CHURCHES.
A church at Finchley was first
recorded in 1274, although some of its fabric was
probably older. (fn. 47) The benefice has always been a
rectory in the patronage of the bishop of London
except during the Interregnum when it was exercised
by Sir John Wollaston. (fn. 48) Edward I presented sede
vacante in 1274, Archbishop Chichele in 1425, (fn. 49) and
Elizabeth I by royal prerogative in 1599. (fn. 50) Daughter
churches were first established at Whetstone in 1832
and East End in 1846, and numbered six from 1904. (fn. 51)
The church was assessed at £8 in 1291 and the
rectory including tithes was worth £22 a year in
1535 (fn. 52) and £86 10s. in 1650. (fn. 53) The living was worth
£150 a year in 1718, £494 in 1851, (fn. 54) and was still
considered one of the richest in the diocese in 1928. (fn. 55)
The glebe, said to be 43 a. in 1650 and 48 a. in
1778, (fn. 56) included one large field surrounding the
church and parsonage and others, recorded from the
15th century, around Church End, mostly interspersed with the demesne lands of Bibbesworth
manor. (fn. 57)
The rector received all tithes, valued at 8s. in 1362
and £2 in 1535. (fn. 57) Woods were said to be excluded
from tithe assessment in 1647. (fn. 59) In 1718 Finchley
was contrasted with its neighbours as being the only
parish where the inhabitants, all freeholders, paid
only 2d. an acre in tithe. (fn. 60) The modus was on grassland, no modus being payable on arable or for small
tithes. (fn. 61) The rector in 1798 intended to take tithes
in kind, (fn. 62) and at inclosure he received 116 a. in a
block on either side of Summers Lane, mostly in
lieu of tithes payable on Finchley common. (fn. 63) By an
award published in 1841, all remaining tithes were
commuted for a rent-charge of £100 a year. (fn. 64) In
1848 the rector mortgaged the glebe and rentcharges and in 1861 he sold part of the ancient glebe
in south-west Finchley. (fn. 65) The Ecclesiastical Commissioners purchased 27 a. of the inclosure allotment
in 1886 and most of the remaining glebeland was
sold in 1892 and 1906. (fn. 66) In the late 1950s part of the
glebe near the church was sold to the local authority
and in 1977 the rest was sold to the Pewterers'
Company's Housing Association, leaving only the
Rectory and a small garden. (fn. 67)
The parsonage house, mentioned in 1476, stood
near the church and in 1810 was chiefly built of
timber, with roofs of slate and tiles. (fn. 68) Ralph Worsley,
rector 1794-1848, went to live at Moss Hall in
Nether Street, which his wife had inherited, whereupon the rectory house was leased. (fn. 69) One of the
first actions of Thomas Reader White, rector
1848-77, was to replace the old house with one to
the north, built in stock brick to the design of
Anthony Salvin. (fn. 70) In 1974 a smaller rectory was
built to the west and the Victorian one was
demolished. (fn. 71)
By will proved 1296 William de Hadestok devised
a rent-charge of six marks a year on property in
London to support a chantry for the souls of himself
and his ancestors. On the advice of Hadestok's
successor Henry Bedyk, the bishop of London
established the chantry at Finchley. (fn. 72) Bedyk, who
in 1334 presented a priest to the Finchley chantry,
by will dated 1335 devised a rent-charge to endow
seven chantries for a year after his death, two of
them to be in Finchley church. (fn. 73) A chantry chaplain
from Finchley church exchanged benefices in 1356
and the lords of Bibbesworth exercised patronage of
the chantry in 1361 and 1363, when it was described
as 'Finchley chapel in the manor'. (fn. 74) In 1368 an
inquest decided that Hadestok's chantry had never
been established, perhaps because it was thought to
be in London. (fn. 75) There is no evidence that priests in
Finchley other than the rector were there because of
the chantry, which had lapsed by 1535. (fn. 76)
Many Finchley inhabitants left small sums for
lights and obits, including Thomas Noke (1476),
John Smith (1484), and Agnes Martin (1498). (fn. 77)
John Haynes left 6s. 8d. charged on land for an obit
in 1536 and Thomas Dale, by will proved 1526,
devised lands called Doves, which produced £2 a
year, to maintain ornaments in the church and to
establish an obit. (fn. 78) The land was sold to John
Hulson and William Pendered in 1549. (fn. 79) The
charities of Robert Warren (1489) and Thomas
Sanny (1506) provided, inter alia, for ornaments
for the church and 'certain superstitious purposes',
presumably obits. (fn. 80)
William Vigorous, rector 1329-32, was also archdeacon of Essex and John Barville, 1454-70, and
John Hill, 1492, later became prebendaries of St.
