Page:The Victoria History of the County of Surrey Volume 3.djvu/392

 A HISTORY OF SURREY

��with stone slabs, and in the south aisle is a four-light dormer window with a transom.

The altar-table is modern, and behind it is a modern reredos of stone. An old altar-slab is pre- served in the church. The pulpit is a modern one of stone and marble, and the font appears to be of 15th-century date; it is octagonal with a panelled bowl moulded on its upper and lower edges ; the stem is plain and the base moulded. Under the tower is an old chest covered with leather, and bearing in nail-heads the date 1663. Preserved in cases are a Book of Homilies of 1683 and a Book of Common Prayer of 1669 ; both had been removed from the church, and were restored in 1885.

At the west end of the north aisle, against the wall, is a stone slab, on which is the brass figure of a man in civil dress, c. 1470, and the indent of the figure of his wife ; below are the small figures of their three sons and three daughters, and near the top of the slab is a small circular indent. A modern inscription in brass is attached to the stone : ' Hie jacet Matild Hamildun . . . ux Thomae at Hull que obiit. . . die mens Octob Anno Dni MCCCCX cujus anime propicictur (sic) Deus Amen.' Incised at the foot of the slab is a record of its removal from the middle aisle in 1873.

Two pieces of the inscription of a brass, c. 1340, were found lately in excavations on the site of the vestry ; they read : ' [Marjgarete. . . nre seig[neur].'

On the east respond of the south arcade is a curious inscription on brass to Robert Gardner, chief Serjeant of the cellar to Queen Elizabeth, 1571 :

' Here fryndly Robartt Gardnar lyes, well borne of

ryghtt good race Who sarvd in cowrtt wyth credytt styll, in worth!

rowlm and place Cheeff Sargantt of the Seller longe, whear he dyd

duetty shoe Wyth good regard to all degrees, as ffar as powre

myghtt goe He past hys youth in sutch good fFraem, he cam to

aeged years And thearby porchaest honest naem, as by reportt

a peers A ffrynd whear any cawse he ffownd, and corttes

unto all Of myrry moode and pleasantt spetch, howe ever happ

dyd ffall Ffowr chyldern for to ffornysh fforth, the table rownd

he had Wyth sober wyeff most matrenlyk, to mak a man

ffull glad Prepaerd to dye longe ear his day, whych argues

greatt good mynd And told us in the other world, whatt hoep he had

to ffynd We leave hyme whear he loektt to be, our lord

receyve hys spreett Wyth peace and rest in habram's brest, whear we att

leynth may meett.

' Q d Churchyard

He departed owte of thys transetory worlde the xth daye of November anno d5I 1571 being then of the age of LXXIII yeres.'

��Over the inscription is a shield with the arms Sable a cheveron between three hunting-horns argent on a pile argent a covered cup gules all within a border or charged with eight roundels sable. His helm, with the crest of a goat's head, is on a bracket above.

In the tower are ten bells, five of which are by T. Mears, 1 8 1 6, and the other five by Warner & Sons, 1877.

The communion plate comprises a large cup of 1 66 1, large flagon of 1704, three chalices of 1871, 1872, and 1891 respectively, three patens of 1832, 1890, and 1891, and a small paten without a mark or date ; besides these are four pewter plates, two of which are dated 1711.

In the first book of the registers the baptisms begin regularly in 1656, but there are individual entries in the years 1626, 1647, and 1649 ; they continue to 1793 ; the marriages date from 1626 to 1753, and the burials 1626 to 1794 ; the book is of paper. The second book contains marriages from 1754 to 1792, the third continues them to 1812, and the fourth has baptisms and burials from 1794 to 1812.

ALL SAINTS' church is a medium-sized, modern building of flint and stone in the style of the I3th century, consisting of a chancel, nave, south chapel and aisle, vestry, and north porch. Over the chancel arch is a wooden bell-turret with one bell ; the inside of the building is lined with red brick.

The church of Letherhead, at the ADPOWSON time of the Domesday Survey, was appurtenant to the manor of Ewell, and, together with 40 acres of land, was held by Osbern de Ow. 98 It later became the property of the abbey of Colchester, to whom it was granted by Eustace de Broc."

Brother Robert, Abbot of Colchester, granted the advowson in 1287 to the king (Edward I), 100 who presented before I3O4. 101 The advowson re- mained with the Crown 10 * until Edward III in 1341, at the request of his mother, Queen Isabel, and to recompense the priory of Leeds, Kent, for losses sustained when Edward II besieged the castle of Leeds in order to avenge an insult offered to the queen, granted the advowson to the Prior and convent of Leeds 103 with licence to appropriate the church, and the monastery continuously presented to the church until its dissolution. 104 Henry VIII then gave the rectory and church and advowson of the vicarage of Letherhead to the Dean and Chapter of Rochester, 105 who are the present patrons. 106

Besides their advowson, the Prior and convent of Leeds owned land in Letherhead. Edward III granted them free warren, 107 which shows they had a considerable estate. The prior held, as glebe land, fields and crofts named Morescroft, Bunteynesland, and Necrofts in Letherhead. 108

Smith's Charity is distributed as CHARITIES in other Surrey parishes.

In 1608 John Skeet left 140 to buy land to provide bread for the poor.

In 1642 Charles, Earl of Nottingham, left 50 to the poor. It was not paid till 1679, when the parish added 20 and bought a house for an almshouse. In

��< r.C.H. Surr. i, 297. 99 Manning and Bray, Surr. ii, 673. '"Feet of F. Surr. 15 Edw. I, no. 10. 101 Egerton MS. 2031.

��M Ibid. 2032.

Cal. Pat. 1340-3, pp. 333, 346, 35*5- 104 Egerton MSS. ; Winton Epis. Reg. Wykeham, ii, fol. 571.

300

��103 Pat. 33 Hen. VIII, pt. ix.

"6 See Inst. Bks. P.R.O.

10 " Chart. R. 41 Edw. Ill, no. 158.

103 Chan. Inq. p.m. 4 Edw. IV, no. 57.

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