CHURCHES.
In 1181 the canons of St. Paul's
had a church for their manor of Sutton, (fn. 38) where
there was a vicar by 1241. (fn. 39) As a peculiar of St.
Paul's, the church was normally exempt from
episcopal jurisdiction both before and after the
Reformation. (fn. 40) It served the whole parish until
the establishment of its first daughter church, at
Turnham Green, in 1845. (fn. 41)
Vicars were presented by the chapter of St.
Paul's, (fn. 42) until in 1502 part of their Chiswick
estate was formally assigned to the dean so long as
he should be a residentiary. (fn. 43) As lord of Sutton
Court and rector, except during the Interregnum, the dean reserved the advowson when
leasing the manor from the 16th (fn. 44) until the late
18th century. (fn. 45) Thereafter the patronage has
been exercised by the chapter. (fn. 46)
St. Paul's apparently had appropriated the
church and farmed it by 1181, having endowed it
with glebe, tithes from the tenants except hay,
and ⅓ of the tithes of the two demesnes. (fn. 47) The
vicar, who may have had the hay tithes in 1181,
received one mark a year from the chamberlain in
1252, in addition to altar dues, (fn. 48) and 1297. (fn. 49) The
vicarage was not wealthy, being assessed at £5 in
1291 (fn. 50) and valued at £9 18s. 1d. in 1535. (fn. 51) In
1458 many tithes were withheld, including tithes
of sheaves by the lessee of Sutton and various
small tithes by the lessee of the prebendal estate. (fn. 52)
When the rectory as a whole was thought to be
worth £40 in 1549, the vicar had only £10. (fn. 53)
Small tithes were paid to the vicar in 1589–90 (fn. 54)
and amounted to £25 a year in 1650, when the
house was valued at £3 and the glebe, which was
leased, at £27. (fn. 55) An allowance of £60 a year was
made to the minister out of the impropriated
tithes in 1658. (fn. 56) Lord Fauconberg, as lessee of
Sutton Court manor, successfully claimed tithes
of pulse and hay which had been paid to the
vicar. (fn. 57) Later lessees, at least from 1731, paid an
extra £10 annual rent to augment the living. (fn. 58)
The gross income was £601 in 1835, (fn. 59) and had
risen to £686 by 1851, (fn. 60) after £420 a year had
been awarded in 1846 in lieu of small tithes. (fn. 61)
The glebe comprised 16½ a. of arable and 1 a.
of meadow in 1181, (fn. 62) 12 a. of arable and 1 a. of
meadow in 1252, (fn. 63) and 14 a. of arable and 1 a.
of meadow in 1297. (fn. 64) It was estimated at 20 a.
of arable in 1458, (fn. 65) at 15 a. in Chiswick field,
a further 4 a. of arable, 1 a. of meadow, and a ½-a.
close in 1589–90, (fn. 66) and 22 a. in 1649. (fn. 67) Probably
the same land was held by the vicar in 1846; the
glebe then amounted to c. 20 a., of which c. 19 a.
were market garden west of the later Devonshire
Road. (fn. 68) The land remained glebe in 1887, (fn. 69)
although Glebe Street and neighbouring roads
had already been built there. (fn. 70)
A vicarage house had been repaired by 1297. (fn. 71)
It has been suggested that it was the medieval
prebendal manor house, (fn. 72) although prebendaries
apparently had no interest in the vicarage. By
1590 the vicar held 'the corner house on the east
side of the street towards the Thames', (fn. 73) presumably the house which was dilapidated in
1650, (fn. 74) rebuilt in brick in 1658, and repaired in
1698. (fn. 75) It was replaced in the 18th century by a
three-storeyed, stuccoed building, later extended
to the north and with a bow window facing
Chiswick Mall, which remained the Vicarage
until 1974. (fn. 76) The vicar was excused all parish
rates on his house in 1792, in return for waiving
his fees at paupers' burials. (fn. 77) In 1979 he lived in a
smaller house next to the Old Vicarage, which
had been divided and sold. (fn. 78)
The first recorded vicar John Belemains or
Belemus (d. 1252) was also prebendary of
Chiswick in St. Paul's cathedral. (fn. 79) No later vicar
held that prebend, although other prebends in
the cathedral were held by Thomas Spateman,
vicar 1732–61, Thomas Hughes, 1808–9, (fn. 80)
E. C. Rich, 1934–45, and G. A. Lewis Loyd,
1954–74. (fn. 81)
There were altars in 1297 to St. Catherine, St.
Margaret, St. Mary Magdalene, and St. Mary
the Virgin, at the last of which a perpetual light
was to be endowed. (fn. 82) No lights were recorded
later. In 1458 the vicar's 20 a. were supposed
to support a boy to assist at daily services; the
vicarage was leased and there was a parish priest
to celebrate on feast days. (fn. 83) In 1644 Beriah
Packington was sequestrated in favour of 'an
honest preaching minister'. (fn. 84) There was an
assistant curate in 1673 (fn. 85) and normally at least
one from the mid 19th century. The curate in
1737 was Thomas Hartley (1709?–84), translator
of Swedenborg. (fn. 86) Arthur Coham, vicar 1761–81,
was also a canon of Salisbury and archdeacon of
Wiltshire. (fn. 87) James Trebeck, vicar 1781–1808,
was active in local affairs (fn. 88) while also rector of St.
