St Elizabeth of Portugal, Richmond

A devout Catholic heiress building a church honouring a mediaeval queen, possibly the earliest work of one of the foremost architects of the nineteenth century; a chaplain fresh from heroic service in the Crimean War; parishioners that included European royalty in exile; a myriad of social and charitable activity including a 'boot club' to provide footwear for children from impoverished families; the loss of many of the parish's young men in the First World War and the bombing of the town in the Second;ba 1960s folk club in the crypt-all part of the 200-year-old history of St Elizabeth's church in The Vineyard, Richmond upon Thames, recounted in this book.