THE PARISH CHURCH TO RUSHEY GREEN. : 121 
Henry V, had conferred Lewisham on the Priory of Shene, we 
have a possible reason for his image in the church here. All these 
images had lights burning before them, the gifts of pious persons, 
and having thus been ‘‘ superstitiously abused ” as the phrase was, 
were removed in the reign of Edward VI, under whose injunctions 
only two lights were to remain, viz., those on the high altar. 
Of the church in the 17th century we have little account. In 
1641, during the vicariate of Abraham Colfe, it was visited by the 
Puritan soldiery, who pulled up the altar rails and threw them in 
the river. By 1773 the church had fallen into disrepair, and many 
cracks appearing in the great central column above mentioned, due 
no doubt to burials, a committee was formed, under the Earl of 
Dartmouth, to consider the condition of the building. The archi- 
tects consulted recommended the raising of the floor, and the 
taking down of the interior arches, and other alterations, and it 
was finally decided to rebuild the church entirely, save the tower. 
An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1774, and the plans of Mr. 
John Gibson were approved. Tenders were invited, which varied 
from 45,150 to £44,086, and this latter, that of Oliver Burton & Co., 
was accepted. The money was obtained by a system of annuities 
secured on the sums received for letting the vaults and the pews 
in the galleries, The new church was finished in 1777, the first 
service being held on the 7th September of that year. The work 
included the raising of the tower by the addition of the present 
upper storey. 
On 26th December, 1830, the overheating of the flues set fire 
to the woodwork, burning some of the pews and portions of the 
gallery, and most unfortunately destroying a large part of the 
Parish Registers and papers. 
In 1881, during the vicariate of the Rev. The Hon. Augustus 
Legge, now Bishop of Lichfield, an extensive scheme of rearrange- 
ment was carried out. The Earl of Dartmouth replaced the small 
eastern apse by a chancel, with north and south chapels, and Mr. 
George Parker, of Lewisham House, refitted the nave. The whole 
was carried out from the designs of Sir Arthur Blomfield. 
Leaving the parish church we turn to the houses on the other 
or eastern side of the street, and retrace our steps to the corner of 
Ladywell Park. Here the block of villas at the southern corner, 
now turned into offices and shops, was built in 1860, and those at 
the northern corner in 1863, on the nursery ground which extended 
over the area at present covered by Ladywell Park. Next we 
_have a small square cottage, and southward of that come two 
houses, probably of the latter part of the 17th century, which 
for many years have been occupied as a butcher’s and grocer’s 
respectively. They still form a picturesque little group in the 
modern street. 
The next house (No. 295), formerly known as Streete House, 
is parish property, standing on ground bequeathed to the parish in 
1626 by Mr. Humphrey Streete. 
