LONG DITTON
Ditune (xi cent.).
Long Ditton is a village one and a half miles southwest of Kingston. It was at the time of the Domesday Survey in Kingston Hundred. There was a
church there then, and it may have been already
parochially distinct from Kingston. In the grant of
Kingston and Long Ditton churches to Merton
Priory, soon after the foundation in 1117, (fn. 1) Long
Ditton was not included among the chapelries of
Kingston which are enumerated. The parish is
divided into two parts, Long Ditton proper and
Talworth (q.v.), with a strip of Kingston parish, the
hamlet of Hook, intervening. The western portion,
which contains the village of Long Ditton, abuts on
the Thames to the north. It is rather over 2 miles
from north to south, less than a mile broad, and
contains 896 acres of land. The parish is traversed
by the road from Kingston to Guildford, and the
main line of the London and South Western Railway
runs through it. The soil is chiefly London clay,
but to the north is Thames alluvial gravel and sand,
and it contains two patches of Bagshot Sand in the
southern part. Long Ditton gives one of the few
examples in Surrey of an ancient church and village
standing on the London Clay.
Long Ditton Rectory from the South-west
The parish is now agricultural and residential. A
large number of small country houses and villas have
been built in the parish during the last thirty years.
The only house of archaeological interest is the
rectory, of which the greater part is half-timber,
probably of the 16th century. The interior was
re-arranged and refitted in the 18th century, and
modern wings have been added. The original plan
appears to have been of an L-shape, the main portion
lying east and west, and the wing containing the
kitchen, &c., being at the east end and projecting to
the south. The main building had two rooms apparently, with large fireplaces as now; but an 18th-century stair has been inserted in the one, and the
other has an 18th-century passage on its south side
from the present stair hall to a doorway or to a wing
now displaced by the modern drawing-room wing at
the west end. The kitchen and another room filled
the east wing, but the rooms there are now all more
or less re-arranged, and a modern dining-room wing
projects to the north at the same end. The south
front of the main house has plain vertical uprights
and curved brackets brought out in support of the
overhanging first floor, which projects 2 ft. beyond the
lower part. The window frames generally are of
18th-century insertion. The western third of this
front has been modernized, a main post having been
inserted before an 18th-century passage window, now
blocked. The porch in the angle of the two wings
appears to be as old as the rest, but has an 18th-century doorway; the front over the porch also projects
2 ft. beyond the ground story. The front of the
east wing is of one plane throughout; the two
ground-floor windows are ancient retaining their
iron frames and old fasteners, but the upper windows have sash frames like the others. The back
of the house (north front) is also all in one plane,
and some of the old heavy posts reach from the floor
to the eaves. There is an 18th-century moulded
cornice of wood. The roofs are tiled. In one of
the south windows of the first floor is some old
stained and heraldic glass of several dates. There
are also a man in the dress of the time of Charles I
and four large diamond quarries with square flowers.
In the garden to the north is a summer-house constructed of some Elizabethan or early 17th-century
woodwork. On the south side stands an ancient yew
tree probably as old as the house.
The Manor House, Ditton Hill, is the residence
of Baron O. E. von Ernsthausen; Woodstock, Ditton
Hill, of Mr. C. L. L. Smith.
A few industries are carried on in Long Ditton.
Messrs. Barr & Sons' nurseries are partly included in
it; some barge building is carried on upon the
Thames, and the Lambeth Water Works reservoirs
are also partly in the parish.
A Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1875,
and in 1889 a mission hall for revival services. A
workmen's club was established in 1883. The
schools, National, were founded in 1840. The
present schools were built in 1874.
Talworth is the eastern portion of Long Ditton
parish, separated from the rest by Hook in
Kingston. It is on the London Clay, and has an
area of 1,193 acres. On the eastern borders is
the Hogsmill Stream, which early in the 19th-century here worked the Gunpowder Mills, commonly
called Malden Mills, of Mr. Taylor. The original
powder mills of the Evelyns may have been on the
same site. (fn. 2) According to Manning and Bray (fn. 3) Talworth always elected separate parochial officers. It
is now ecclesiastically in Surbiton, to which it was
annexed in 1876; it was made a civil parish in 1895, (fn. 4)
but is included in the Surbiton Urban District.
