About Us

Welcome to our page. St Mary's Church is to be found at the heart of Thorpe village in Surrey, located between Egham/Staines and Chertsey. St Mary's has a growing congregation who are known for their welcome and hospitality and we look forward to you visiting us soon - all are welcome at St Mary's Church Thorpe! 

WORSHIP

We are a growing Church Family with a range of worship and opportunities for community engagement and people of all ages. Every Sunday at 8am we have a traditional said Communion Service. At 10am is our Sung Parish Eucharist, often led by our excellent Church Choir (who are always looking for volunteers!). For families with younger children we offer a Family Service at 11:30am on the first and third Sunday's of every month which include songs, prayer time, craft activities and a lot of fun! Our weekly group for parents with babies and toddlers is named Noah's Ark and meets in our Rutherwyke Room (behind the Church) on Thursday's from 9am - 11.30am. We also have a crèche corner at Church for families to take their toddlers and babies to play during services. Families and Children are very important to us at St Mary's Church and part of our growing Mission to Thorpe, as is our on-going relationship with Thorpe Primary School. We also have Communion Services during the week. 

LOCATION

Thorpe Village is situated just inside the circle of the western part of the M25 and to the west of the M3 and Thorpe Park. The Village appears to be an island: a former rural community which has survived the construction of nearby motorways and gravel pit extraction. Much of the local surroundings are now a conservation area and of great beauty.

HISTORY

We don't know precisely when St. Mary's Church was built but we do know that Thorpe, or 'Torp', meaning village with a church or chapel in Old English is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. In 1963 a Roman cinerary urn, dated to 120 -150 A.D. was discovered buried in the Churchyard, establishing that this site has been of religious significance for nearly 1900 years. Indeed, evidence of a flourishing community, with no doubt a church or chapel to attend to its spiritual needs, can be found prior to 675 when five dwellings were known to have been given by King Frithuwold (The King of Surrey  ruling under King Wulfhere of Mercia) to endow Chertsey Abbey. The beginnings of the church we see today may have been instigated by Abbot Hugh in 1110. The walls of the Church are of mixed heritage and built of flints and rubble with clunch & sandstone dressings, the roof is tiled. (The South facing rubble walls contains Roman Tiles).

The present Church building, with earliest sections dated around the 10th & 11th century is part of the conservation area along with a number of other listed and protected buildings possibly dating from the 17th century onwards. The River Bourne flows through Thorpe Village and the community lies within the Godley hundred. Thankfully, our Village still has two local pubs, a Village Shop and Post Office, along with our excellent and newly extended/refurbished Church Primary School and TASIS - The American School.

TRADITION

In the nineteenth century the patrons of St. Mary’s adhered to the Oxford movement and in more recent times St. Mary’s has become a centre for those who see themselves as modern catholic Anglicans, who hold to the great creedal doctrines and who, believing that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, revere the Bible as the source of our knowledge but believe it is to be interpreted in the light of tradition and reason. It is this witness to Scripture, Tradition and Reason that has become the hallmark of St. Mary’s mission and teaching and draws a wide appeal. St. Mary’s takes seriously our duty of care for the residents, employers, staff and visitors to our parish and community of Thorpe. St Mary's Church is pleased to be a part of Thorpe Neighbourhood Forum which is working to secure the green-belt and sustainable development within the local community.

NOTICE: At 31 January 2018, THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. MARY, THORPE is a charity and it has been entered onto the Register of Charities with the Registered Charity Number 1176929. Licences: CCL 1427605 / Streaming 38399, MRL 1427612, CVL 121132, PPL 1851738, PRS 1568753.