CHURCHES.
There was a priest at Ruislip in
1086, (fn. 59) and a church is referred to about 1190. (fn. 60) The
church continued to serve the whole parish until
1854 when the new parish of Holy Trinity was
formed from the Northwood area of Ruislip parish
and parts of the Hertfordshire parishes of Rickmansworth and Watford. Emmanuel parish, Northwood,
was taken from that of Holy Trinity in 1909, and
the parish of St. Lawrence, Eastcote, from Ruislip
parish in 1931. Part of Ruislip parish formed the
parish of St. Paul, Ruislip Manor, in 1936, and the
area of St. Paul's lying south of the Yeading Brook
became the parish of St. Mary in 1952.
Accounts of the early history of the church are
confused, (fn. 61) but the church probably accompanied
Ernulf of Hesdin's grant of Ruislip manor to the
Abbey of Bec in the late 11th century. (fn. 62) The appropriation of Ruislip church to Bec was confirmed
by Richard Fitz Neal, Bishop of London 1189-98, (fn. 63)
and later bishops reconfirmed the grant during the
13th and early 14th centuries. (fn. 64) Except during
periods of Crown confiscation (fn. 65) Bec continued to
appropriate the church property until about 1400,
and the advowson passed to the Crown on the final
confiscation of Bec properties in 1404. (fn. 66) The date of
the ordination of the vicarage is unknown, but the
first recorded vicar was holding office during the
early 14th century, and the Abbot of Bec was exercising the patronage at the time of the first dated
presentation in 1327. (fn. 67) Ruislip church was included
in Henry IV's grant of the confiscated manors of
Ruislip and Ogbourne to John, Duke of Bedford. (fn. 68)
In 1421 John granted the spiritualities of Ruislip and
Ogbourne to the Dean and Canons of St. George's
Chapel at Windsor. (fn. 69) St. George's still retained the
advowson in 1962.
The rectory was valued (fn. 70) at £17 in 1291. (fn. 71) In 1547
the 'parsonage', said at this date to be in the possession of Winchester College, was worth £18. (fn. 72) That
the college had any interest in the rectorial estate is
most unlikely, since the Dean and Canons of St.
George's consistently farmed out the rectory after
1476, first to the Waleston family, and from 1532 to the
Hawtreys of Eastcote. (fn. 73) In 1650, when it was farmed
by John Hawtrey, the 'parsonage' was worth about
£300. (fn. 74) The great tithes were said to be worth £250
in 1718. (fn. 75) Under the inclosure award of 1814 the
rectorial tithes were commuted for almost 300 a.
of land in the old open-field area. (fn. 76) Immediately
before its transfer to the Ecclesiastical Commis
sioners in 1867 the rectorial estate consisted of 392 a.
of arable and pasture on Bourne and Northwood
farms, leased to Francis Deane, and valued at £684. (fn. 77)
The vicarage was valued at £5 in 1291, (fn. 78) and at
£12 in 1535. (fn. 79) In 1547 the vicar furnished the cure
himself; there were then no charities, obits, or lights,
and the vicarage was worth £8 a year. (fn. 80) In 1650 the
living comprised the vicarage house with a barn,
stable, orchard, garden, and 29 a. of glebe, worth
in all £37, and small tithes worth £23. (fn. 81) The value of
the living in 1778 was only £90, (fn. 82) but by 1835 the
net income had increased to £462. (fn. 83)
The priest mentioned at Domesday was said to
hold half a hide. (fn. 84) In the mid 13th century the Vicar
of Ruislip held land which had formerly belonged to
Robert de Rading, and for which he paid an annual
rent of twelve pence. (fn. 85) During the 15th century successive vicars were said to hold a house and 13 a.
