CHURCH
The advowson of the church of Lambourne was
originally appurtenant to the manor of
Lambourne. It was given by Robert of
Lambourne to Waltham Abbey. This
grant was confirmed by the Bishop of London in 1218. (fn. 70)
The confirmation appears to have included the permission required for the ordination of a vicarage, but
there is no evidence that this ever took place. (fn. 71)
The first presentation to the rectory after the Dissolution was made in 1546 by Sir Anthony Cook. (fn. 72) In
1553 the king granted the advowson to Lord Francis
Russell and James Bridges. (fn. 73) Robert Taverner of
Arneways (see above) who died in 1556 was said to
own the advowson. (fn. 74) In 1557, however, Sir Nicholas
Bacon and George Medley presented. (fn. 75) Katherine
Barfoot, widow of Robert Barfoot (see above, Manor),
presented in 1569. (fn. 76) She is stated to have done so by
reason of a grant of the advowson for one turn, made by
Waltham Abbey. It is not unlikely that the presentations of 1546 and 1557 also derived from grants made
before the dissolution of the abbey.
The advowson appears to have been held for some
time by the Taverners, although the presentation was
made by a member of the family on one occasion only
(1608). (fn. 77) The advowson was sold with Arneways to
Robert Draper in 1625. (fn. 78) In 1641 William Draper
conveyed it to William and Thomas Overman. (fn. 79) The
presentation of 1642 was made by the king; it had previously been granted for this turn by Robert Taverner
to Thomas Winniffe, Rector of Lambourne. (fn. 80) Winniffe
was Dean of Gloucester (1624) and later of St. Paul's
(1631). He was chaplain to Charles I and became
Bishop of Lincoln in 1642. (fn. 81) No doubt the king presented on his behalf. In 1646, after the revenues of his
see had been confiscated by Parliament, Winniffe retired to Lambourne where he died in 1654. He bought
the next presentation and evidently intended to give the
living to his nephew Peter Mews (1619-1706). (fn. 82)
Mews, who served in the royalist forces during the Civil
War, presented to the rectory in 1660. (fn. 83) He later became Bishop of Winchester.
The advowson appears to have descended subsequently along with Pryors (see above) but to have been
granted for single turns to persons not connected with
that manor. In 1712 it was sold by Nicholas Staphurst
to Dr. Thomas Tooke, then rector. Tooke provided in
his will that his heirs should have the advowson for 50
years after his death and that it should then pass to
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. (fn. 84) The college presented for the first time in 1778 and has continued to
do so ever since. (fn. 85)
The rectory was valued at £6 13s. 4d. in about 1254,
1291, and 1428 (fn. 86) and at £14 in 1535. (fn. 87) The tithes
were commuted in 1841 for £610; there were then
35 acres of glebe. (fn. 88)
The Old Rectory, now called Lambourne Place, was
originally a timber-framed house, probably of the 17th
century. (fn. 89) It was largely faced with red brick about
1740. The fine symmetrical front has rusticated brickwork to the lower story, while above there are rusticated
quoins, a moulded brick cornice, and a central pediment. A high parapet conceals the dormer windows.
The pedimented doorcase of wood is said to have come
from Dews Hall (see above). (fn. 90) It formerly had a shield
of arms in the tympanum. Inside there are panelled
rooms and a staircase with turned balusters of about
1740. Some of the chimney pieces are of this date and
some later. There are later additions at the back of the
house. It is now the home of the Rt. Hon. John
Strachey, P.C., M.P., Minister of Food 1946-50 and
Secretary of State for War 1950-1.
The present rectory was built in 1925 on a site presented by Lord Lambourne. (fn. 91) It is a two-story house
of dark-red brick.
The church of ST. MARY AND ALL SAINTS
consists of nave, chancel, and west bell turret. It formerly had north and south porches. The walls are of
flint rubble with stone and brick dressings and are
covered externally with cement. The bell turret is
timber-framed and weather-boarded and has a lead
spire.
The nave dates from the middle of the 12th century.
It has north and south doorways which were blocked
and reset in the 18th century. The south door has some
of the original voussoirs to the semicircular arch. The
north doorway has original scalloped capitals externally
but the shafts are missing. The outer order of the opening is semicircular, enriched with chevron ornament.
Below is a tympanum now resting on a wood lintel.
Some of the reset stones of the tympanum are decorated
with axe-cut formy crosses and similar designs. At a
high level and partly behind the timber-work of the bell
turret on both north and south sides are round-headed
single-light 12th-century windows. Part of the internal
jamb and arch of a similar window was uncovered
farther east on the north side in 1951.
An original chancel, built at the same time as the
nave, was largely rebuilt in the 13th century. The
thicker walls adjoining the nave may be the remains of
the 12th-century chancel. A 13th-century blocked
lancet window is visible externally on the south side.
In the 14th century new windows may have been
inserted in the nave and chancel.
The nave roof, with its tie-beam and king-post with
four-way struts, probably dates from the 15th century.
Timber porches, later removed, may have been added
in this or the following century.
The bell-turret was probably added early in the 16th
century. The timber-framing, reaching to the floor of
the nave, has angle-posts, tie-beams, and curved braces.
In 1704-5 the west gallery was built at the expense
of William Walker of Bishops Hall. It is supported on
moulded columns and is ornamented with foliage carving incorporating Walker's monogram. The panels are
inscribed with a list of benefactions to the parish. A
new chancel screen may have been inserted soon afterwards. The panels, which now form a dado at the back
of the choir stalls, have similar foliage carving and the
monogram T.T. (possibly Thomas Tooke, rector
1707-21).
