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St Mildred's Church, Whippingham
St Mildred's Church, Whippingham
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
Website	[2]
History
Dedication	St Mildred
Administration
Province	Province of Canterbury
Diocese	Portsmouth
Archdeaconry	Isle of Wight
Deanery	Isle of Wight
Parish	Whippingham
Clergy
Priest in charge	Revd Allie Kerr

50°44′24″N 01°16′37″W / 50.74000°N 1.27694°W / 50.74000; -1.27694

St Mildred's Church, Whippingham is the Church of England parish church of the village of Whippingham, Isle of Wight.

History

The village of Whippingham, and St Mildred's Church as its parish church, are best known for their connections with Queen Victoria. Whippingham was the centre of a royal estate supporting Osborne House and Barton Manor.

In 1804 a church was reconstructed by John Nash on the site of the lost medieval parish church: in 1854–60 it was pulled down and rebuilt. Prince Albert (the Prince Consort) took an active role in the redesigning of the church building. The chancel of the church was built in 1854 and 1855 by the architect Albert Jenkins Humbert^[1] although Prince Albert is thought to have had a guiding hand. The remainder of the church was constructed in 1861 and 1862.

A side chapel with the tomb of Prince Henry of Battenberg and Princess Beatrice, is dedicated to the Battenberg/Mountbatten family.

Queen Victoria took a close interest in 'her people' in Whippingham. This is reflected in the many memorials in St Mildred's Church which commemorate members of the Royal Family, including the Prince Consort, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and members of the royal household.

The church also has a memorial to the Hessian soldiers who fought under the British flag in the 1790s, and were invalided to the Isle of Wight. Soldiers from the Musketeer Regiment Prinz Carl were housed in the newly built Whippingham mill, which became a temporary barrack and hospital. Eighty-four of them are buried in the churchyard. The memorial was unveiled in 1906 by the Landgrave of Hesse.^[2]

The church is now in a united benefice with St James's Church, East Cowes.

Interior

Inside the church, there are brilliant rose windows and a large octagonal lantern in the centre.

Organ

A specification of the Father Willis organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Memorials

A number of memorials in the church commemorate members of Queen Victoria's family and household.^[3]

Chancel
- Queen Victoria Reredos presented by King Edward VII.
North transept
- Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Ponsonby, Private Secretary and Equerry to Queen Victoria and Keeper of Her Majesty's Privy Purse. A work in bronze by Lady Feodora Gleichen.
- Lord Henry Seymour-Conway, second son of the Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford.
- William Arnold, Collector of His Majesty's Customs', died 1801. Father of Thomas Arnold, Headmaster of Rugby School.
- Rev. Matthew Arnold, a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and Forces Chaplain, who was drowned at the age of 35.
South Transept
- Prince Henry of Battenberg. Brass Lectern
- Canon Prothero (1818–1894), Chaplain to Her Majesty, Canon of Westminster and Deputy Clerk of the Closet and Rector of Whippingham.
Battenberg Chapel
- Tomb of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg. A double sarcophagus of white marble, adorned with cast-iron sword.
- Urn of The 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke. A brass casket set into a niche above his parents' double sarcophagus.
West wall
- Albert, Prince Consort
South wall

Burials

St Mildred's Church contains the last resting places of several members of the Battenberg/Mountbatten family. Inside the church, in a side chapel called the 'Battenberg Chapel', are buried: