St Mary's has been run since 1979 by the Tradescant Trust as the Garden Museum, for in its churchyard there lie buried those famous pioneers of English horticulture, John Tradescant (c.1570-1638) and his son, also John (1608-62), gardeners to the monarchs and magnates of Stuart England. West of their tomb stands the monument of William Bligh, who was the master of the Bounty in 1789 when the notorious mutiny took place. His house still stands in Lambeth Road.




The church is a remodelling by P. C. Hardwick in 1851-2 of a building of 1374-7, whose aisles were rebuilt and extended in early Tudor times. Its architectural character is therefore that of 14th-century Decorated. Lambeth Palace stands next door as the London home of the Archbishops of Canterbury; the palace's 15th-century red-brick gateway forms a picturesque pair with St Mary's ragstone tower. Several archbishops have been buried in the church, or have memorials there.




The interior walls and columns are very sprucely cleaned amidst the museum's display. The tall nave has standard 14th-century octagonal columns with moulded capitals. The sizeable chancel has two Tudor tomb-chests, flanking the former high altar, but now hidden behind a screen. The east window has flowing tracery and is filled with stained glass by Francis Stevens. The west window is Perpendicular and has stained glass in memory of Archbishop Moore. On the north wall there is a terracotta carving of the Crucifixion by George Tinworth.