A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1912.
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'Parishes: Caterham', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4, ed. H E Malden( London, 1912), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol4/pp265-270 [accessed 2 December 2024].
'Parishes: Caterham', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4. Edited by H E Malden( London, 1912), British History Online, accessed December 2, 2024, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol4/pp265-270.
"Parishes: Caterham". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4. Ed. H E Malden(London, 1912), , British History Online. Web. 2 December 2024. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol4/pp265-270.
In this section
CATERHAM
Katerham; Katterham.
Caterham parish measures about 3 miles from north to south, from a mile to a mile and a-half from east to west, and contains 2,438 acres. By Order in Council dated November 1910 the detached portion of Tandridge parish, otherwise known as Tillingdon, which joins Caterham on the east, was added to this parish. The village is 7 miles south of Croydon. It is served by the Caterham Valley line of the South-Eastern railway, which leaves Purley, formerly Caterham Junction, and runs up the bottom of the Caterham Valley to a terminus at Caterham. Warlingham station is just in Caterham, and the London, Brighton and South Coast railway at Upper Warlingham is also largely used by Caterham residents. The parish is on the Chalk downs, but they are in great part capped by clay and gravel. The bottom of the Caterham Valley contains alluvial gravel, and was once the bed of a stream, the head waters of the Wandle, which ran down into the Smitham Valley bottom, and so to Croydon. A winter bourne still breaks out intermittently in the neighbourhood of Caterham. In 1904 and 1910 water ran down on the surface from the top of the valley to the Wandle near Croydon; but the extensive waterworks of the East Surrey Water Company and of the Henley Water Company, amalgamated with it, have made this bourne less frequent and less copious in its flow.
The fortification upon White Hill, described under Blechingley, is partly in Caterham. Many neolithic flakes and some implements have been found. Stanested Heath, or Stanestreet Heath (called in deeds Stane Street or Stoney Street, see Chaldon), and the old inn the 'Harrow' upon it, suggest the continuation of, or more probably a branch from the Roman road which ran north and south through Godstone. The reputed Pilgrims' Way crosses the line of this road. (fn. 1) The open ground near the Harrow is now called Platt's Green.
The old village lies at the head of the valley, high up the hill, and the high ground rising still further south of it reaches 750 ft. above the sea. White Hill Tower was built on this high ground by Mr. Jeremiah Long in 1862. The old church of St. Lawrence is 600 ft. above the sea. It is now only used for the purposes of a Sunday school, a new parish church of St. Mary having been built opposite to it. The manor-house stands to the south-west of the old church; it is a brick building dating from the 18th century. The whole of the valley and the slopes on either side are now full of houses of various sizes, from small estates to cottages. Only south of the old village, on the highest part of the chalk, further from the railway, the parish is distinctly rural still. The commons were inclosed by an award of 13 June 1853.
Caterham is ruled by an urban district council of fifteen members, and is divided into five wards. Public offices with a memorial hall (in memory of the late Mr. W. Garland) are now in course of erection. Within the parish is the Guards' Depot; the barracks were built in 1877 and enlarged in 1897 to hold 1,400 men. In the old village is a Soldiers' Home, built by Mr. John Newbery in 1898. Inside the barrack-yard is a chapel in 13th-century style, with an aisle for Roman Catholic soldiers. Not far from the barracks on the high ground is the Metropolitan Asylum for Imbeciles, built in 1870. It consists of thirteen houses and a chapel, with a detached house for infectious illnesses. It holds nearly 2,000 persons. Caterham County Council school was built in 1872 and enlarged in 1893 and 1909. In 1725 'an English School' was included in a return made to Bishop Willis. A parish school was opened in 1804, called 'a School for the Improvement of Children,' and its buildings were enlarged in 1852 and 1858. It was superseded by the Board school of 1872. A Roman Catholic school was built in 1881.
Sherbrooke is the residence of the Viscountess Sherbrooke; Essendene of Mr. W. S. Warren; Arthur's Seat of Mr. A. W. Long Parkhouse; Greenland of Mr. H. G. Poland; St. Bernards of Sir G. C. Marks, M.P.; Burntwood of Mr. E. Coles, and Shortfurrows of Mr. P. H. Hall. In the Stanstead Road is Oakhyrst, the residence of Mr. L. Welstead, also Woodlands of Mr. H. Lloyd, Broomfield of Mrs. Winter, Stanstead of Mr. A. T. Groom, and Stone House of Mrs. Blacket Gill.