Paul's, but pluralist rectors were not usual until the
16th century. Thereafter the following rectors also
held prebends of St. Paul's or London benefices:
Walter Preston, 1527-33, Hugh Baker, 1533-4, John
Spendlove, 1534-54 and 1558-81, William Cotton,
1581-99, John Barkham, 1608-15, Thomas Worrall,
1626-39, Thomas Wykes, 1640-2, John Hall, 1666-
1707, Nathaniel Marshall, 1707-29, John Marshall,
1730, William Crowe, 1731-43, Thomas Archer,
1743-67, James Waller, 1767-70, and Samuel Carr,
1770-94. (fn. 81)
William Vigorous was the bishop's confidant and
administrator of his estates, (fn. 82) Stephen de Scaldeford,
1332-5, was a bishop's clerk, (fn. 83) and John Spendlove,
John Bancroft, 1601-8, and James Waller were
relatives of the bishops who presented them.
William Cotton, later bishop of Exeter, spent his
youth in Finchley and bought property there. (fn. 84)
Thomas Latewar, rector 1599-1601, was a noted
preacher and Latin poet. John Barkham was an
antiquary, John Hall, 1666-1707, an author of
theological tracts and prayers, and William Crowe,
a Greek scholar and author of published sermons. (fn. 85)
A second priest was usual from the 14th century,
at first perhaps to serve the chantry. (fn. 86) During the
early 16th century in spite of the chantry's disappearance, there was invariably at least one priest
other than the rector. In 1530 and 1531 there were
two. (fn. 87) Such priests served as rector's or parish clerk,
living in the clerk's house next to the churchyard (fn. 88)
until after the Reformation, both Richard Fynch,
1558, and William Anderson or Sanderson, 1583-4,
being priests and clerks. (fn. 89) Anderson was probably
the last of the consecrated clerks, whose house was
lost in the reorganization of the parish charities in
1561. (fn. 90) Assistant curates were recorded from 1590
to 1593, in 1612, and in 1639. (fn. 91) They were usual
throughout the 18th century and included John Hall
the younger in 1706, presumably the rector's son. (fn. 92)
In 1461 the pope confirmed the custom of blessing
the Easter candle in Finchley church. (fn. 93) The main
shrine in the chancel was dedicated to Our Lady, of
whom there was a statue, clad in a velvet coat. (fn. 94) A
crucifix, possibly made c. 1434, was attached to the
rood beam (fn. 95) and lights burned before the altars or
images of St. Margaret, St. Nicholas, St. Faith, and,
in 1496, of St. Gregory in the new aisle. (fn. 96) There
were vestments of gold, silver, and blue velvet and
copes of velvet in 1552. (fn. 97)
John Spendlove, although a pluralist, served the
cure himself and was largely responsible for converting the pre-Reformation charities to secular
parochial uses. (fn. 98) He was ejected in 1554, when his
immediate successor was John Feckenham or Howman, who resigned after a few months to become
dean of St. Paul's and, in 1556, abbot of Westminster. (fn. 99) Spendlove was restored under Elizabeth I
and was followed by William Cotton, an opponent
of Puritanism. Doctrinal differences may have provoked the attack by William Anderson, Cotton's
curate, upon a parishioner in the church in 1584. (fn. 1)
There was fighting during the service in 1645 and
again in 1671. (fn. 2) Thomas Goulston, rector 1657-62,
was ejected in 1662. (fn. 3)
About 1685 the bishop directed that the names
of strangers who preached at Finchley should be
recorded and also ordered new books and tables. (fn. 4)
In the mid 18th century services were held twice on
Sundays, and communion was administered at the
three major festivals and once a month at other
times. (fn. 5) A pair of organs had existed in 1552 (fn. 6) and an
organ was rebuilt in 1691. John Snetzler, the
German-born organ-builder, was paid for a new
organ in 1748, (fn. 7) which was replaced in 1877. (fn. 8)
William Savage (d. 1789), a singer who had performed for Handel, was organist in Finchley church. (fn. 9)
