REIGATE HUNDRED 



MERSTHAM 



Elinerugge, et Johanna uxor eij qui quidera Thomas 

 obit xxvn die marcii A dnl M v vn quoru*) ai 1 abus 

 ppicietur de*). Amen.' 8 * 



He is shown as in armour, but with head and 

 hands uncovered, and without spurs, and his wife 

 wears the ordinary dress of the period. Of the four 

 shields of arms which originally lay at the corners of 

 the slab, the lower one on the right only remains : 

 it bears Cheeky argent and sable, impaling Lozengy 

 and a chief with a saltire with the ends cut off 

 charged with five roundels, which seem to be the 

 arms of Ovcrton. 



In the chancel is the brass effigy to Sir John 

 Newdegate, 1498. It is unusually small and the 

 figure, which is badly proportioned, is in armour, the 

 head resting on a helmet. The Newdegate arms are 

 Gules three lions' paws razed or. The inscription, 

 in black letter, runs : 'Hie lacet Johes Newdegate 

 Armiger nup dfis de Herfeld in Com Midd q' obiit 

 xxi" die mens ] Februarii A dHi MCCCC 

 LXXXXVIII FA regni reg Hen? VII, xmj, cui ) 

 afe rjpiciet? de.' The manor of Harefield, Middlesex, 

 was acquired by the Newdegates in the i<|.th century. 

 They took their name from the village of Newdigate 

 in this part of Surrey, where also they held lands from 

 an early date. 



There is also a brass to Peter and Richard Best, 

 two children of Nicholas Best of Alderstead, 1585-7. 

 The figure of Peter, who is represented as a little 

 child in a quaint long gown with a handkerchief 

 tied to his girdle, still remains, but that of his brother 

 was stolen about 1839. It represented a ' chrysom ' 

 child. 87 The inscription, in Roman capitals, runs : 

 ' Here lyeth the bodyes of Peter Best and Rychard 

 Best his brother sonnes of Nycolas Best & Elizabeth 

 his wyfe of Alderstead in y* Parryshe of Merstham 

 in the countie of Surrey w"* Peter deceased the xii" 1 

 day of August A Dm 1585. And the said Rychard 

 his brother deceased the xxii th of June A" D5i 1587.' 



There is a stone let into the east wall of the south 

 chapel which is engraved with the arms and crests 

 of Southcote and Waldegrave, and bears the initials 

 i. M. s., denoting the purchase of the manor of 

 Albury from Leonard Dannett in 1579 by John 

 Southcote. The stone appears to have been shifted 

 from the Albury Manor chapel to that of the manor 

 of Alderstead. A piece of carving from old London 

 Bridge is preserved in the church. 



The bells, five in number, are inscribed : I. 

 Bryanvs Eldridge me fecit 1657 ; 2. jff Sancta 



Katerina Ora Pro Nobis ; 3. Robertus + mot + me 

 + fecit + 1597 O> 4- Paclc & Chapman of 

 London Fecit Nich s Feldwick & Jn Eastland 

 Church Wardens 1774; 5. Bryan Eldridge made mee 

 1640. Nicholas Best Richard Sharp Chvrch War- 

 dens. 



No. z is a 14th-century bell, resembling others at 

 Chelsham and Limpsfield. 



Among the church plate is a silver cup of 1623 

 bearing the inscriptions : ' Deo sacrauit & gregi suo 

 dedit i623;'and 'Tho : Goad Si" Theol" D r Rector 

 eccliae pochialis de Mestham Comitat Surrey.' 

 There is a paten of 1714 given by the Rev. Henry 

 Mills, M.A., rector, in 1728. He was rector from 

 172410 1742, and was buried in the chancel. There 

 is also a silver flagon of 1762, the gift of Jer. Milles, 

 D.D., rector, 1763. Besides these there are many 

 modern pieces. 



The registers date from 1539, though not con- 

 tinuous at the beginning, and irregularly kept, especi- 

 ally under the Commonwealth. They are printed by 

 the British Record Society. 



The right of presentation to the 

 ADVQWSQN church of Merstham has always 

 belonged and still belongs to the 

 Archbishop of Canterbury. 88 



The earliest mention of a church there occurs 

 in Domesday. In 1255 dispensation to hold the 

 living of Merstham at the same time as that of 

 ' Gerolweston ' was granted at the request of the 

 archbishop to his physician, Master William de 

 Twytham. 89 In 1 294 the parson there was Robert 

 de Segre, 90 who, having purchased land in Merstham 

 from the prior and several other persons, took 

 possession of it without the king's licence, after the 

 passing of the Statute of Mortmain ; the same thing 

 was done by his successor, Edward Dacre, who 

 petitioned for pardon and obtained it at the price of 

 6t. M. ai 



Under Henry VIII the rectory-house with orchard, 

 garden, and 9 acres of glebe-land was worth 

 2^2 14*. \d. The tithes of grain amounted to 

 12 3/. Afd. Tithes of pigs and geese came to 6t. SJ. 

 A yearly payment of \6J. was required by the Prior 

 of Christchurch, and 6s. %J. was due to the Arch- 

 deacon of Surrey for procurations, &c. With the rest 

 of the tithes, oblations, &c., the living was worth 

 in all 22 is. S<t." 



Smith's Charity is distributed as in 

 other Surrey parishes. 



CHARITIES 



88 Hit will, dated the same day and 

 year as those of his death given on the 

 brass, contains the direction that he 

 should be buried in the 'North Chauncell,' 

 and there the brass remained probably till 

 as late as 1840. 



s ' Woodcuts of both children appear 



in Haines's Manual of Monumental Brasiet t 

 219. An earlier chrysom child remains 

 at Stoke D'Abernon, illustrated in Surr. 

 Arch. Cull, xx, 46. 



Cat. Pat. 1330-4, pp. 477, 481 ; 

 Wykekam'i Rig. (Hants Rec. Soc.), i, 

 146 ; last Bks. P.R.O. 1723, &c. 



89 Cal. of Papal Letters, i, 325. 



90 Cal. Pat. 1292-1301, p. 122. 



91 Ibid. 1345-8, p. 271 ; Abhrcv. Rot 

 Orig. (Rec. Com.), ii, 190. 



98 Valor Etcl. (Rec. Com.), ii, 43. 



221 



