St Raphael's Church, Surbiton

It was designed by the eminent architect Charles Parker in an Italianate style, with early Christian and Renaissance influences. The entire cost was met by Alexander Raphael, a Catholic Armenian whose family came from India.{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=David A. |date=16 January 2019 |title=ALEXANDER RAPHAEL – A MAN WITH TWO BURIAL PLACES |url=https://www.kingstonhistoryresearch.co.uk/canbury/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TWO-BURIAL-PLACES-RED.pdf |website=Kingston History Research}} He became the first Roman Catholic to be elected Sheriff of London after the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829. Raphael built the Church in 1846 as a family chapel and named it after St Raphael. It was completed in 1848. But soon after, in November 1850, he died. His nephew, Edward, inherited the property and opened it to the public as the first Roman Catholic church in Kingston.{{cite web |title=Alexander Raphael and a History of the Church |url=https://straphaelsurbiton.org.uk/about/history/ |accessdate=29 January 2015 |website=St. Raphael’s Church |publisher=}}

Through successive bequests, the Church and land became the property of Captain Hon. George Savile, brother to the Sixth Earl of Mexborough, a Yorkshire family.

There is a memorial plaque for Lady Anne Savile, daughter of the fourth Earl, Colonel Minchin and Captain Hamilton who were lost attempting to set an aviation record by being the first aviator to fly over the Atlantic Ocean from east to west. Other members of the Savile family who lived nearby in Thames Ditton are buried in the vault under the High Altar.{{Cite web |title=Surbiton – St Raphael |url=https://taking-stock.org.uk/building/surbiton-st-raphael/ |website=Taking Stock. Catholic Churches in England & Wales}}

The church was sold to the Diocese of Southwark after the Second World War and is now on the Registered List of Buildings of historical and architectural interest. The church was officially consecrated on St Raphael's Day (28 September) 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.straphael.org.uk/Consec_straphael_contents.htm|title=Mass of Dedication and Consecration|publisher=Official website|accessdate=18 March 2019}}

File:St Raphael's Interior 1, Kingston, Surrey, UK - Diliff.jpg|Interior

File:St Raphael's church, Surbiton, George Savile mosaic.jpg|Savile mosaic

File:St Raphael's church, Surbiton, East window.jpg|East window

File:Princess Anne of Loewenstein Wertheim monument in St Raphael's Church Surbiton.jpg|Princess Anne of Loewenstein Wertheim plaque

{{Reflist}}

• [https://straphaelsurbiton.org.uk/ Official website]

{{Commons category|St Raphael's church, Surbiton}}

{{LB Kingston upon Thames}}

{{Archdiocese of Southwark}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|51.4021|-0.3076|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surbiton, Saint Raphael}}

Category:Roman Catholic churches in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Category:Grade II* listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Category:Grade II* listed churches in London

Category:Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark

Saint Raphael

Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1848

Category:19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom

Category:History of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Category:Churches on the Thames