Caterham Valley or Lower Caterham is, as the name implies, that part of the parish which lies in and on either side of the valley, for the most part north-east of the old village. It is divided into two ecclesiastical districts, which together have a larger population than the rest of the old parish. There are several large modern houses here. Shirley Goss is the seat of Major-Gen. Sibley; Harestone of Mrs. W. G. Soper; Beechlands of Mr. Charles Asprey; Beechhanger Court of Sir Theodore Fry. The public hall was built in 1888, and the cottage hospital in 1903 by Mr. Charles Braine. The latter was enlarged in 1910. The Congregational school for the sons of ministers, founded at Lewisham in 1811, was removed to the Caterham Valley in 1884, and is now recognized as a secondary school for boys. The buildings, which will hold 150 boys, are of red brick with stone dressings, gabled. The Caterham Valley County Council school was built by the School Board in 1876 for 300 children, with an average attendance in 1907 of 185. The Caterham Valley Church school was built in 1885 for 300 children, with an average attendence in 1907 of 160.
Whyteleafe is a populous district which has sprung up upon the Caterham Valley line within the parishes of Caterham, Warlingham and Coulsdon. Whyteleafe station, on this line, is in Warlingham parish. It is now a separate ecclesiastical district. The place derives its name from a field which was called Whiteleaf Field, from the aspens growing in it; this was bought by Mr. Glover in 1855 as a site for a house in a then scarcely inhabited valley. Other houses were built near it and a post office was established, called after Mr. Glover's house Whiteleaf. The more fanciful spelling was introduced later. The Whyteleafe Road from Catcrham Rectory to the Croydon Road was constructed by the late Mr. Drew. The population of Whyteleafe is now larger than that of Warlingham village. There is a school, built in 1892 and enlarged in 1900 and 1907. A county council secondary school for girls has been set up in this year (1911).
MANORS
The Domesday Survey records the existence of a nameless manor in Tandridge Hundred held of Odo Bishop of Bayeux by a certain Hugh which has been identified with CATERHAM (fn. 2) but it seems more likely that this was Warlingham (vide infra). There is little trace of tenure here during the 12th century; but in the reign of King John Roger son of Everard de Gaist gave the church to the monastery of Waltham Holy Cross. (fn. 3) It seems possible that the family of Gaist also held the manor. Deeds relating to the hospital of St. Thomas the Martyr in Southwark show that Geoffrey of Caterham gave lands in Caterham to his son Roger, (fn. 4) and Everard son of Roger afterwards gave certain lands to the hospital. (fn. 5) Later the hospital appears as holding lands there which had been of the fee of Everard son of Roger of Caterham, (fn. 6) and which owed rent and service to Roger son of Everard. (fn. 7) If it be possible to identify this family with that of the Gaists, as from the repetition of the names Roger and Everard seems plausible, it will be seen that it was the last-mentioned Roger who gave the church to Waltham. This monastery certainly acquired land here which it held as a manor, (fn. 8) and the abbot and canons received a grant of free warren in their demesne lands of Caterham in 1253. (fn. 9) In 1272 the abbot was stated to hold a tenement in Caterham which was of 'Robert le Justur.' (fn. 10)