Michael, Queenhithe (Lond.), another living of
St. Paul's. (fn. 89) In 1787 he presided over a vestry
which attacked gambling and tried to enforce
Sunday observance on shopkeepers. (fn. 90) As a place
of fashion, Chiswick by 1784 had an afternoon
lecturer, chosen by the vestry with the vicar's
consent. (fn. 91) One lecturer was Henry Francis Cary
(1772–1844), translator of Dante (fn. 92) and from 1814
tenant of Hogarth's former house. (fn. 93)
In 1851, when 250 out of the 1,300 sittings
were free, there was a morning attendance of 517
and an afternoon attendance of 334, on each
occasion including c. 60 Sunday school children. (fn. 94)
In 1866, when the chapel of St. Mary Magdalene
was served from the mother church, and in
the 1970s, after the demolition of St. Mary
Magdalene, the vicar of Chiswick had three
assistant curates. (fn. 95) Attendances in 1903 were 503
in the morning and 461 in the evening. (fn. 96) An
Anglo-Catholic tradition was maintained in
1979. (fn. 97)
The church of ST. NICHOLAS, at the southeast end of Church Street, had no dedication in
1252 (fn. 98) but, presumably because it was near the
river, (fn. 99) had been dedicated to the patron saint of
fishermen by 1548. (fn. 1) It consists of a chancel, north
vestry, north and south chapels, nave with north
and south aisles and porches, and three-stage
west tower, (fn. 2) with an embattled parapet and
spirelet. The tower, of Kentish ragstone with
freestone dressings, was built by William Bordall,
vicar 1416–35, according to a lost brass (fn. 3) and
a 17th-century tablet. The older body of the
church was largely rebuilt in the 15th or 16th
century, the chancel roof having been in bad
repair in 1252, mended by 1297, and again in
poor condition in 1458. Part of the fabric was
derelict c. 1650, when a south aisle was built, (fn. 4) and
Sir Stephen Fox in 1711 claimed to have paid for
expensive repairs. (fn. 5) Galleries were added when
new aisles of brick, with round-headed windows,
were built on the south side in 1772 and the
north in 1817. (fn. 6) Apart from the tower, the entire
church was rebuilt between 1882 and 1884 in the
Perpendicular style by J. L. Pearson, the main
cost being borne by Henry Smith. (fn. 7) A cramped
site, between the tower and Church Street, led
Pearson to design the nave with a breadth nearly
equal to its length.
Fittings include a screen, extended in 1909 to
form the south aisle chapel, and pulpit, both by
W. D. Caroë. The south wall of the chapel
contains glass from the east window of the old
church, probably 18th-century (fn. 8) and said to come
from Cologne cathedral, the chancel contains a
window attributed to W. Burges, also from the
old church, and some of the other windows are
by Clayton & Bell. There are brass inscriptions
to Mary (d. 1599), wife of Richard Barker, and
Anne [d. 1607], widow of William Barker, both of
which were moved in 1882. (fn. 9) Other monuments
include a pavilion with kneeling effigies in alabaster of the naturalist Sir Thomas Chaloner
(d. 1615) (fn. 10) and his wife, a wrongly dated plaque
to William Bordall erected in 1631 by Francis
Russell, earl of Bedford, and memorials to the
actor Charles Holland (d. 1769) by W. Tyler, to
the porcelain manufacturer Thomas Bentley (d.
1780) (fn. 11) by Thomas Scheemakers, and to Thomas
Tomkins (d. 1816) by Sir Francis Chantrey. (fn. 12)
The churchyard, which was enlarged by John
de Bray in 1349, (fn. 13) was later used for the burial of
many non-parishioners (fn. 14) and was further extended in 1805 and, by the dukes of Devonshire, in
1838 and 1871. (fn. 15) It stands higher than the road
and contains a 13th-century coffin lid of Purbeck
marble, a table tomb of Thomas Carey (d. 1694)
and another reputedly designed by William Kent
for Lord Burlington's bricklayer Richard Wright
(d. 1734), an urn on a tall pedestal above the grave
of William Hogarth, the small mausoleum of
P. J. de Loutherbourg (d. 1812) (fn. 16) by Sir John
Soane, and the former tomb of the Italian poet
Ugo Foscolo (d. 1827), besides the tombs of
William Kent, Charles Holland, and the painter
J. A. M. Whistler. (fn. 17)
There are eight bells, (iii) to (vii) by Knight of
Reading having been hung in 1656, (fn. 18) presumably
in place of the five bells recorded in 1552. Most of
the plate, perhaps including items recorded in
1552, (fn. 19) was stolen in 1785 (fn. 20) and replaced in
1786 (fn. 21) by two silver flagons, a cup, and spoon,
given by the duke of Devonshire, and four dishes,
one of them given by Georgiana, duchess of
Devonshire. The church retained the plate, with
later pieces and a silver cup ascribed to 1747, the
gift of Robert Stevenson, (fn. 22) in 1979. The registers
begin in 1678. (fn. 23)
ALL SAINTS' mission church, Chiswick
Lane. (fn. 24) Attendance 1903: 148 a.m.; 157 p.m. Red
brick bldg. 1901, seating 400. (fn. 25) Run by London
Diocesan Home Mission 1926, closed by 1935. (fn. 26)
CHRIST CHURCH, Turnham Green. Dist.
