CHURCHES.
Staines church is first specifically
mentioned in 1179, (fn. 37) but it was probably in existence
at least a hundred years earlier. The popular belief (fn. 38)
that it was founded in 685 arises from a confusion
with Stone (Staffs.), but the forged charter of Edgar
to Westminster Abbey, which refers to the cell of
Staines (cenobium quod Stana vocatur), possibly bears
witness to the existence of a church about 1100, when
the charter was made, or to a tradition then current
of an earlier foundation. (fn. 39) Lysons mentions 'Saxon'
(i.e. probably Norman) work in the old church,
which has since been pulled down. (fn. 40) Staines church
originally had jurisdiction over a large area, with
Teddington, Ashford, Laleham, and possibly
Yeoveney as dependent chapelries. Teddington
became virtually independent in the 13th century. (fn. 41)
Laleham and Ashford were regarded as separate
parishes, with fixed boundaries and independent
administration, by the 15th century, (fn. 42) but their benefices did not become finally detached from Staines
until 1859. (fn. 43) Since then the mother parish has
been further divided by the creation of St. Peter's
and Christ Church parishes. (fn. 44) The existence of a
chapel at Yeoveney is discussed below. (fn. 45)
Nearly all the 12th-century references to Staines
church occur in papal bulls confirming it, with other
churches, to Westminster Abbey, which also owned
the manor. (fn. 46) Although a 'parson' of Staines is
mentioned in c. 1189–98, (fn. 47) it seems that at least the
greater part of the church's income was appropriated
to the abbey's use. In c. 1217–18 a vicarage was
ordained, following allegations by the monks of
Westminster that the abbot had diverted the church
from the uses sanctioned by past popes. (fn. 48) The exact
terms of the arrangement are in doubt, (fn. 49) but the
great tithes were thereby appropriated to the abbey,
while the vicar of Staines was to have the small
tithes, altar offerings, and all the demesne lands of
the church. The existence of some kind of vicarage
before this is implied by the provision that the rights
of vicars then serving the chapels were safeguarded,
but that their successors were to be chaplains. The
abbot was to appoint and pay the chaplain of
Teddington, and the vicar of Staines was to provide
the others. The vicar owed two candles at Westminster each year, possibly in fulfilment of an obligation acknowledged in the 12th century: (fn. 50) it was still
paid at the Dissolution. (fn. 51) In 1222 a settlement was
made in disputes about jurisdiction between the
Bishop of London and the Chapter of St. Paul's on
one hand and Westminster on the other. (fn. 52) One of
the chapter's complaints was that it had not been
consulted when Staines church was appropriated.
The settlement confirmed the ordination in general
terms; in so far as these varied from the terms of
1217–18 they do not appear to have taken effect.
Three years later the abbot and convent made a
further agreement between themselves, by which the
abbot received the advowson of Staines and provided
a barn wherein the tithes might be collected. (fn. 53) The
advowson remained with the abbot until the Dissolution, when it passed to the Crown, to whom it
has since belonged. (fn. 54) The rectory, consisting after
1217–18 solely of tithes, was appropriated in 1222 to
the guest-house and infirmary of the abbey. (fn. 55) In
1225 and until after 1291 it belonged to the hosteler
alone. (fn. 56) Its value, including Ashford and Laleham,
was £46 13s. 4d. in 1291. (fn. 57) In 1842, when the tithes
of Staines were commuted, the great tithes of Staines
alone were worth £365. (fn. 58) After the Dissolution the
rectory passed into lay hands, and from 1725 to 1844
belonged to the Coussmaker family of Westwood
(Surr.). (fn. 59)
The vicarage, together with its dependent chapels
of Ashford and Laleham, was valued at £8 in 1254
and 1291, and at £12 3s. 4d. in 1535. (fn. 60) In 1650 it was
worth £80 without the chapelries. (fn. 61) The committee
for the maintenance of ministers augmented it by £20
in 1656. (fn. 62) From about £200 in the 18th century, (fn. 63)
the income of the three churches had risen by 1835 to
£425 net of which £190 were paid to curates. (fn. 64)