Ralph Worsley, rector 1794-1848, was castigated
by Eliza Anne Salvin as an incompetent and gouty
old man, who enjoyed good dinners and preached
the same sermon every Christmas. Believing that his
only duties were to read the service and preach, he
left parochial work to his curates, of whom Charles
Worsley, master of Manor House school, was one. (fn. 10)
The curates were responsible for the foundation of
the first two daughter churches in 1832 and 1846. (fn. 11)
Worsley was followed by T. R. White, young and
probably evangelical, who demolished the old
rectory and clerk's house, destroyed the piscina in
the church, built a new National school, founded
Christ's College, and involved himself in the affairs
of the parish. (fn. 12) On census Sunday 1851 the church,
with 600 sittings, was attended by 250 people in the
morning and 200 in the afternoon. (fn. 13) On one Sunday
in 1903 the respective numbers were 405 and 501,
and the church was still the best attended in the
ancient parish. (fn. 14) A parish hall was erected in 1885. (fn. 5)
Stewart Bernays, 1924-41, like earlier rectors a
prebendary of St. Paul's, founded St. Mary's men's
club and, by co-operating with the Congregational
minister, began the ecumenical movement in
Finchley. (fn. 16)
The church of ST. MARY, so called by 1356, (fn. 17)
is of ragstone rubble with freestone dressings and
has a chancel with north chapel and north vestries, a
clerestoreyed nave with north aisle, double south
aisle, and porch, and a west tower. Fragments of
carved 12th-century stonework are set into the west
wall of the nave and the foundations of a smaller
building are said to have been found beneath the floor
in 1872. (fn. 18) The medieval parts of the existing building, however, all date from the late 15th or early 16th
centuries and consist of the north wall, tower, and
parts of the north arcade of the nave and chancel. At
that period the nave had a clerestory but no south
aisle. A north aisle, with a chantry chapel, existed in
the 14th century but the aisle was described as 'new'
in 1496. (fn. 19) The south porch had been built by 1484
and the clerestory was probably built c. 1487. (fn. 20)
The doorway to the roof-loft, at the north-west
corner of the chancel, was inserted in the early 16th
century. A new chapel, mentioned in 1575, (fn. 21) was
presumably that on the north side of the chancel
which appears to be of the earlier 16th century.
A steeple was repaired in 1544 and 1654 but had
disappeared by the late 18th century, (fn. 22) and a gallery
was provided in 1594, with money from the charity
estates. (fn. 23) In 1684 the rector claimed that in 1648 the
parishioners undertook to repair the chancel in
return for the erection of four pews there. There is
no record that the rector paid for repairs, which
were always financed by the charity estates or
church-rates. (fn. 24) Pews were sold in 1804 to individuals
who, with other 'opulent inhabitants', were asked
for subscriptions in 1812. (fn. 25)
A west gallery, which may have replaced the
Elizabethan one, was erected in 1729 and a gallery
in the north aisle in 1804. (fn. 26) In 1778 weatherboarding
at the west end of the chancel was taken down and
the buttresses, tower battlements, and south windows were renewed. (fn. 27) In 1812 the tower and roof
timbers were in a very bad state, whereupon the
vestry decided to repair the roof and top part of the
tower but not to render the exterior. (fn. 28) Anthony
Salvin gave his services free in 1841, when a new
vestry room was built and more repairs were made. (fn. 29)
In enlargements in 1872 by Messrs. Newman &
Billing, the chancel was extended eastward, a south
arcade and aisle were added, the north gallery was
removed, and the arches of the north arcade and the
clerestory windows were rebuilt. The restoration
uncovered portions of the old fabric, including the
sedilia and piscina and a life-sized figure of St.