The monastery held the manor until the Dissolution, (fn. 11) after which, in 1544, a grant in fee was made to William Sackville, (fn. 12) described as a justice of the peace and server in the king's chamber, (fn. 13) against whom a complaint was afterwards brought by John Woodward, to whom the manor had been demised at farm by the abbot, and who alleged that William Sackville had turned him out of the premises and put him in fear of his life. (fn. 14) In 1553 William Sackville and Eleanor his wife alienated the manor to Robert Hartopp, citizen and goldsmith, of London, (fn. 15) who died seised of the manor and site in 1555, his son Elias succeeding him. (fn. 16) The heir of Elias Hartopp was his nephew John. (fn. 17) In 1609 Joan Hartopp, apparently the heiress of John, conveyed the manor to George Evelyn, (fn. 18) who settled it on his son Sir John on the latter's marriage with Elizabeth Cocks. (fn. 19) Sir John Evelyn sold to James Linch, who died seised in 1640, (fn. 20) his heirs being his three granddaughters, Eleanor, Susan and Elizabeth Gauntlett, children of his daughter Sarah, who had married Emmanuel Gauntlett. (fn. 21) Of these, Susan, by virtue of a previous settlement, became seised of Caterham, with remainder to her heirs male or in default to those of Elizabeth, and finally to those of John Linch their cousin. (fn. 22) Susan married Robert Hussey, member of a Dorset family, and they had a son James. (fn. 23) In 1699 Robert son of James Hussey, with the heir of John Linch, sold the manor to George Roffey, (fn. 24) who died in 1708, having devised Caterham to his daughter Joan and her heirs with remainder to his nephew George Roffey. (fn. 25) The latter held in 1742, (fn. 26) and appears to have bequeathed the manor in separate moieties to his sons Richard and George, who in 1770 severally conveyed their respective shares to Matthew Robinson. (fn. 27) The latter, with Sarah his wife, conveyed to Richard Hewetson some ten years later, (fn. 28) and from him it descended to his nephew Henry Hewetson, who held in the early 19th century. (fn. 29) According to Brayley, all manorial rights had by this time ceased to be exercised, and although Henry Hewetson during his tenure was said to have laid claim to the lordship of the manor, William Hewetson, nephew of Henry, who had succeeded before 1841, was not considered to hold the manor. (fn. 30)
Manning states that the demesne lands had for years been separated from the manor itself and sold to Henry Rowed, whose son Henry settled the estate on his wife Susan Glover in 1765. Their daughter Katherine succeeded to the estate after the death of her parents. (fn. 31)
A second manor of Caterham is first mentioned after the Dissolution. (fn. 32) It was probably part of the original manor held by Waltham Abbey and was retained as a separate manor after the suppression of the abbey by the family of Best, who had been tenants of the main manor (q.v.) under the abbot at the time of the Dissolution. This second manor was held in 1511 by Richard Best. (fn. 33) In 1572 Thomas Jerbard died seised of a moiety which he held in the right of his wife Elizabeth, a daughter and co-heir of William Best. (fn. 34) William Jerbard the son conveyed this moiety in 1577 to William Richebell, (fn. 35) who seems to have acquired the other half after 1585, for he was found to be seised of the whole manor in 1594 when he conveyed it to Ralph Pratt. (fn. 36) Ralph settled the manor on his son Charles, who married Elizabeth Parish, and they in 1607 conveyed to William Jordan and Katherine his wife, (fn. 37) from whom it passed to Edmund Jordan of Charlwood, in whose family it remained until after 1712. (fn. 38) In 1616 William Jordan received a grant of court leet and view of frankpledge in Caterham, Woldingham, Farley and Chelsham. (fn. 39)
The manor was purchased from the Jordans by Sir Isaac Shard, who held his first court in 1726. (fn. 40) He was succeeded by William Shard, (fn. 41) who by fine of 1790 conveyed to Thomas Clark. (fn. 42) The latter held in 1825 (fn. 43) and afterwards sold to Charles Day of the firm of Day & Martin, after whose death this manor, with the rest of his property, fell into Chancery. (fn. 44) It was bought from Day's trustees in 1858 by Mr. George Drew, who in 1859 conveyed it to Mr. George Henry Drew, a taxing master in the High Court. In 1908 Drew's trustees sold it to Mr. W. L. Williams, the present lord of the manor. (fn. 45)
CATERHAM, PORKELEY or PORTELE, UPWODE, GATIERS and HALYNGBURY.