in Copwell Mede in Eastcote at the same rent. (fn. 86)
There was said to be no land for the maintenance of
the priest in 1547, (fn. 87) but the vicar was holding land
in both Eastcote and Westcote common fields in
1565. (fn. 88) By 1650 there were 29 a. of glebe land. (fn. 89)
Under the inclosure award of 1814 the Vicar of Ruislip was allotted approximately 160 a. in lieu of tithes,
and a further 75 a., including 25 a. of Park Wood, in
settlement of an old dispute with the lords of the
manor over tithes of underwood. (fn. 90) In 1875 there
were 230 a. of glebe, (fn. 91) and in 1887 259 a. (fn. 92) Sales for
building purposes in the late 19th and 20th centuries (fn. 93) had reduced the glebe to about 100 a. by
1933. (fn. 94) The bulk of the remaining glebe land has
since been sold. (fn. 95)
Early-15th-century rentals mention a house held
by the vicar. (fn. 96) A vicarage house is first mentioned by
name in 1565, when it was described as lying between Cannons' Bridge and Ruislip Wood. (fn. 97) A map
of 1750 showed the vicarage on or near its present
site on the west side of Bury Street. (fn. 98) The present
vicarage, which was still in use in 1962, was rebuilt
in 1881. (fn. 99)
Religious activity from the 12th to the 14th
centuries was probably influenced by the foundation
at Ruislip of a small cell of the Abbey of Bec. (fn. 1) No
conventual priory was ever founded, and the
designating of St. Martin's church as a 'priory'
church (fn. 2) is inaccurate. Ruislip became an important
administrative centre for Bec properties in England,
and separate Priors of Ruislip were appointed during
the 12th and early 13th centuries. About 1300 food
appears to have been regularly distributed among the
poor of Ruislip by order of the Abbot of Bec. (fn. 3) A
chapel in the manor-house is mentioned in 1294, (fn. 4)
and again in 1336 and 1435. (fn. 5) Although Ruislip manor
was, for some purposes, merged with the abbey's
Ogbourne estate (fn. 6) after the mid 13th century, it
remained an important administrative centre until
the end of the 14th century. Audits for Bec's
English manors seem to have been held at Ruislip, (fn. 7)
and a counting house and counting board in the
manor-house are mentioned in 1435. (fn. 8)
Little is known of the religious life of the parish
during the 15th century. Whether early vicars resided in the parish is uncertain, but some later
incumbents seem to have been pluralists, and several
combined the cure with other livings nearby. George
Gard (vicar 1482-92) was Rector of Ickenham for
a time in 1486. (fn. 9) Complaints during the early 16th
century that the praise of God was decayed seem to
reflect agrarian discontent rather than lack of interest
on the part of incumbents. (fn. 10) Dissatisfaction during
the incumbency of Thomas Smith (1565-1615),
however, resulted in his being examined in the
scriptures in 1586. His performance was described
as 'tolerable', and he retained the living for another
29 years. (fn. 11) Daniel Collins (vicar 1616-39), who was
a canon of Windsor, held the living of Cowley during
part of his incumbency, and seems to have resided
there occasionally. (fn. 12) John Ellis, who replaced Collins
as Vicar of Ruislip from 1633 to 1639, also held the
church at Isleworth. (fn. 13) Nathaniel Giles, who was
vicar for a time about 1647, was said to preach with a
pistol hanging at his neck. (fn. 14) In 1706 profaneness and
immorality were said to be increasing rapidly. (fn. 15) This
may have occasioned the appointment of the curate
who was serving in the parish by about 1723. The
vicar was then said to be much indisposed, and
received help with his parish from the Rector of
Cowley. (fn. 16) Services were held twice on Sundays and
there were four Communions a year. (fn. 17) In 1778 the
curate's salary was £36: the arrangement of services
was unchanged, and there were between 30 and 40
communicants. An additional Sunday sermon during
the six summer months was being delivered by
1790. (fn. 18)
The parish church was dedicated to ST. MARTIN
before 1250. (fn. 19) The present building, at the corner of
Eastcote Road and Ruislip High Street, dates in part
from the 13th century, with 15th- and 16th-century
additions. (fn. 20) It is built of flint rubble with stone
dressings, and consists of chancel, nave, north and
south aisles, south chapel, west porch, and a south
vestry added in 1954. The parapeted tower, built in
the 15th century, stands at the south-west corner of
the church. The chancel and south aisle, dating
originally from the 13th century, were rebuilt in the
15th century. About 1500 the north aisle was also
rebuilt and the south aisle re-roofed and perhaps
extended to form the south chapel. The exterior of
the church was much restored in 1869-70, and the
west porch, built in 1875, was replaced in 1896.
