HAYES.

Name.

Situation.

Boundaries.

Quantity of land, and how occupied.

Soil.

This place, called in old writings, Hese; lies in the hundred of Ruxley, twelve miles from London, and two from Bromley. The parish is bounded by Bromley on the north and east; by Keston on the south-east; West-Wickham on the south and southwest; and Beckenham on the north. It contains about 1000 acres of cultivated land; which are divided nearly in an equal proportion between arable and pasture. The latter has been for some years past gradually increasing. There are between 200 and 300 acres of waste. The soil in this parish is various; clay and gravel abound most; there is a considerable portion also of sand and loam.

Land-tax.

The parish of Hayes pays the sum of 81l. to the land-tax; which is at the rate of about 1s. 3d. in the pound.

Hayes lies partly within the manor of West Wickham, and partly within that of Orpington (fn. 1) .

Manor of Baston.

The manor or manor-farm of Baston, in this parish, was formerly the property of the Squeries. It was sold by Richard Mervin, Esq. (who had married the heir of that family) to the Scroops, and passed, as is supposed, with the neighbouring manor of West-Wickham to the Lennards (fn. 2) . In 1723, Robert Thorpe sold his moiety of his manor to John Wood, in whom the other moiety was then vested. Richard and Anthony Wood, being coheirs in gavelkind, aliened it in 1762 to John Luxford, Esq., of whom it was purchased in 1795, by James Randell, jun. Esq. the present proprietor (fn. 3) .

Manor of Pickhurst or Heaver.

The manor, or reputed manor, of Pickhurst or Heaver, was in 1693, the property of Matthias Wallraven, whose grandson Peter, in 1757, aliened it to William Cowley. It was purchased of the latter in 1765, by Mariabella Eliot, sister of Mr. J. Eliot, the present proprietor (fn. 4) . The mansion belonging to this estate is in the tenure of John Bowdler, Esq.

Hayes-place the residence of the late Earl of Chatham, now the seat of Lord Lewisham.

Hayes-place (near the church) was formerly the seat of the Scotts. In 1698, Stephen Scott, Esq. aliened it to John Harrison, of whom it was purchased in 1757, by the Right Hon. William Pitt, (afterwards Earl of Chatham (fn. 5) ,) who built the present mansion. When he became possessed of Burton Pynsent, he sold this place, in 1766, to the Hon. Thomas Walpole, who cased the house with white brick, and otherwise much improved it. Lord Chatham being afterward very desirous of returning to Hayes, Mr. Walpole was prevailed upon to gratify him, and it was accordingly re-conveyed to his Lordship in 1768. Here, after his retirement from public affairs, this great statesman spent much of the evening of his days amusing himself with improving, from time to time, his favourite residence. After his death, Hayes-place was sold by the Countess Dowager and the present Earl of Chatham, (anno 1785,) to James Bond, Esq. (now Sir James Bond,) of whom it was purchased, in 1789, by the Right Hon. George Viscount Lewisham, who is the present proprietor (fn. 4) . His Lordship (who is President of the Naturalists' Society) has a good collection of exotics at this place, and has been particularly successful in the culture of Botany-Bay plants.

Parish church.

The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a small building, (of flint and stone,) consisting of a chancel and nave. At the west end is as an embattled tower, on which is a very low spire.

Monuments.

On the north wall of the chancel is a monument in memory of William Cleaver (fn. 5) , merchant, 1737; William Fenton, Esq. 1753; and Anne, his wife, (daughter of William Cleaver,) 1782. On the south wall are memorials for Charles Yarwood, 1741; Mr. John Hinton, 1781; and Sarah, his relict, (afterwards married to S. A. Cumberlege,) 1784. On the floor are the tombs of John Osteler and Sir John Andrew (fn. 6) , rectors of Hayes about the latter end of the fifteenth century (fn. 7) ; John Heygge, rector, 1523; John Hoare, rector, (a brass plate, with a figure of the deceased,) 1584; Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Bradgate, merchant, daughter of Sir Stephen Scott, 1655; Sir Stephen Scott, Knt. (fn. 8) , Gentleman Pensioner to Charles I. (son of John Scott, Esq. of Halden), 1658; Anne, daughter of Sir Stephen, wife of William Reeve of Fair-lee in the Isle of Wight, 1661; John Scott, Esq. (fn. 9) , Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, (son and heir of Sir Stephen,) 1670; and Mr. John Walwyn, (brother of Thomas Walwyn, then rector,) 1738.