Since the sale of the Earl of Egmont's property it has
been covered with small houses.
There was an inclosure act for Talworth in 1818,
the award being made on 2 February 1820. (fn. 5) The
manors had originally been all open fields. (fn. 6)
St. Matthew's National Schools were opened in 1880.
MANORS
The manor of LONG DITTON, which
under King Edward the Confessor was
held by Almar, in 1086 formed part of
the possessions of Richard de Tonbridge, of whom
it was held by Picot. The extent then included a
mill, and a rent of 500 herrings payable from a
house in Southwark. (fn. 7)
The overlordship passed through Eleanor, sister
and co-heir of Gilbert de Clare, who died in 1314, (fn. 8)
to the Despensers. (fn. 9) Isabel, daughter of Thomas le
Despenser, married Richard Beauchamp, Earl of
Warwick, (fn. 10) and was the mother of Anne, wife of Sir
Richard Nevill, the Kingmaker. In 1474 the estates
of Anne, the latter's widow, were settled on her
daughters Isabel, the wife of George Duke of Clarence,
and Anne, the wife of Richard Duke of Gloucester,
afterwards Richard III. (fn. 11) Both their husbands were
attainted, and they both died before the Dowager
Countess Anne. Another Act of Parliament early
in the reign of Henry VII restored the estates to the
countess, who immediately conveyed them to the
king, (fn. 12) who thus became overlord of Long Ditton.
Clare. Or three cheverons gules.
Despenser. Argent quartered with gules fretty or a bend sable over all.
Beauchamp. Gules a fesse between six crosslets or.
Nevill. Gules a saltire argent and a label gobony argent and azure.
At the beginning of the
13th century the manor was
held under the de Clares by
Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl
of Essex, (fn. 13) and seems to have
been granted by his brother
and heir William de Mandeville to the priory of St. Mary
Spital without Bishopsgate. (fn. 14)
In 1314 the manor was returned as held by the Prior of
Bishopsgate for the fourth part
of a knight's fee. (fn. 15)
St. Mary Spital. Party argent and sable a mill-rind cross counter-coloured with a martlet gules in the quarter.
The farm of Long Ditton in 1535 was valued at
£5, other lands and tenements at £5 1s. 8d., and the
perquisites of court, &c., at 2s. (fn. 16) After the Dissolution woods belonging to the manor were sold by the
king to Sir Thomas Heneage, (fn. 17) and in 1552
Edward VI granted the manor in exchange for lands
in Richmond (fn. 18) to David Vincent, a groom of the
Privy Chamber, who died in 1565 leaving the property
to his son Thomas, (fn. 19) who sold it almost immediately
to George Evelyn, the great maker of gunpowder, (fn. 20)
whose mother was daughter of another David Vincent.