After slight bomb damage during the Second World
War, further restoration work was carried out in
1954. The Purbeck marble font dates from the 12th
century. (fn. 21) The tower contains six bells, which were
recast by Thomas Mears of Whitechapel in 1801. (fn. 22)
In the nave and north aisle are traces of 15th-century
wall paintings depicting an unidentified saint, and
the Virgin with St. Michael and St. Lawrence. (fn. 23) The
plate includes a fine silver parcel-gilt cup and silver
cover dated 1595, a silver flagon of before 1685, (fn. 24)
and two other flagons date-marked 1725. (fn. 25)
There are brasses with figures to Ralph Hawtrey
(d. 1574) and John Hawtrey (d. 1593). Other monuments to the Hawtreys and their descendants include
an alabaster wall monument to Ralph Hawtrey
(d. 1638) and his wife (d. 1647) by John and Matthias
Christmas. A baroque mural tablet commemorates
Thomas Bright (d. 1673/4), vicar, and some of his
descendants. There are several 14th- and 15th-century slabs including one of early-14th-century date
inscribed to Roger de Southcote. The church contains two 16th-century iron-bound chests, and an
inscribed bread cupboard in the north aisle records
the gift of Jeremiah Bright in 1697. (fn. 26) The registers,
which are complete, record baptisms from 1689,
marriages from 1694, and burials from 1695.
The church of HOLY TRINITY, Northwood,
was opened in 1854 on a site given by Lord Robert
Grosvenor. (fn. 27) A chapel in the Grange is said to have
been used as a place of worship by the inhabitants of
Northwood before this date. (fn. 28) In 1961-2 the living
was vested in trustees. (fn. 29) A vicarage house adjoining
the church was, built in 1856. The church, which
is built of flint rubble with stone dressings, was
designed by S. S. Teulon in a restrained Victorian
Gothic style. It consists of a nave and well-proportioned north and south aisles, with a small tower at
the east end. An extension to the north aisle was
consecrated in 1895, and the south aisle and baptistry added in 1928. A memorial window to the
Grosvenor family was executed by Burne-Jones and
installed in 1886. (fn. 30)
The church of EMMANUEL in Church Road,
Northwood, was opened in 1904 on the initiative of
the Vicar of Holy Trinity. An iron church, tended
by a curate-in-charge had been opened in 1896, and
after the completion of the permanent building this
remained in use as a church hall until 1958, when it
was replaced by the present building. (fn. 31) The church
was designed by Sir Frank Elgood and is executed
in red brick with stone dressings. The chancel was
added about 1906, and vestries for clergy and choir
were built in 1961. In 1961-2 the living was vested
in trustees, (fn. 32) and in 1965 the cure was administered
by a vicar and a curate. (fn. 33)
The church of ST. LAWRENCE, Eastcote, was
opened in 1933. A mission church on the site of the
present parish hall (opened 1955) had been in use
since 1920. (fn. 34) The Bishop of London is patron of the
living. (fn. 35) The church, which stands near the junction
of Field End Road and Bridle Road, was designed
by Sir Charles Nicholson. It is built of red brick,
and consists of a nave and north and south aisles.
The white-washed interior is richly appointed. In
1965 the cure was served by the vicar and an
assistant priest. (fn. 36)
The church of ST. PAUL, Thurlstone Road,
Ruislip Manor, was opened in 1937. The Bishop of
London is patron of the living. (fn. 37) The church, built
of dark-red brick with small windows and a tiled roof,
consists of a nave and north and south aisles. The roof
is supported by brick pillars, and the walls and roof
have been white-washed in an attempt to lighten the
interior.
The church of ST. EDMUND THE KING was
opened in 1935 as a mission church. The Bishop of
London is patron of the living. (fn. 38) Services were held
in a tent during the building of a semi-permanent
structure in Pinner Road, (fn. 39) a few yards inside the
parish boundary. A permanent church on an adjoining site had been completed by 1968. The parish of
St. Edmund was created in 1952. (fn. 40)
The church of ST. MARY, South Ruislip, was
opened in 1959. From 1931 services had been conducted in a wooden hall. The Bishop of London is
patron of the living. (fn. 41) The church is of brick and concrete construction, and consists of a lofty nave and a
small north chapel. The main external features are a
shallow gabled clerestory, a small latticed polygonal
spire and a figure of Christ crucified against the
west window. Internally, the texture of much of the
structural material is retained. The church is connected to the adjoining vicarage by a covered way.