—In the 13th century Sir John Haunsard, kt., quitclaimed to the hospital of St. Thomas in Southwark the service which the brothers had been wont to render him for land held of him in Caterham, viz. 4d. rent and suit at court. (fn. 46) In 1245 there was a dispute between Haunsard and the Abbot of Waltham concerning the advowson of Caterham, to which the former finally renounced his claim. (fn. 47) At his death in 1275 Haunsard held a manor of Caterham of Sir John d'Abernon for a quarter of a knight's fee. (fn. 48) An overlordship mentioned below, however, belonged to the Earls of Arundel, (fn. 49) so that if it was of the same land d'Abernon must have been a mesne lord. The inquisition on Haunsard stated that he had sold the manor to Isabel Countess of Gloucester, who had re-granted it for life to Sir John and Gundreda his wife. This transaction must have been previous to the year 1240. (fn. 50) In 1372 Ralph Earl of Stafford, who had married the daughter and heir of Margaret de Audley, one of the co-heirs of Gilbert de Clare Earl of Gloucester, died seised of a tenement in Caterham held of the Earl of Arundel and of one in Porkele. (fn. 51) Land called Porkele had been formerly included in the manor given to Waltham Abbey. (fn. 52) The Earl of Stafford's heirs held it of this abbey, and there is no evidence that Haunsard ever held Porkele. (fn. 53)
Both holdings, however, passed to the Dukes of Buckingham. (fn. 54) Humphrey Duke of Buckingham held the manors of Caterham, Porkele, Upwode, Gatiers and Halyngbury, all in this parish, in 1458, when he settled them on his third son John, afterwards Earl of Wiltshire, and Constance his wife. (fn. 55) At the death of Humphrey it was found that the manor of Caterham was worth 20s., while the values of Upwode, Gatiers and Halyngbury were 26s. 8d., 20s. 6d. and 13s. 4d respectively. (fn. 56) The son of John Earl of Wiltshire died without issue in 1499, when by the terms of the settlement of 1458 the lands reverted to the elder branch. On the attainder of Edward Duke of Buckingham in 1521 these lands in Caterham were seized by the Crown, being described as manors, but in a further inquisition the jury stated that, as far as concerns this parish, the duke was seised only of three messuages and 1,000 acres called Porkele, Upwode, Gatiers, and Halyngbury, and of 4s. 6d. rent in Caterham. (fn. 57) A grant of these lands was made to Lord Berners in 1528, (fn. 58) but apparently they reverted to the Crown in 1533 when Lord Berners died in debt; they were granted by Henry VIII in that year to Arthur Uvedale, Robert Southwell and George Townshende, (fn. 59) apparently trustees. In 1570 Thomas Sackville Lord Buckhurst held the 'manor of Caterham and Portele farm,' which he conveyed in that year to Henry Shelley. (fn. 60) They evidently passed to Sir Thomas Sondes, as in 1599 Lady Margaret Sondes, then his widow, leased 'all her manors and lands in Caterham, late the possessions of Henry Shelley, Esq.,' to Henry Brooke Lord Cobham, her half-brother, and in 1615, after Cobham's attainder, Frances Leveson widow, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Sondes and Margaret, granted the remainder of the lease to Sir Edward Barrett and Walter Barrett. (fn. 61) The manor was held in 1612 by Sir Richard Sondes, son of Sir Thomas's brother and heir-male. (fn. 62) It was conveyed in that year to George Ede, (fn. 63) from whom it passed in 1616 to Jasper Ockley. (fn. 64) Manning says that the property afterwards came into the possession of Sir Isaac Shard, whose heir conveyed it, with the second manor of Caterham, to Thomas Clark. It passed to Mr. Charles Day and to Mr. Drew. In 1908 it was bought from the trustees of Mr. G. H. Drew by Mr. W. L. Williams, who resides at Portley. (fn. 65)
SALMONS.
—In 1339 John de Horne released a house and lands in Warlingham and Caterham to Roger Salaman, (fn. 66) who at his death in 1343 was seised of a tenement in this parish. (fn. 67) It does not appear to be mentioned again in connexion with this family, but was probably the so-called manor of Salmons held here in 1605 by William Jordan, (fn. 68) who soon afterwards acquired the second manor of Caterham (q.v.) with which Salmons afterwards descended. It was bought out of Chancery, into which it went on the death of Day, by Mr. G. H. Drew, who sold to Mrs. Horne. Her trustee now owns it, and members of her family still reside there.
CHURCHES
The church of ST. LAWRENCE, built of flint, Godstone stone and brick, with tiled roofs, stands in a pleasant churchyard somewhat overshadowed by trees and overgrown with ivy. It is used only for Sunday schools and children's services, and the interior is in a state of some dilapidation. In plan it consists of nave 26 ft. 6 in. by 16 ft., chancel 24 ft. 9 in. by 12 ft. 9 in. at the west and 13 ft. 9 in. at the east, and spacious north aisle 38 ft. 4 in. by 15 ft. On the north of the aisle is a vestry and there is a south porch to the nave, both comparatively modern. At the west end of the nave is a small boarded bell-turret. Despite additions and alterations, the plan and dimensions of the first church can be easily made out and two-thirds of its walls remain in position. It was a simple aisleless structure consisting of nave 26 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft.—a foot narrower than at present—and chancel 12 ft. 9 in. wide, by the same or perhaps a slightly greater length. The walls of this period, which may be dated at about 1100, are from 2 ft. 9 in. to 3 ft. in thickness, and in the south wall of the nave one of the original windows has survived in a truly remarkable manner nearly complete. It lies rather to the east of the centre of the wall, and is a round-headed opening, only about 4 in. wide externally, with a small chamfer off the feather-edge of the splay, the internal arch of which is in very good preservation. In about 1190 an aisle was thrown out, causing this window to be blocked up, and this aisle, which had two pointed arches, with oblong chamfered pier in the centre, and square responds, was itself destroyed, probably early in the 14th century, the arches being then or soon afterwards filled in, and a doorway and window placed within the western and eastern arches respectively. The window now has wooden tracery, inserted early in the 19th century in place of the stonework. Four periods of work are thus represented in this short piece of wall. The aisle arches have square-edged imposts, with hollow and quirk mouldings, and the narrow chamfers of the arches have stops of different patterns just above the springing. The doorway has a good hood moulding and the single order of arch and jambs has a broad hollow on the angle with a pyramidal stop above the floor level. Over this door is an image niche of about the same date (c. 1320) having an ogee-trefoiled head within a square with sunk spandrels. The west window, of brick, with wooden tracery, dates only from about 1800.
