St Dunstan, Cranford

Place: Cranford
Diocese: London
Parish Priest: Fr Michael Gill
Address: The Rectory
34 High Street
Cranford
Hounslow
Greater London
TW5 9RG
Phone: 020 8897 8836

Website: www.saintdunstan.org.uk

S. Dunstan’s is a medieval church mentioned in the Domesday Book, but the site as a place of worship predates the Norman Conquest. The ring of 6 bells includes the oldest ringing bell in the diocese of London which was cast at Aldgate around 1380. Above the Altar are the remains of wall-painting dating to about 1320 depicting the Assumption or the Coronation of Our Lady. There are magnificent monuments in the sanctuary. The nave fell victim to a fire in 1710 and was rebuilt in red brick by the Berkeley family. J. L. Pearson reordered the church in 1895 and then more major work was carried out in the 1930s under Father Maurice Child by Martin Travers. Amongst the alterations were a new Altar (the reredos of which converts into a Throne of Exposition for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament) and baldacchino in Counter-Reformation baroque style together with a statue of Our Lady which is topped by an incredibly high spire. At the end of a very productive life Travers regarded Cranford as his finest work.