Staines living dropped to £300 when Ashford and
Laleham were detached. (fn. 65) In 1955–6 the net income
was £669, including £640 from the endowment. (fn. 66)
Under the ordination of 1217–18 the vicarage
glebe comprised not only all the houses and lands of
the church, but also 12½ acres of the abbot's demesne
—presumably hitherto part of the manor. In the
late Middle Ages the glebe apparently constituted
a manor, with tenants owing labour services to the
vicar. (fn. 67) It is not known whether the medieval glebe
included the lands which by the 17th century formed
the separate glebes of Ashford and Laleham. (fn. 68) In
1844 the Staines glebe consisted of 55 acres; (fn. 69) it had
been estimated at about this amount since 1610. (fn. 70)
Sales have been made at various times since 1844
and in 1957 2½ acres remained in the vicar's possession. (fn. 71) When the vicarage was ordained it was
decreed that the glebe should be free of tithe to the
abbey: in 1842 it was still the only tithe-free land,
though 103 acres paid a customary modus. The
vicar's tithe was commuted for £210, together with
a further sum from any part of the glebe not in his
occupation. (fn. 72)
There is no evidence that the medieval vicars were
non-resident. (fn. 73) In 1458 there were apparently three
priests serving the church in addition to the vicar. (fn. 74)
One of these may have been the priest of the chantry
which had been founded by the parishioners two
years before. (fn. 75) The fraternity of the Nativity of Our
Lady, to which the chantry belonged, consisted of
two wardens and the brothers and sisters, and held
several houses and c. 11 acres of land. (fn. 76) It had an
income of £11 17s. 6d. at its dissolution in 1547. (fn. 77)
The chantry was in the chapel of Holy Cross in the
parish church. There was a light in the church
called the High Cross, one in the chancel to St. Mary,
and lights to several other saints including St.
Anthony, St. Peter, and St. Thomas of Canterbury,
and to the Holy Spirit. (fn. 78)
After the Reformation several vicars were pluralists and several non-resident or resident for only part
of the year. (fn. 79) Both the resident and absentee vicars
generally had one or two curates, and continued to
do so in the later 19th century, after Ashford and
Laleham had passed from their care. (fn. 80) In 1611 the
church possessed two bibles, two service books, a
book of canons, and a book of prayers for delivery
from the gun-powder plot. (fn. 81) Thomas Soame, vicar
since 1616, (fn. 82) was ejected in 1643 for pluralism and
for his royalist and 'superstitious' tendencies. He
was said to have bowed to the altar at Staines after
receiving the sacrament. (fn. 83) He was replaced by a
presbyterian, (fn. 84) and in 1650 the font was removed
from the church and the royal arms were washed off
the wall. (fn. 85) Between 1660 and 1663 the churchwardens replaced the font (fn. 86) and bought a surplice, a
'carpet' for the communion table, and a book of
common prayer. (fn. 87) Orders were given in 1685 for the
communion table to be railed in and books of canons,
articles, and homilies to be bought. (fn. 88) The four
communion services hitherto held each year were
doubled about 1778 and a third Sunday service was
added to the two 18th-century ones about 1809. (fn. 89)
C. W. Furse (vicar 1863–73), (fn. 90) later Principal of
Cuddesdon, introduced daily services and weekly
communion services, and established the mission
chapel which became St. Peter's Church. In spite
of opposition to some of his innovations church
attendance grew while he was incumbent. The
moderately high-church tendencies started by
Furse were rather increased after his time. Vestments
were first used in 1900, and choral eucharist had
been introduced by 1911. (fn. 91) In 1957 sung communion was the main service on two Sundays in the
month, with matins on the remaining ones. (fn. 92) There
were 272 persons on the electoral roll in 1959. (fn. 93)
The church of ST. MARY was built in 1828–9,
but incorporates the tower of the former church. The
old church comprised chancel, nave, a north chapel
under a separate gable, (fn. 94) and a west tower, and was
built of stone with brick additions and alterations.