At his death in 1603 (fn. 21) he left a son Thomas, who,
dying in October 1617, left also a son Thomas, (fn. 22)
who had been knighted in the July of that year. (fn. 23)
Concerning the conduct of
Sir Thomas Evelyn and his
family towards himself, Richard
Hinde, minister of Long Ditton, made complaint to Archbishop Laud. He complained
that he had suffered much
indignity from Sir Thomas
and his lady, which he had
borne in silence, until Dame
Ann Evelyn, immediately after
divine service, while yet in
the church, before all the
people thus addressed him: 'You are a base man,
and a base unworthy priest; you have abused me
basely, and your base carriage and usage of me shall
not any longer be endured,' and yet more vilifying
speeches. Sir Thomas complained that the minister
had abused his lady. The archbishop appointed a
time for a private hearing of these disagreements. (fn. 24)
In 1657 Sir Thomas was again in trouble with the
parson. According to the petition of Richard Byfield,
officiating as minister in Long Ditton, money that
had been collected in 1641 and 1642 for the rebuilding of the church had remained in Sir Thomas
Evelyn's hands, while meantime the church fell down. (fn. 25)
Another complaint was that Sir Thomas entertained
a prelatical household chaplain who used the words of
the book of Common Prayer, and gathered a concourse
of people of like views and invaded the parson's right,
with regard to which Sir Thomas was warned to
remove his chaplain. (fn. 26) He died in 1659. His son
Sir Edward Evelyn, knighted in 1676 and created a
baronet in 1682–3, held this manor, (fn. 27) which, when he
died without leaving male issue in 1692, descended
to his daughter and co-heiress Penelope and her
husband, Sir Joseph Alston, third baronet, the manor
having been settled on the occasion of Penelope's
marriage on himself (Sir Edward Evelyn) for life, with remainder to Penelope and her
husband. (fn. 28) Joseph, their eldest
son, succeeded to the manor, (fn. 29)
and he dying without issue, it
passed to his brother, Sir
Evelyn Alston, bart., who in
1720–1 sold it to Sir Peter
King of Ockham, co. Surrey, (fn. 30)
who was made Lord High
Chancellor in 1725, and was
created Lord King, Baron of
Ockham, in the same year. (fn. 31)
His successor and heir male,
William King, was, in 1838,
created Viscount Ockham and Earl of Lovelace.
Lionel Fortescue King, third Earl of Lovelace, is the
present lord of the manor.
Evelyn of Wotton, baronet. Azure a griffon passant and a chief or.
King, Earl of Lovelace. Sable three spearheads argent with drops of blood and chief or with three battle-axes azure therein.
Another manor of DITTON is entered in Domesday as held by Wadard of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux,
Wadard being the successor of Leuegar, who had held
under King Harold. (fn. 32) The Arsics succeeded here
as elsewhere to the lands of Wadard, and this manor
appears at the beginning of the 13th century as a
knight's fee in Ditton belonging to the barony of
Arsic, which was one of the baronies charged with
castle ward to Dover. (fn. 33) The overlordship descended
with the barony of Arsic, which appears to have
escheated to the Crown after the succession of female
heirs to the lands of Robert de Arsic, who died in
1244–5. In the 16th and 17th centuries the manor
was said to be held of the Crown as of the castle of
Dover or as of the barony of Arsic. (fn. 34)
In 1257 this fee was in the tenure of John de
Guglesham, who conveyed it under the name of a
carucate of land, with a mill in Kingston and Ditton,
to William de Brademere. (fn. 35) From an inquisition
taken in 1290, it appears that William de Brademere
held it of Robert le Tut, husband of Alice daughter
of Robert Arsic, by a rent of 25s. (fn. 36) Robert le Tut
held of the king in chief for rent of 10s. to Dover
Castle every twenty-four weeks, which payment he
ceased to render after his wife's death, so that William
de Brademere, Richard his son, and William
Richard's son, were distrained for the money. (fn. 37)
Alice wife of Richard de Brademere, who died in
1288, and Bartholomew de Morle, her second husband, claimed the custody of the land in Long
Ditton during the minority of William son of
Richard. (fn. 38) William de Brademere was apparently
still holding in 1310. (fn. 39) Nothing more appears concerning the manor until 1398, when Walter Pembroke and Margery his wife quitclaimed Long
Ditton to John Gravesende and Isabel his wife, (fn. 40) and
about 1418 Henry Haweles and Margaret his wife
were holding it with successive remainder to John
Haweles son of Henry, and Elizabeth, daughter of
Margaret, and her issue. (fn. 41) Elizabeth wife of William
Stowe, who in 1505 quitclaimed the manor of
Long Ditton to Robert Fenrother, may have been a
descendant of Henry and Margaret Haweles, as the
manor was warranted against her and her heirs. It
was also warranted against John, Abbot of St. Peter's
Westminster. (fn. 42) In 1560 the manor was in the
possession of Thomas Rede, (fn. 43) and he conveyed it in
1566 to William Notte, (fn. 44) who proved before the
Exchequer Court that there were two manors called
Long Ditton, one held, at the time, by David Vincent, the other by himself. The manor that he held
had, he said, been owned by Thomas Rede, who held
it of the queen as of Dover Castle by rent of 21s. 8¾d., (fn. 45)
and had been granted to himself by Rede. He
maintained that there was no reason why it should be
taken into the hands of the Crown for alienation by
fine without licence, as it was not held of the queen
in chief. William Notte died in 1576, leaving an
heir, his son Anthony, (fn. 46) who died in 1586 holding
this manor. (fn. 47) He also held a wharf named Jeffereyes
Wharf (which had formerly belonged to the hospital
of St. Mary without Bishopsgate) and other land in
Long Ditton. (fn. 48) He left a son Thomas. In 1621–2
Thomas Notte sold the manor to Anne Goulde or
Gold, widow. (fn. 49) She, in 1623, mortgaged it to
Mark Snelling of Kingston, (fn. 50) but died in seisin of it
in 1629. (fn. 51) Her heir was her daughter Anne, wife of
Sir Thomas Evelyn, (fn. 52) by whom both the manors of
Long Ditton became vested in the same family.