At about the same date (c. 1190) as the building of the south aisle of the nave an arch was opened in the western part of the south wall of the chancel communicating with a chapel, which was perhaps destroyed at an earlier date than the aisle, though the arch itself remains. In it is inserted a low-side window of lancet shape, not later, apparently, than the middle of the 13th century. The eastern respond of the arch has an impost of somewhat similar section to those in the nave, but in addition a capital of trefoil foliage and a little man's head. Beyond this arch is a priest's door of c. 1250, with good mouldings, but externally disfigured by a hood moulding of Roman cement, added c. 1800. (fn. 69)
In about 1220 the church was again enlarged. The chancel was probably extended to its present length and the large aisle thrown out to the north, passing beyond the limits of the nave to the east and so forming a spacious chapel, as well as doubling the area of the body of the church. The arcade is of two somewhat wide-pointed arches with a slender circular column and responds of semi-octagon plan, all resting upon the rough foundation of the demolished wall. A peculiarly interesting feature in the spandrel of the two arches is the circular bracket supported by a grotesque head with pointed ears and arms coming out from the back, the hands of which, shaped like rats' paws, are holding open a gaping mouth filled with great teeth. Evidently this monster supported an image, perhaps that of St. Lawrence.
A small piece of the early external north-east nave quoin is now to be seen on the aisle side of this arcade. Beyond this an arch has been roughly pierced through the thick 12th-century wall to communicate with the chancel. This arch is of a rude pointed shape, in one order having narrow chamfers with capitals in Roman cement. This may perhaps be earlier than that of the north aisle and chapel, and if so there must have been a smaller chapel on the site before these were built.
The walls and windows of the north aisle have been modernized externally. In the north wall is a small and narrow doorway with pointed head, c. 1220, disguised by Roman cement, which now leads to the vestry of c. 1800. There are diagonal brick buttresses of the latter date at the north-east and north-west angles of this aisle, and one of pilaster form at the east end of the chancel, north side. The east window of the chancel dates from c. 1800, at which time the eastern part of the south wall appears to have been rebuilt a foot thinner, the stones of the rebuilt part being the destroyed tracery, &c., of the mediaeval windows. (fn. 70) There is a splay at the junction with the original wall, part of a destroyed early 13thcentury window. (fn. 71) The north wall of the chancel has no trace of windows or other features, and may have been rebuilt or refaced in modern times.
Owing to the thinning of the north wall of the nave in about 1220 the chancel arch, placed centrally with the chancel, is markedly out of the centre of the nave. It would appear to have replaced a narrower early 12th-century arch in about 1250, being thus about thirty years later than the north arcade. Its design is both elegant and unusual. There are no shafts, and the square piers have merely a hollow moulding between two small chamfers on the angles, rising from graceful 'cushion' stops. The arch consists of a hood moulding of the scroll section (but different on the two faces) having 'mask' stops, and two orders moulded as the jambs, the outer order and hood being segmental, while the inner is protracted to the springing line, 3 ft. 9 in. from the floor, so that it dies into the vertical face of the pier. There are three steps up from the nave to the chancel, and others to the sacrarium. Some curious 'Gothic' ornamentation in stucco in the archway and quatrefoil windows of the porch, c. 1800, deserves notice.
The roofs of chancel, nave and aisle are ancient, as are the timbers of the small boarded bell-turret at the west end. They are at present ceiled, but are of large size, in sound condition and regularly laid, the date appearing to be the 13th century.
