in compliance with Church of England guidelines
you are requested to wear a face covering except while seated, unless you are exempt.
Also, please sanitise your hands in the porch on entry,
and maintain social distancing when possible.
If you have the NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app on your smartphone please scan the church’s QR code to register your presence.
Contact details collected for ‘Test and Trace’ purposes will kept for 21 days, and will not be used for other purposes.
The Sunday 09:30 service is still being streamed live on on Facebook here, and our YouTube channel here. This is then available to watch at a later time.
Enquiries regarding Weddings, Baptisms and other pastoral matters can be made at the church Vestry (entrance off Hatton Road) on Saturday mornings between 10:00 am and 11:00 am. Parish Office timings are unchanged on Saturdays when there is a Coffee Morning. Parish Office is usually suspended at Easter and Christmas.
Baptisms are currently permitted in church, with restrictions as per regular services (see above). Baptisms usually take place on the 3rd Sunday in the month at 12 noon, except during the seasons of Lent (mostly in March) and Advent (December), when there will be none. Parents wishing to discuss the Baptism of a child should attend Parish Office, as above.
We also offer Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child services, which may be more suitable for those who are not regular church attenders. A short leaflet is available to explain the differences.
If you are not already a regular member of our congregation, you will be asked to attend a number of services before being able to make a booking.
Wedding and blessing bookings are taken for alternate Saturdays throughout the year except during Lent (6 weeks before Easter) and Advent (4 weeks before Christmas). A maximum of 2 weddings can occur with one at 3:00pm and another at either 2:00pm or 4:00pm.
Bookings for 2022 and 2023 are currently being taken. Please note that all bookings are provisional until full payment has been received and all administrative operations have taken place. Statutory Fees for 2021 can be downloaded from here, and for 2022 from here.
Banns are normally read during the month preceding the wedding. So, for a Wedding in July, the Banns will normally be read in June, although this can change with individual circumstances.
Saint Mary's Burial Ground is situated off Bedfont Road, and is maintained by volunteers from our congregation. The entrance is just to the west of that of Bedfont Lakes Country Park (where normally free car parking is available). It can be visited at any reasonable time.
Burials of Ashes can be made in the Garden of Remembrance east of the church extension. This also can be visited at any reasonable time.
Each Sunday we produce a combined Newsletter and Service Sheet. This includes a ‘Diary For The Week’, a list of other forthcoming events and meetings, and various items of parish news. This is published in electronic form, in addition to the paper copies are printed that can be collected at our Sunday and Wednesday morning services.
Click here to download our weekly Newsletter (and back issues)
We also produce a Monthly Magazine, usually published on the fourth Sunday of the preceeding month, cost 50 pence. As well as in church, copies can be obtained from Bedfont Library. It is availabile in an electronic edition. You can download the February 2022 edition from here.
The Magazine includes a form for sponsoring the church's floodlighting at £10 per night. If you do not wish to damage the magazine you can download a sponsorship form (PDF) from here.
We have resumed our regular Coffee Mornings on the first Saturday of each month. The next one is scheduled to be on 5th February, from 10:30 to 12:00. Do please drop in for a look around our lovely and historic church, and a chat. Everyone welcome, but please bring your own cup if you can. The latest issue of our Parish Magazine will also be on sale.
For an illustrated history of the church, click here.
For an illustrated description of the church's stained glass, click here.
For an illustrated description of the church's monuments, click here (external site).
Copyright 2022 The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Saint Mary the Virgin, Bedfont.
Registered Charity number 1132247.