There is one reference to a third manor of Long
Ditton. In 1386 Sir Miles de Windsor died possessed
of this manor, which was held of him by Geoffrey de
Metham, (fn. 53) but there seems to be no further trace
of it.
The overlordship of the manor of TALWORTH,
or TALWORTH COURT, was from 1086, when
Talworth formed part of the possessions of Richard de
Tonbridge, vested in the family of Clare, passing
thence to the Despensers, Beauchamps, and Nevills. (fn. 54)
(See manor of Long Ditton.)
In 1086 Picot held under Richard de Tonbridge
the land that had formerly been held by Alwin in
Talworth, while Ralph held that land in Talworth
which Edmer had formerly held. (fn. 55) The first of these
holdings was probably Talworth Court. Early
in the 13th century, William Picot appears as witness
to a charter of Peter de Talworth, by whom 12 acres
in this place were granted to the hospital of St.
Thomas of Southwark, (fn. 56) and the Picots were still holding land there in 1291, when Henry Picot (Pycoch)
granted 8 acres in Talworth to the Prior of the
Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. (fn. 57) But the manor of
Talworth was probably held by the above-mentioned
Peter de Talworth (who granted the advowson to
Merton), and later by a family named Planaz. Among
the fees of the Testa de Nevill was half a fee in Ditton
and Talworth, held of the honour of Clare by John
de Planaz, (fn. 58) and in 1255 Ralph de Planaz, brother of
John, demanded suit at his court of Talworth and
foreign service from the Prior of Merton, who held
of him the eighth part of a knight's fee there. (fn. 59) In
1314 Herbert de Borhunte held the manor of Talworth
of Gilbert de Clare, by service of the third part of a
knight's fee, this property being the hereditament of
his wife, (fn. 60) who may be the Joan widow of Henry de
Saye who in 1316 held the vill of Talworth. (fn. 61) She
possibly afterwards married Thomas Corbett, who with
Joan his wife in 1320 granted the manor of Talworth
to Hugh le Despenser, junior (the overlord in right
of his wife), (fn. 62) who had also acquired the manor of
Turberville, henceforth reckoned a member of Talworth. Turberville, which was held of the manor of
Sheen, was about 1312 in the tenure of John de
Berewyk, whose heir at his death was Roger son of
John de Husee, aged five years. (fn. 63) Directly after
the death of John de Berewyk, Hubert de Swynesford his 'groom' entered into the manor, and afterwards granted it to Walter de Waldeshelf. Hugh le
Despenser, junior, coveting the manor, then contrived
to obtain a grant of it from Waldeshelf. (fn. 64) From this
date Turberville was annexed to the manor of Talworth, which had also another member called Wyke.