formed 1845 from Chiswick. (fn. 27) Patron from 1858
bp. of London. (fn. 28) One asst. curate 1866 and 1935,
none in 1947. Attendance 1851: 468 a.m. (inc.
Sunday sch. 138); 416 p.m. (inc. Sunday sch.
36); (fn. 29) 1903: 527a.m.; 585 p.m. Bldg. of flint with
stone dressings in early Gothic style, on former
common land: (fn. 30) W. tower, spire, nave, N. and S.
aisles, N. and S. transepts 1843 by G. G. Scott
and W. B. Moffatt, seating 930; (fn. 31) chancel and
NE. chapel 1887 by J. Brooks. Mission in Nat.
sch., High Rd., attendance 1903: 340 a.m.
ST. MARY MAGDALENE, Bennett St.
Chapel blt. 1848 at expense of J. C. Sharpe.
Served from Chiswick 1862, gratuitously by a
min. 1867. (fn. 32) Dist. formed 1894 from Chiswick. (fn. 33)
Patron V. of Chiswick, from 1898 dean and
chapter of St. Paul's. (fn. 34) No asst. curate 1926, two
in 1935. Attendance 1851: 93 a.m. (inc. Sunday
sch. 82); 121 p.m. (inc. Sunday sch. 36); (fn. 35) 1903:
257 a.m.; 249 p.m. A. Tooth, min. 1867, later
imprisoned for ritualism. (fn. 36) Stone bldg. 1848 by
J. C. Sharpe, seating 300. Rebuilt with chancel,
SE. chapel, nave, N. aisle, and NW. bell-turret
1894 by Newman & Newman, seating 500. (fn. 37)
Damaged in Second World War, demol. with
Chiswick New Town, and replaced by St.
Nicholas's church hall 1956. (fn. 38) Benefice united
with St. Nicholas 1954. (fn. 39)
ST. MICHAEL, Elmwood Rd., known as St.
Michael, Sutton Court. (fn. 40) Dist. assigned from
Chiswick and Christ Church, Turnham Green,
1906 and 1907. (fn. 41) Bldg. funds from sale of St.
Michael, Burleigh St. (demol. 1906), a chapel of
ease to St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Patron V. of St.
Martin-in-the-Fields, whose son was first V. of
St. Michael's. Iron church in Elmwood Rd. built
1908 and used as hall from 1909. Red brick bldg.
in a Tudor style 1909 by W. D. Caroë, seating c.
350: chancel, SE. chapel, timber E. tower, nave,
N. and S. aisles. Lectern, font, and other fittings
from St. Michael, Burleigh St.
ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS, Bath
Rd., Bedford Pk. Dist. formed 1879 from
Chiswick, All Saints, S. Acton, and St. George,
Old Brentford. Patrons benefactors Revd. Alfred
Wilson and J. T. Carr for first turn, bp. of
London thereafter. (fn. 42) One asst. curate 1905 and
1955–6, none in 1961–2. Attacked as High
Church 1880. (fn. 43) Attendance 1903: 409 a.m.; 205
p.m. Iron church N. end Chiswick Lane used
1876–8. (fn. 44) Red brick bldg. with stone dressings
and white timberwork, the lower part in a
Perpendicular style. Raised chancel, SE. chapel,
timber E. bellcot, nave, and S. aisle 1879, by R.
Norman Shaw; N. aisle 1889, SW. chapel 1909,
by Maurice B. Adams. (fn. 45) Glass in SE. chapel
1915, by M. Travers. Mission in Back Common
Rd., attendance 1903: 27 p.m. Vicarage 1880, by
E. J. May.
ST. PAUL, Grove Park Rd. Dist. formed
1872 from Chiswick and Christ Church,
Turnham Green. (fn. 46) Patron V. of Chiswick. (fn. 47) One
asst. curate 1905 and 1926, two in 1961–2 and
1965–6, none in 1973–4. Attendance 1903: 324
a.m.; 212 p.m. Iron church used 1870–2. Stone
bldg. in a Gothic style 1872 by H. Currey, bit.
largely at expense of duke of Devonshire and
seating 500–600: (fn. 48) chancel, lady chapel (converted to vestry room after damage in Second
World War), (fn. 49) nave, N. and S. aisles, W. bellcot.