The chancel apparently embodied pre-13th-century
work, and the font may also have been of the same
date. (fn. 95) In the rest of the church, most of the windows,
if not the fabric, were a good deal later. (fn. 96) The tower
had three stages, with an embattled parapet; (fn. 97) in
1791 an inscribed stone was affixed to it, saying
that it was built in 1631 by Inigo Jones. (fn. 98) When the
remainder of the church was rebuilt in 1828–9, the
tower was raised and its windows were enlarged. (fn. 99)
It has since been further restored. The church had a
gallery by 1751, and an organ was installed in 1788. (fn. 1)
By 1826 the building was considered to be too small
for the needs of the town, and it was in very bad
repair. Part of the north 'transept' collapsed during a
service and other parts of the building fell later. A
private Act was therefore obtained under which
trustees rebuilt the church with the help of £250
from the Church Building Society, enlarged the
burial ground, and reapportioned the church rates.
The new church was consecrated in 1829. (fn. 2) It was
designed by J. B. Watson in the style of the 15th
century and consisted of chancel, north vestry, and
a wide nave with a west galley, all built of yellow stock
brick and plastered within. There is an embattled
parapet around the slate roof. In 1885 the chancel
roof was raised and an eastern apse of yellow and
red brick was added. (fn. 3)
The church contains some 18th-century wall
monuments from the old church. The bells were all
recast when the church was built (fn. 4) and except for a
paten of 1798 all the plate dates from 1842 or later. (fn. 5)
The first volume of the registers begins in 1538
(burials), and 1539 (baptisms and marriages). The
churchyard was closed to burials in 1854. A burial
ground next to the churchyard was opened in 1855
and enlarged in 1880. (fn. 6)
The tithes of Staines and its members of Laleham,
Ashford, and Yeoveney are mentioned in 1342, (fn. 7) and
on a few other occasions the tithes of Yeoveney are
mentioned separately from those of Staines. (fn. 8) The
explanation may be merely that Yeoveney was a
separate manor, but between 1436 and 1450 Yeo
veney was included in a list of chapels of Staines. (fn. 9)
This is not conclusive evidence of the existence of a
chapel: Teddington which had long since ceased to
be in any real sense a chapelry, was also included,
and in the many other more explicit references to
Staines and its chapels Ashford and Laleham alone
are mentioned. (fn. 10) No topographical references to a
chapel have been found in the manorial records, (fn. 11)
nor have bequests to the chapel been found among
those to other churches in the neighbourhood. (fn. 12) It is
not known why the Ordnance Survey maps mark
the site of the chapel beside Moor Lane: (fn. 13) no trace
of a site is marked in earlier maps. (fn. 14)
The church of ST. PETER, which stands on the
river bank by Laleham Road, was built and consecrated in 1894, and replaced a succession of mission
chapels. The National school in the London Road
seems to have been sometimes used as a chapel, (fn. 15)
and in 1873 a brick building called St. Peter's mission
chapel was opened on the site of Wyatt Road School.
It was sold to the school board in 1895, having been
replaced in 1885 by an iron building in Edgell Road,
which has continued to be used for general church
purposes since the permanent church was built. (fn. 16)
Sir Edward Clarke, solicitor-general 1886–92, (fn. 17)
built and endowed St. Peter's, which became a
separate benefice, with a parish attached, on its
opening. (fn. 18) The living was worth £710 in 1955–6. (fn. 19)
The church was designed by G. H. Fellowes Prynne
in 'a free treatment of the Perpendicular'. (fn. 20) It is of
red brick with stone dressings and has an aisled nave
of four bays and a projecting south-west baptistry
with a short tower and spire above it. Morning
prayer at 11 was the main Sunday service in 1959,
and there were 386 persons on the electoral roll. (fn. 21)
CHRIST CHURCH, Kenilworth Gardens, was
built in 1935. A priest-in-charge was provided by
the London Diocesan Home Mission. (fn. 22) In 1951
a benefice was created and a separate district was
attached to the church, comprising parts of the
parishes of St. Peter's, Staines, Laleham, and
Ashford. (fn. 23) The living was worth £635 in 1955–6. (fn. 24)
The church is a low red-brick building which also
serves as a church hall. The electoral roll contained
314 names in 1959, and matins at 11 was the main
Sunday service except once a month when there was
a parish communion at 9.30. (fn. 25)