The church was restored and altered between 1723
and 1727. In 1726-7 about £220 was spent on this
work. (fn. 92) The renovations were inspired by Catlyn
Thorogood of Dews Hall, a churchwarden. After his
death in 1732 there was a dispute between the parish
and his executors concerning his accounts for the period
of renovation. (fn. 93) The work included the removal of the
timber porches to north and south and probably the
blocking and resetting of the 12th-century doorways.
A new west door was inserted, having a moulded hood
on foliated brackets (dated 1726) and an oval window
above it. New or altered windows were provided in the
chancel and nave. At the same time the interior was
decorated. The chancel arch is now three-centred, resting on voluted brackets and enriched with 18th-century
plasterwork. The tie-beams across the nave and chancel
are covered with moulded and enriched plaster, the
mouldings being carried round the walls to form a
cornice. The king-post of the nave roof has been
clothed in ornamental plaster and acanthus leaves. It
was probably at this time, also, that the oak reredos with
its fluted Corinthian pilasters was installed, and also a
three-decker pulpit and box pews. The renovation was
so thorough that the interior gives the impression of a
Georgian church, an effect heightened by the large
number of painted hatchments and of 18th- and early
19th-century monuments. A print dated 1824 gives a
good general view of the interior at this time, including
the three-decker pulpit with an enriched soundingboard and the box pews. It also shows a late-18th-century monument above the altar, blocking the east window. (fn. 94) An upper tier was added to the gallery in
1820. (fn. 95)
In 1889 a new organ was installed and a new brick
organ chamber was built for it on the north of the
chancel. At the same time the church was reseated, the
pulpit probably lowered, and a new heating system
installed. These alterations were the gift of Col. Lockwood of Bishops Hall. (fn. 96) In 1933 a new vestry and
entry were constructed under the gallery, the partitions
being of oak from Bishops Hall. (fn. 97) There is a two-light
window in the vestry, on the north wall of the church.
There are three bells, of 1640 by John Clifton, of
1684 by James Bartlet, and of 1784 by William Mears.
In 1552 there were three bells, breadth 24 in., 20 in.,
and 21 in., and also two little handbells and a sacring
bell. (fn. 98) The Bartlet bell was installed in obedience to
the direction of the archdeacon at his visitation of
1683. (fn. 99)
The glass in the south windows of the chancel was
installed in 1817, having been brought from Basle. (fn. 1)
The subjects are as follows: the Choice between Good
and Evil, dated 1630; the Adoration of the Magi, dated
1637; the Incredulity of St. Thomas (with the Annunciation in the spandrels) dated 1623; Christ and St.
Peter on the sea (with the Apocalyptic Vision in the
spandrels) dated 1631; the Adoration of the Shepherds,
the Virgin and Child and St. Anne and the Virgin and
Child (with St. Christopher and a female saint in the
spandrels) dated 1631. The inscriptions are in German. (fn. 2) The glass in the east window, representing the
Adoration of the Shepherds, was presented in memory
of Lord Lambourne (d. 1928).
During repairs in 1951 part of a wall-painting of St.
Christopher was uncovered between the windows on
the south side of the nave. It is thought by Mr. Clive
Rouse to be of the 15th or early 16th century and to
show traces below of an earlier painting of the same
subject. At the same time painted red and yellow strapwork was uncovered farther west. This formed a frame
for texts and is of post-Reformation date. (fn. 3)
The pulpit in oak is four sides of an octagon. The
panels are enriched with carved arcading dating from
the 16th or early 17th century. This was probably incorporated in the 18th-century three-decker pulpit and
retained when the pulpit was lowered in the 19th century. The base is probably part of one of the lower tiers
of the three-decker. The font has an 18th-century
marble bowl on a tall moulded stone base.
The plate consists of a communion cup of 1559, a
plain silver paten of 1703 presented by John Wroth,
a silver flagon of 1736 presented by Richard Lockwood,
and a silver alms dish of 1817. In 1552 the commissioners found at Lambourne a chalice weighing 170z.
They delivered for divine service an 8 oz. chalice, of
silver parcel gilt. (fn. 4)
At his visitation of 1683 the archdeacon directed that
a bible of the new translation should be provided. (fn. 5) This
suggests that the Great Bible was still in use at Lambourne more than 70 years after the publication of the
Authorized Version.
In the chancel is a brass to Robert Barfott (1546)
and Katheryn his wife. (fn. 6) It has figures of a man and
woman together with a group of five sons and another
of four sons and ten daughters, also the arms of the
Mercers' Company and a merchant's mark. Also in the
chancel is a black and white marble tablet with a broken
pediment and three shields of arms to Thomas Wynnyff
(1654) (see above). On the south wall of the chancel
is a tablet with shield of arms and Latin inscription to
Thomas Tooke, rector (1721). There are also other
tablets to later members of the Tooke family who were
rectors. Both in the chancel and nave are many memorials to members of the Lockwood family. Richard
Lockwood, the Turkey merchant who bought Dews
Hall, is commemorated by a white marble tablet with
an urn, broken pediment, garlands, and shield of arms.
On the wall of the nave is a tablet in memory of Capt.
George Lockwood, killed at Balaclava in 1854. There
are floor slabs in the chancel to John Wynnyff (1630),
father of Thomas, to Robert Bromfield (1647), and
members of his family. In the churchyard are the
tombs of Admiral Sir Edward Hughes (1794), his wife,
and his two stepsons. (fn. 7)
The church of THE HOLY TRINITY, Abridge,
was built in 1836 as a chapel of ease to the parish
church. (fn. 8) It was then a plain rectangular building with
lancet windows along the sides and was of gault brick
with red brick dressings. The gabled street front dates
from 1877. A new chancel and vestries were added in
1938. (fn. 9)
For the Church House see below, Charities.