Within St Stephen's there is a memorial commemorating one of our most famous past worshippers,  Thomas Stearns Eliot, undoubtedly one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. 

Born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1888, he studied at Harvard and the Sorbornne.  He came to England in 1914, working as a teacher and, later, for a bank.  'The Waste Land' was published in 1922, and in 1927 Eliot joined the C of E and became a Brittish citizen.  From 1928 to 1963 he produced much poetry and drama. His most notable works include 'The Hollow Men' (pub. 1925), 'Ash Wednesday' (1930), 'Murder in the Catherdral' (1935) and 'Little Gidding' (1942).

Eliot was Church Warden of St Stephen's for twenty-five years until April, 1959, and continued to worship here until his death in 1965.