The west porch was designed by J. L. Pearson in the early 1890s. The porch contains a memorial to Frederick William Farrar (1831-1903), Rector of St Margaret's from 1876 to 1895, who later became Dean of Canterbury. Farrar oversaw the restoration of the church by Sir George Gilbert Scott and introduced most of the late nineteenth century glass.

Inside the church the west doors are surmounted by the royal arms of Charles II and flanked by two renaissance-style monuments to women who served Queen Elizabeth I. That on the south side commemorates Blanche Parry (c.1508-90) who was nurse to the young Princess Elizabeth, and later her personal maid when she became Queen. On the north side is a similar monument to Lady Dorothy Stafford (d.1604) who was Elizabeth I's Mistress of the Robes.

The West Window and Sir Walter Raleigh

The west window, above the entrance, commemorates Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), whose voyages of exploration in the reign of Elizabeth I led to the establishment of Virginia, one of the earliest settlements in America. Raleigh was executed for treason only a few yards away from the east wall of the church in Old Palace Yard and was buried in the chancel.

The window, by Clayton and Bell, dates from 1888. It was erected by subscriptions from the United States of America. The central portraits, from left to right, are of Henry, Prince of Wales (eldest son of James I), Raleigh himself, Queen Elizabeth I, the poet Edmund Spenser, and Raleigh's half-brother Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Scenes from Raleigh's life are depicted in the lower lights. There is another memorial to Raleigh next to the east door of the church.