After the death and forfeiture of Hugh le Despenser
an extent of the manor of Talworth with its members
Wyke and Turberville was taken in 1327, (fn. 65) whereby
it appears that at Talworth there was a moated
mansion-house with a gateway and drawbridge,
which contained two halls (aule), six chambers,
kitchen and scullery, bake-house and brew-house and
a chapel. Beyond the moat were the lands pertaining, and two granges, two ox-houses with stable and
pig-sty, a garden and a water-mill. Suit was rendered to this manor by tenants holding thirty-two
and a half knights' fees, and the quarter of a fee. (fn. 66)
At Wyke there was a messuage, various lands and
tenants. To the messuage at Turberville a chapel
was attached. The mill which was known as
'Brayest Mulne' was held of the lord of Long
Ditton. In the same year Talworth was granted to
Edmund Earl of Kent, (fn. 67) who in 1330 was sentenced
to death on a charge of being engaged in a plot to
assist his brother the king, Edward II, who was
said to have escaped from Berkeley, but in reality
because he opposed the rule of Mortimer and the
queen-mother. He died seised of the manor of
Talworth with its members Wyke and Turberville,
held of the honour of Gloucester by service of the
fourth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 68) In 1330 Roger Husee
petitioned the king for the manor of Turberville, as
the heir of John de Berewyk, (fn. 69) but this petition had
apparently no effect. In 1330 Bartholomew de
Burghersh was granted Talworth for life; (fn. 70) but this
grant must have been revoked when the young
Earl of Kent was restored in his blood and honours
in the year following the overthrow of Mortimer.
The king then granted to Margaret wife of the
late Earl of Kent the custody of the manor, to hold
for John the younger son of Edmund, (fn. 71) although
Edmund the elder son did not die until 1333.
William de Arderne in 1332 sued the countess, (fn. 72)
apparently without success, for the manor of Wyke,
which was still held by her
as a member of Talworth in
1347, (fn. 73) and John Earl of
Kent died in 1352 seised of
the manor and its members. (fn. 74)
His sister Joan, the Fair
Maid of Kent, was his heir.
This Joan and her husband,
Thomas de Holand, granted
the manor of Talworth for
life to Sir Otho de Holand,
his younger brother, who died
in 1359, (fn. 75) when the manor
reverted to Sir Thomas de Holand, who died in
1360, leaving his son Thomas as heir. (fn. 76) The lastnamed Thomas died in 1397 seised of the manor of
Talworth held of Lord le Despenser, and also seised
of a toft, two carucates of land and a water-mill in
the parish of Kingston, called 'Turbelvyle,' held
of the king for 18s. rent at his manor of Sheen. (fn. 77) He
left a son Thomas through whom once more Talworth became an escheat. This last Thomas de
Holand was created Duke of Surrey in 1397, and
was in favour with Richard II, but after that king's
deposition his title of duke was annulled, and
grants were rescinded that had been made to him
since the meeting of the preceding Parliament.
Joining in a conspiracy against Henry IV he was
taken at Cirencester and executed by the inhabitants
there in January 1399–1400. (fn. 78) He was attainted
and his estates were confiscated. (fn. 79) Alice, his father's
widow, was holding the manor at her death in 1416,
and as his brother Edmund, who was apparently
allowed to succeed to Thomas's estates, died without
issue in 1408, the manor passed
eventually to Sir John de
Nevill, kt., son of Ralph first
Earl of Westmorland, who
had married Elizabeth, one
of the sisters of this last-named
Thomas de Holand. (fn. 80) She
died in January 1422–3, and
Ralph de Nevill the second
Earl of Westmorland was her
son and heir. (fn. 81) He granted
the manor for the rent of a
rose to his son John, who married Anne daughter of John
Holand, Duke of Exeter, and died in March
1450–1 without issue. (fn. 82) Anne being left a widow
married her late husband's heir, who was his
