St Mark’s Church was consecrated by the Bishop of London on 24th June 1847, and has enjoyed a history of education and literary associations and, for most of the time, moderate, non-partisan churchmanship ever since. As well as the cure of souls, finance and building have presented continuing challenges, as much in the heyday of the 19th-century pew-renting congregations as today.

Built to cater for the new villa dwellers who came to live on this previously rural fringe of London, St Mark’s was intimately connected with the foundation of St John’s School, Leatherhead, and the genesis of Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’ books. The need for a church in the new district was felt from the early 1840’s and a small temporary building was constructed as an outpost of the parish of Christ Church, Marylebone. The freehold of the site was brought for £600 in 1846 from the trustees of Harrow School. St Mark’s was built at a cost of £9,300 (in the money of the day) by the architects, Thomas Cundy and his son, also Thomas. 

Sadly, there was a fire overnight on 26th/27th January 2023, and the majority of the interior was destroyed. The walls and tower still stand  at time of writing. A huge rebuilding programme will begin as soon as possible.