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St Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill

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St Mary the Virgin (also known as St Mary's) is a Church of England parish church in the Diocese of London dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Located on Elsworthy Road in Primrose Hill, the church is noted for its music tradition. Much of the material in The English Hymnal was used for the first time at St Mary's, when the liturgist and social reformer Percy Dearmer was its vicar and the composer Martin Shaw its organist.

History
St Mary's began its life in 1865 when a Church of England home and school for destitute boys moved from Euston Road to new premises in Primrose Hill. The Chaplain of the home, Charles James Fuller, held Sunday services at the school, which local people began to attend as well. Part of the parish of St. Saviour's Church was then assigned to St Mary's and from 1867 the services were held in an "iron church" on nearby Ainger Road. Eton College donated land for the building of a permament church which opened for worship on July 2, 1872. However, the Bishop of London, John Jackson, refused to consecrate the new church on grounds of the ritualism practiced by the esssentially Anglo-Catholic congregation. Jackson suspended the church's practice of a sung liturgy, and had many of the ornaments removed. In 1885, John Jackson's successor, Frederick Temple, consecrated the church and allowed the congregation to restore ritualism. Charles James Fuller became its first vicar.

St Mary's in the 21st century
Robert Atwell had served as the vicar of St Mary's from 1998 until his appointment as Bishop of Stockport in 2008. His successor, Marjorie Brown, became the first female vicar of of the church its 120-year history. The chuch continues its Anglo-Catholic liturgical tradition as well as its focus on music with a permanent choir and the Martin and Geoffrey Shaw Organ Scholarship. A community outreach programme, St Mary's Centre, was established in 2003. The centre achieved full charitable status in 2007 and includes the Eirini Project for young people at risk of anti-social behaviour and social exclusion. St. Mary's organizes the Primrose Hill Summer Lectures is also a venue for the Primrose Hill Celebrity Concerts,

Architecture
William P. Manning George Frederick Bodley

Vicars

 * Charles James Fuller (1885–1889)
 * Albert Spencer (1889–1901)
 * Percy Dearmer (1901–1915)
 * Arthur Stuart Duncan Jones (1916–1928)
 * Hubert Harcourt (1928–1933)
 * Anthony Hardcastle (1934–1951)
 * George Timms (1952–1965)
 * Howard Charles Hollis (1965–1976)
 * Richard Buck (1976–1984)
 * John Ovenden (1984–1998)
 * Robert Atwell (1998–2008)
 * Marjorie Brown (2009– )