uncle Sir John de Nevill, kt. (fn. 83) At her death in 1486
she was holding the manor, her son and heir being
Ralph third Earl of Westmorland. (fn. 84) He settled the
manor on his son Ralph and his son's wife Edith,
but Ralph dying before him in 1498, the manor
reverted to him and passed at his death to his
grandson Ralph then aged four years, (fn. 85) subject, however, to the life-interest of Edith, who married
Thomas, Lord Darcy. (fn. 86) Queen Elizabeth by her
letters patent confirmed the manor to Ralph's son
Henry fifth Earl of Westmorland in 1559, (fn. 87) and he in
the same year granted it to Sir Ambrose Cave under
the name of Talworth alias Talworth Court. (fn. 88) Sir
Ambrose in 1564 conveyed the manor to George
Evelyn. (fn. 89) The manor remained with the Evelyn
family (fn. 90) until the death of Sir Edward Evelyn, bart.,
in 1692, who left three heirs; Edward Hill son of
his daughter Anne, Mary wife of Sir William Glynne,
bart., and Penelope wife of Sir Joseph Alston. (fn. 91) By
his will he devised this manor as Talworth or Talworth Court to Dame Mary Glynne. Both Mary
and her son William predeceased Sir William Glynne,
who devised the manor of Talworth or Talworth Court
to his brother Sir Stephen Glynne. (fn. 92) He conveyed
it in 1724 to Hugh Viscount Falmouth and others,
trustees of the will of Sir William Scawen, in trust
for Thomas Scawen. (fn. 93) From Thomas it descended
to James Scawen his son, who in 1777 mortgaged the
manor to Robert Waters of Whitehaven, (fn. 94) and it was
sold by his trustees in 1781 to Nathaniel Polhill,
tobacconist, M.P. for Southwark. (fn. 95) He died in
1782, and Nathaniel his son and heir died in the
following November, leaving an infant son. This son
dying just before he would have come of age in
April 1802, the estate came to his uncle John
Polhill, owner in 1810. (fn. 96) Before 1835 the manor
was bought by the fourth Earl of Egmont. The
land was sold before the death of the seventh earl
in 1897, and a number of small houses were built
upon it by a building company. Talworth Court
was burnt down in April 1911.
Holand. England in a border argent.
Nevill, Earl of West morland. Gules a saltire argent.
The manor of NORTH TALWORTH may be
identified with the land which previous to the Conquest had been held by Edmer, and in 1086 was held
by Ralph of Richard de Tonbridge. Afterwards it
seems to have been held under the Clares by the
Dammartins (fn. 97) and in 1314 appears among the fees
held of Gilbert de Clare by Thomas de Warblington,
who held the manors of Tandridge, North Talworth,
and Ockley by service of three and a half knights'
fees. (fn. 98) John de Warblington held the same of Hugh le
Despenser in 1349, (fn. 99) and the three manors were in
1376 held by Alice the widow of John de Warblington. (fn. 100) In 1440 they formed part of the fees
of Isabel, Countess of Warwick, daughter of Thomas
le Despenser, grandson of Hugh, being described as
those which Thomas de Warblington formerly held. (fn. 101)
There seems to be no further trace of this manor, the
overlordship of which was in the same hands as that
of Long Ditton, with which perhaps it was united,
unless it be the property in Talworth of which John
Danaster, baron of the Exchequer, died seised in
1540, (fn. 102) which he settled on his daughter Anne,
afterwards the wife of Owen Bray of Chobham.
Manning and Bray (fn. 103) say that Danaster's land was
held in 1571 by Margaret Lambard (Lambert),
whose heir was Christopher Muschamp. Christopher
married a daughter of a Margaret Lambert, (fn. 104) who
was also apparently his cousin. He died in 1587.
His will was dated from his capital messuage of
Talworth, and he held lands in Carshalton, Beddington, Sutton, and Wallington 'eidem capitali messuagio
spectantes.' His widow Dorothy, who had been
apparently his second wife, had a life interest with
reversion to his son Henry. (fn. 105)
The priory of Merton held a manor in Talworth,
called by Manning and Bray SOUTH TALWORTH,
which was also part of the Clare fee.