The banners borne at the public funeral of the late Earl of Chatham are in this church.

In the Registrum Roffense (fn. 10) , mention is made of the tombs of Robert Garret, rector, 1560, and Sir Edmund Scott, 1597.

In the churchyard are the tombs of Jonathan Delver, merchant, 1786; the Rev. Wharton Partridge, M. A. 1794, &c.

The rectory.

Hayes is a rectory in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in the deanery of Shoreham. The patronage has been from time immemorial vested in the rectors of Orpington, to whom the rectors of this parish pay an annual pension of 163. 8d. (fn. 11) In 1287, this rectory was rated at 10 marks (fn. 12) . In 1650, it was valued at 40l. being stated to have 16 acres of glebe (fn. 13) . It is a discharged living in the King's books of the clear certified value of 49l. per annum.

Rectors.

Robert Davidson, rector of this parish, in 1707, published a thanksgiving sermon upon the Union.

The present rector is John Till, LL.B. instituted in 1777, on the death of Francis Fawkes, M. A.

Parish register.

The register of baptisms, marriages, and burials commences in 1539.

Comparative state of population.

The present number of houses is 62 (fn. 14) .

In 1603, there were ten burials; in 1625, two; in 1665 none are entered.

Extracts from the Parish Register.

"George Cooke, Esq. and Anne, daughter of S^r Timothy Lowe, married Nov. 27, 1617."

Family of Scott.

"Edmund, son of Stephen Scott, Esq. (afterwards S^r Stephen), baptized Aug. 17, 1626; John (fn. 15) , Jan. 6, 1627–8, Elizabeth (fn. 16) , Mar. 31, 1629; Anne (fn. 17) , Ap^l 11, 1630; Margaret, Jan. 4, 1631–2; Stephen, buried March 25, 1634; Stephen, baptized Nov. 15, 1641; Lady Scott (fn. 18) , buried Ap^l 30, 1667." There are several other entries relating to the family of Scott.

John (fn. 19) son of the Hon. William and Lady Esther Pitt, born Oct. 10. baptized Nov. 7. 1756."

Birth of the present Prime Minister.

"William, son of the Hon. William and Lady Esther Pitt, born May 28, baptized July 3, 1759." The future historian of the Prime Minister will be glad thus to ascertain that he was born at Hayes during his father's residence at this place.

"Charles L^d Visc^t Mahon, (now Earl Stanhope,) and the R^t Hon. Lady Hester Pitt, married Dec. 19, 1774."

James Bruce (fn. 20) , Esq. of Lincoln's Inn, and Adriana Allen, married Feb. 3, 1754."

Family of Legge, Lord Lewisham.

"Henrietta, daughter of George L^d Lewisham and Frances, born Sep. 7, 1790; Barbara Maria, Nov. 29, 1792; Katherine Charlotte, born Ap^l 2, buried May 15, 1793; Georgina Carolina, born May 14, 1795."

School.

Mrs. Elizabeth Lloyd, anno 1693, gave a rent-charge of 3l. per annum for teaching children to read. Mrs. Elizabeth Harrison, in 1738, gave 2l. per annum for the same purpose; and 10s. (fn. 21) . to be distributed on Good Friday among those who should say their catechism best. A school-house was erected in 1791, and a master and mistress appointed to teach all the poor children in the parish to read, and the girls to work: the expence of which, except the aid from the above-mentioned benefactions, is defrayed by voluntary subscriptions.

Benefaction.

Sir Samuel Lennard, Knt. anno 1617, gave 40s. per annum, to be distributed on the anniversary of the Popish Plot, among such 40 poor persons as shall be present at a sermon to be preached on that occasion at West Wickham church; ten of the said poor persons to be of the parish of Hayes.

This parish has about an acre and a half of land given by a benefactor now unknown.

Footnotes