Within the chancel arch is the base of a destroyed oak screen, a plain piece of framework, possibly as old as the arch. There are other fragments of old woodwork, mostly of 17th and 18th-century date, worked up into the pewing and furniture, such as a readingdesk, but of no great value; many of the old high pews remain, in a very dilapidated state. The 17th-century communion table and the font have been removed to St. John's Church. The font is of c. 1220, with circular bowl of curious design, having a central drum and four shafts, with capitals worked out of the bowl, and bases. It bears a close resemblance to the font of Henfield Church, Sussex. Many traces of paintings of more than one period were discovered during a recent search, but nothing of any definite character has so far come to light. A good deal of red colour is to be seen in the western part of the north wall of the aisle. No ancient glass remains in the windows.
The only old monument of any interest is a fragment of a slab built into the north wall of the chancel, bearing a rude incised cross, with cusping at the junction of the arms and an inscription of which there remains only ihs .... g … le ..... t. The date is probably late 14th or early 15th century.
Tool marks on the successive periods of stonework are very fresh and worthy of study.
There are two bells, dated 1664.
None of the plate is of any antiquity or interest, the date of the earliest piece being 1806.
The registers date from 1543.
The church of ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, now the parish church of Caterham, stands on the crest of the hill opposite the old church. It is of flint with stone dressings and is built in the Early English style.
The Roman Catholic church of the Sacred Heart was dedicated by Cardinal Manning in 1881. It is of Reigate and Bargate stone, built in 13th-century style.
The Upper Caterham Congregational chapel was opened in 1876.
The church of ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, CATERHAM VALLEY, was built in 1882, and a parish assigned to it in 1884. The church is of stone, in 14th-century style, with chancel, nave, aisles and a tower at the west end. The 13th-century font and the 17th-century communion table from the old disused church at Caterham have been placed in this church.
The church of ST. LUKE, WHYTELEAFE, was built in 1866. A parish including part of Warlingham and Coulsdon parishes, as well as part of Caterham, was assigned to it in the same year. The church is of red brick, with some resemblance to the Early English style.
There is a large Congregational chapel in Harestone Valley with a detached tower. There are also Wesleyan and Baptist chapels in Caterham Valley.
ADVOWSON
As has been shown, Roger de Gaist gave the church of Caterham to Waltham Abbey during the reign of John. (fn. 72) At that time it was dedicated in honour of St. Leonard, but the invocation has since been changed to St. Lawrence. Roger also bequeathed an annual rent of 2s., payable at All Saints, to 'be spent on oil for a lamp before the altar of All Saints in this church, to illumine and ornament the said church for ever.' (fn. 73) A vicarage was ordained before 1305, (fn. 74) the patronage being in the hands of the abbot and convent. The small tithes and a moiety of the great tithes were allotted to the vicar, who was also to have the whole building of the church. (fn. 75) It seems that the church of Caterham was at one time required to pay pensions of 20s. and 5s. to the churches of Nutfield and Gatton respectively, should the rectors of these churches stand in need of help, but the Abbot and convent of Waltham were afterwards made answerable for these sums. (fn. 76)
After the Dissolution the rectory and advowson were granted to William Sackville and followed the descent of the manor (q.v.) until the 18th century. George Roffey, who eventually succeeded his uncle, who died in 1708, held the manor and church also, but his sons sold the advowson in 1764, according to Manning, (fn. 77) to Joseph Hodgkin, who presented to the church in 1769. (fn. 78) Manning also states that it was afterwards purchased by Solomon Hesse, who gave it to his grandson, James Legrew. The latter was the incumbent in 1808, (fn. 79) and the presentation has since remained in this family.
At a survey taken of the manor and parsonage of Caterham in 1539 the inhabitants declared that it had been customary for the farmer of the manor and the vicar of the church to receive each a moiety of the tithes and that the vicar had also from time out of mind received a pension of 26s. 8d. for the increase of his living. (fn. 80) In 1617 George Evelyn, lord of Caterham, received licence to grant his moiety of the tithes of corn in Caterham to the vicar and his successors 'for their better maintenance.' (fn. 81)
CHARITIES
By the award of 13 January 1853, under which Caterham commons were inclosed, an allotment was made for recreation and another for fuel.
Between 1884 and 1890 Charles Asprey by will gave £360 to the vicar and churchwardens of St. John's, Caterham Valley, for the poor of the district. (fn. 82)
Smith's charity is distributed as in other Surrey parishes.