At an early date Huelmus le Fleming acquired a
virgate of land in Talworth from Robert, Prior of
Merton, which the prior had
before received from Hugh
son of Isold. (fn. 106) In 1255 the
Prior of Merton held the
eighth part of a knight's fee
in Talworth of Ralph de
Planaz, for which he denied
that he owed suit of court at
the manor of Talworth, (fn. 107) and
in 1314 among the fees of
Gilbert de Clare was a manor
of Talworth held by the Prior
of Merton by the service of a
quarter of a knight's fee, value
100s. (fn. 108) In 1349, (fn. 109) 1376, (fn. 110) and 1440, (fn. 111) the inquisitions on the Clares and their descendants mention
the same fee.
Merton Priory. Or fretty azure with eagles argent on the fret.
At its dissolution the priory held rents of assize in
Kingston, Ditton, Talworth, Chessington, Hook, and
elsewhere amounting to £1 16s. 1½d. (fn. 112) These were
annexed to the honour of Hampton Court. (fn. 113)
The Knights of St. John in the reign of Henry III
held a knight's fee in Talworth of which they had
been enfeoffed by Henry Kyryel. Their prior in
that reign was fined for withdrawing his men of Talworth so that they did not render suit at the king's court
at Kingston, nor pay tallage when due. (fn. 114) In 1294
Henry Pycot granted 8 acres in Talworth to the prior
of this order. (fn. 115)
CHURCH
The church of ST. MARY is a building of Godalming stone in the style of the
13th century, consisting of a chancel,
chamber, vestry, nave, transepts, aisles, and south
porch. It was erected in 1878–80 some distance to
the north of a former building on a neighbouring
site; the foundations of this are still visible, and
some portions of its chancel walls still stand. It was
of a small Greek-cross plan and built of brick in
the place of the ancient building, which dated partly
from the 12th century and which had fallen into a
bad state of decay. Nothing remains to show the
size and appearance of the ancient church, but from
the disposition of the churchyard it must have been
very small, no larger than the 18th-century building.
Some of the floor slabs and mural monuments have
been left in their original places in the 18th-century remains. The earliest is a slab to Thomas Evelyn, 1659,
and there are others to Sir Edward Evelyn, bart., 1692,
Lady Mary Evelyn, 1696, Lady Anne Evelyn, 1669,
and to other members of the same family, also to Anthony Balam, February 1691–2, Mary infant daughter
of Sir William Glynne, bart., 1692, and other later
slabs, besides some modern mural tablets. Several
ancient brasses were removed to the new building and
are now affixed to the walls. One at the east end of
the north aisle has the figures of a man in a long fur
gown and his wife, both with their hands in prayer.
The inscription below reads:—'Hic jacent Ro[ber]tus
Castelton armig['] un[us] justic' dñi Regis ad pacem in
Com[itatu] Surr ac Clīcus p[o]itor' in S[caccar]io [?] eiusde[m] d[omin]i R
apud Westm[..] et Elizabeth ux[or] eius qui quidem Ro[ber]tus
obiit XXIII die Dec[em]br ano dñi mill[essim]o Vc XXVII
cujus anime propicietur Deus Amen.'
Below are the small figures of their six daughters;
but the indent only remains of the sons. There is
also a shield with their arms, on a bend three roundels
(? buckles).
By the side of this brass is another of a knight and
lady of the Elizabethan period, but it has no inscription.
On the south wall of the chancel is a brass inscription which reads:—
'Here lieth Maist' John Haymer M. of Arts and
late p[ar]son of this chirche of whose goods was dispende
an C Mck. among pore people and upon highways
nere unto this town and w'in the same on whose
soule Jhesu have mercy.'
John Haymer was rector of the church from 1492
to 1535. These are the only antiquities preserved
in the church, which is a well-built structure, one of
the last designs of the late George Edmund Street,
and contains some good stained glass. The pulpit is
of stone, the font of green and white marble. Two
bells hang in a cote above the chancel arch.
The churchyard is fairly large, having evidently
been augmented when the new church was erected;
it contains many graves, and there are some large trees
around it, especially the older part at the south end.
A new lych-gate stands at the entrance to the north, by
the road.
