The first St Margaret's was built in the 11th century to relieve the Benedictine monks of the distraction of worshippers who crowded into the masses sung by the monks at Westminster Abbey. Today, it is lnown as the "parish chirch of hr House of Commons."
A historical marker at the front of the church reads as follwos:
This marker is at the public entry into the St. Margaret's Church. It gives a brief overview of this deeply historic church as follows:
"St. Margaret’s Church
Westminster Abbey
Visitors are welcome to this beautiful church. The present building, consecrated in 1523, is the third on the site. Since 1614 St. Margaret’s has been the church of the House of Commons. Windows commemorate Caxton and Milton, who worshiped here, and Raleigh, who is buried in front of the altar, under the glorious window made for King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon in c1520. After about 900 years of service as a parish church for the people Westminster, St. Margaret’s was placed in the care of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster by Parliament in 1973. It is still in regular use for worship and for recitals of music."
Today, St Margaret's is no longer a fully-functioning parish, but is part of the larger Westminster Abbey body, with one of the Canons of Westminster serving as Rector of St Margaret's.
The 1736 bell tower contains 10 bells.
From the Chandler Family foundation website: (
visit link)
"St. Margaret's Church
Westminster, London, England
Glenn Chandler, then CFA president, took advantage of a 2008 business trip to London to visit and photograph St. Margaret's Church, a site that is important to all descendants of John Chandler of London and Virginia. The historic church is quite near many other famous London landmarks.
. . .
According to Westminster Abbey's web site, St. Margaret's Church was built on the Abbey grounds by the Benedictine Monks of Westminster Abbey, whose daily routine was disturbed by the local people attending church and receiving the sacraments at the Abbey. Margaret of Antioch, to whom the church was dedicated, was extremely popular in the middle ages but little is known of her today. The original St. Margaret's was built in the latter part of the 11th century.
The parish of St Margaret's originally covered a large area. The baptisms, marriages, and burials registers are extensive. The original registers, which include the baptism of our John, are kept in the Abbey's Muniment Room. Microfilms of the registers can be consulted at the Westminster Archives Centre at 10 St Ann's Street, London.
The facade of St. Margaret's was cased in Portland stone in 1735. The tower was largely rebuilt in the 1730s and is an important example of early eighteenth-century Gothic. Within the tower is a ring of ten bells, the oldest dating from 1739."
Even more details are available on Love's Guyde to the Church Bells of Westminster: (
visit link)
"A ring of 10 bells
Tenor: 26-0-26 in D"
More details on each one of the bells, including their weight, note, casting and any inscriptions are found on the website, but cannot be reproduced here because the data is formatted in a table.