A HISTORY OF SURREY 



and to the south of that a chapel, nave, north and 

 south aisles with west porches and a west tower. 



A chapel at Richmond is mentioned in the reign 

 of Henry I when Gilbert the Norman founded 

 Merton Abbey, giving it the advowson of Kingston 

 and the four chapels of Petersham, Sheen (now 

 Richmond), East Molesey, and Thames Ditton. It 

 is mentioned again in 1339, and several wills in 

 Somerset House prove the use of the church in 

 1487. In a manuscript of the expenses of Henry VII 

 is the entry : ' Item given to ye Parish Clerke of 

 Richmond towards ye building of his new church 



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In 1614 the first vestry was held, and the minutes 



of the meetings are still extant. The steeple was 

 found to be in a ruinous state in 1624, and it was 

 rebuilt, the contract with the mason being : 'First, 

 That he is to make the Tower tables a plaine plenth 

 and to make the upper Table plaine with such stone as 

 he shall find there in the churchyard and to make the 

 rest of the battlement a plaine cooping answerable to 

 the thickness of the wall. To make the windows 

 according to the Plote with a champfare on the out- 

 side and a Rabbatt on the inside or near thereabouts 

 and to bring up the Buttresses answerable to the work 

 and to make a Table over the heads of the windows 

 with such stone as shall be found there and to make 

 it plaine and strong work. The masons work to be 

 done according to this order the church finding 

 the materials and scaffolding stuff and tacklings for 

 raysings and to make ready the scaffolds." An estimate 

 of ^30 was accepted from a Henry Walden, the 

 parish finding the materials, and 32 was paid to 

 William Halsey for lead for the steeple. 40 4/. loJ. 

 was the sum paid to one George Charley for a bell. 

 The tower then erected is still standing, being the 

 oldest part of the church, but it has been greatly 

 restored. Six years later (in 1630) the churchwardens 

 were requested to take a view of the steeple and 

 report on the same at the next meeting, and also take 

 a view for the hanging of five bells. In 1624 a 

 gallery was made ; in 1673 rose l ^ e question of repair- 

 ing the south aisle ; and in 1683 a south gallery was 

 taken into consideration. In 1671 the communion 

 table was ordered to be ' inclosed with rails and 

 balusters 1 2 ft. in length by 7 ft. in width, with 

 panels of wainscot and settles on both sides, and also 

 a ' false flower (floor) under the said Table.' 



In 1699, P art ly by the munificence of William III, 

 who gave zoo towards the enlargement, the accom- 

 modation was improved and the pulpit ordered to be 

 removed to the ' south-east pillar between the church 

 and chancel.' In 1701 the roof of the tower and the 

 steeple were defective and the bell frames rotten, and 

 these parts were restored. The building suffered 

 some damage from the Great Storm in 1703. The 

 church was enlarged in 1750, and the nave and aisles 

 then erected are those still standing ; an organ was 

 placed there by George III and Queen Charlotte in 

 1 770. The church was thoroughly repaired in 1822, 

 when a new burial-ground was also added to the 

 churchyard ; and it was again renovated in 1866 and 

 newly reseated, whilst the organ was removed and a 

 new one placed on the north side of the chancel. 

 The chancel and its aisles were rebuilt and consider- 

 ably enlarged in 1904. 



In the Free Public Library is preserved the carved 

 oak head of a monument or a doorhead which is 



said to have been on the north wall of the church 

 in 1669 and was transferred to the west door in 

 1702 and removed from the church in 1864, being 

 finally presented to the library in 1 907 ; the carving 

 is allegorical of Death and the Resurrection; on one 

 side cherubim are represented as winds blowing upon 

 human bones, and on the other a cherub with a trumpet, 

 bones below, and a sun with rays ; in the middle is a 

 winged skull, cross-bones, &c. There is also a frag- 

 ment of 17th-century panelling carved with a vertical 

 wreath of foliage and fruit, and having enriched 

 mouldings ; this is probably a piece of the 1671 

 panels of wainscot set about the altar. 



The chancel has an east window of seven lights and 

 tracery and a three-light window in either side wall. 

 In the north wall a doorway opens into the vestry and 

 an archway west of it into the organ-chamber. An 

 arcade of two bays divides the chancel from its south 

 aisle and a similar arcade divides the aisle from the south 

 chapel. The aisle is lighted by a traceried east win- 

 dow of five lights, and the chapel by one of four 

 lights, and two south windows, each of three lights, 

 whilst it has an outer doorway in its west wall. 

 Moulded arches open into the chancel and its aisles 

 from the nave and aisles. 



The nave is divided from either aisle by an arcade 

 of five bays with plain Doric columns and spanned by 

 wood lintels with moulded cornices. Above is a clear- 

 story lighted by wide segmental-headed windows with 

 wood frames. The north aisle is lighted by five 

 round-headed windows of red brick with keystones, 

 and plain stone strings at the springing level. The 

 wall is of stock brick and has a moulded brick cornice. 



A doorway at the west end of the aisle opens into 

 a semi-octagonal porch lighted by round-headed 

 windows and with a round-headed doorway in its 

 north-west wall. The south aisle is lighted by five 

 similar windows, but the three middle lights are 

 included in a slightly projecting portion above which 

 is a pediment to the wall, and on either side of it a 

 plain parapet with a stone coping. At the west end 

 is a square porch with a round doorway in its south 

 side. 



The tower is of three stages ; the archway opening 

 into it, which is of three chamfered orders, is old, but 

 the rest of its stonework as well as the outside facing 

 of flint is all modern. A stair turret is carried up in 

 its south-east corner, and its two western angles are 

 strengthened by diagonal buttresses. The west door- 

 way has a four-centred arch in a square head with 

 shields in the spandrels and with a moulded label. 

 The second stage is lighted by a plain rectangular 

 window in its north, west, and south walls, and on the 

 north is a clock. The bell-chamber has two similar 

 lights in each of its north, east, and west sides, and 

 one to the south ; the parapet is embattled. The 

 gabled roofs of the new work (chancel, &c.) are 

 covered with tiles ; the nave and aisle roofs are slated. 

 An oak screen spans the chancel arch. The font is 

 modern. 



The church contains a large number of monuments 

 mostly of the 1 8th and igth centuries, but a few of 

 Elizabethan date. One at the east end of the north 

 aisle is a brass set in a grey marble panel ; on it are 

 the figures of a man and woman kneeling. Behind . 

 him are four sons, and behind her four daughters; 

 Over the sons is a shield with the arms A cheveron 

 between three skeins of cotton. The inscription 



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