The communion plate consists of a silver cup dated
1659 but without a hall-mark, a stand paten with the
hall-mark of 1770, 'The gift of a worthy person
to the parish of Long Ditton,' a large silver flagon of
1715, a smaller cup and stand paten of 1894, and a
salver of 1856. The first book of the registers is a
parchment volume containing baptisms, marriages
and burials 1564 to 1655, the second is a large paper
book with baptisms 1659 to 1812, marriages 1659 to
1752, and burials 1658 to 1812; the third is a
paper copy of part of the second book, from 1695 to
1710; the fourth has marriages from 1754 to 1793,
and the fifth continues them to 1812.
There is also a book of churchwardens' accounts
and vestry minutes dating from 1663, but it gives
little information as to the repairs to and state of the
fabric; there were many repairs carried out in 1675,
and mention of three new bell-ropes and mending of
the wheels in 1676. In 1680 is an entry giving a
list of the communion plate as follows:—' (1)2 flaggons
of pewter, (2) 1 chalice of silver with a cover to it of
silver, (3) 2 pattons of pewter, (4) a faire surplice,
(5) a table Cloath of Holland.' The list is continued
with later items:—'(6) a large coffin the gift of
Mr. Ro. Pocock, rector, (7) a large carpet of green
cloath for the Communion table, (8) a faire green
velvet cushion for the pulpit, the gift of Mrs. Sarah
Pocock, the wife of Mr. Ro. Pocock, rector A.D. 1690,
(9) a faire piece of plate to put the Communion bread
on in the fashion of a patten or Pattison, being the
gift of Mrs. Sarah Pocock, the wife of Mr. Robert
Pocock the present rector, Aprl 1696, (10) a Common Prayer Book, the gift of Madame Sophia Glynne
wife of Stephen Glynne, esq., given in August 1696,
(11) a velvet cushion with a cloath round the pulpit
a rich fringe about it of crimson colour lined with
fine silk, 1699.' It would be interesting to know
whether in the sixth item the word 'coffin' represents
a coffer or chest, or whether it is really a late
example of the common coffin used for the burial
service of poor persons who were interred simply in
their grave clothes.
In 1716 George London, gent., gave a large Common Prayer Book for the Communion Table; in
1720 John Willis, Virginia merchant and citizen of
London, gave a rich green velvet furniture for the
pulpit laced with a broad gold lace, and a cushion of the
same, for which the parishioners erected a new pulpit.
In 1715 is a note of the anonymous gift of a silver
flagon. In 1778 the vestry decided to pull down
and rebuild the church, but no information is given
as to the progress and cost of the work, except that in
1779 the rector complained that the work was still
unfinished and money unobtainable.
ADVOWSON
A church existed at Long Ditton
at the time of the Domesday
Survey. (fn. 116)
The advowson was claimed by the Prior of
Merton at the end of the 13 th century against the
lord of the manor of Long Ditton as having been
granted by Peter de Talworth to the Priory of Merton and confirmed by King Henry the elder. (fn. 117)
The Priors of Merton presented until the Dissolution, but did not appropriate the church. (fn. 118)
Edward VI granted the advowson of the rectory to
David Vincent (fn. 119) and the advowson then followed
the descent of the manor of Long Ditton. Anne
Evelyn, widow, presented in 1662 and 1665. (fn. 120)
Sir Evelyn Alston sold the advowson to Sir James
Clarke in 1700. (fn. 121) An Act of Parliament was passed
in 1753 for the sale of the advowson after the death
of the Rev. Joseph Clarke, (fn. 122) and it was then sold,
according to Manning and Bray, to Mrs. Pennicott.
George Elers, as a trustee for Mrs. Pennicott, presented in 1750, (fn. 123) but he with Mary his wife sold the
advowson in 1767 to New College, Oxford, (fn. 124) to which
it still belongs.
CHARITIES
Smith's Charity, which amounts
to about £30 a year, is distributed
usually in clothing. Bishop Willis's
Visitation in 1725 mentions land called Kingswood
leased for relief of the poor. This is not the estate
upon which Smith's Charity is now charged.