George and the dragon. (fn. 30) During the incumbency
of William St. Hill Bourne, 1900-24, plaster was
removed to expose the original roof timbers. (fn. 31)
Vestries were added in 1888 (fn. 32) and a further south
aisle and new vestries were built in the south side in
1932. (fn. 33) After bombing in 1940 the church lost all its
windows and the east wall. The fabric was restored
and the chancel extended in 1953. (fn. 34)
The Purbeck marble bowl of an early-13thcentury font, found in the rectory stables, was
installed in 1911. (fn. 35) The church is rich in brasses and
monuments. (fn. 36) Among the former are brasses for
Richard Prate (Pratt) (1487) and his wife, for
William Godolphin (1575), for Simon Scudamore
(1609) and his wife, for Simon's daughter Elizabeth
and her husband Nicholas Luke, and for Thomas
White (1610) and his wives, and inscriptions for
William Blakwell and his son Richard (c. 1500) and
for the foundation of Thomas Sanny's charity (1509).
There are marble effigies of Alexander King (d.
1618) and his wife and monuments to Sir Thomas
Allen (d. 1681) and his wife, to Thomas Allen
(d. 1780), his wife Ann (d. 1796), and son Thomas
(d. 1830), to Lt. Col. John Searle (d. 1682), and to
William Seward (d. 1799). Norden noted the marble
tomb of Thomas Frowyk although the brass inscription had already been defaced. (fn. 37) In 1718 the
tomb was described as sumptuous but as having
been much defaced in the Civil War. (fn. 38) It stood
between columns on the north side of the chancel
and made way for new pews in 1760. (fn. 39)
Money was left by Thomas Marsh to purchase
a bell in 1434 and by William Pepys for the casting
of the 'great bell of Finchley' in 1535. (fn. 40) There were
five bells and one small bell in 1552. (fn. 41) Bells were
repaired in 1762, 1770 when new ones were ordered
to make up a peal of six, 1806, 1847, and 1912-13. (fn. 42)
There are six bells: (i-iii) and (v) by Pack &
Chapman of London, 1770; (iv) by Thomas Mears,
1804; (vi) by C. & G. Mears, 1847. (fn. 43)
By will proved 1484 John Smith bequeathed his
best mazer to Finchley church. (fn. 44) The silver plate
consisted in 1552 of two chalices and a pyx and in
1685 of a bowl and one large and two smaller
patens. (fn. 45) It was presumably the latter which, together with a silver communion cup and flagon,
were stolen in 1789. (fn. 46) Two flagons, a chalice, a paten,
and plates for bread and for collections were purchased in 1791 and stolen in 1818, but apparently
recovered. (fn. 47) They were given to a colonial church
and replaced in 1896 with silver plate donated by
F. A. Hamilton, (fn. 48) which in turn was stolen in 1936. (fn. 49)
In 1977 the church had a set of brass plate.
The registers, which in 1685 were not kept in a
chest, (fn. 50) date from 1558 and are complete except for
baptisms 1604, 1625, 1696-1700, marriages 1604,
1643-53, 1655-7, and burials 1604, 1643-52, 1679-
1700. (fn. 51)
In 1832 Joseph Baxendale gave land in High
Road, at the southern end of his Woodside House
estate, as a site for a church to serve Whetstone. A
chapel of ease, dedicated to ST. JOHN THE
APOSTLE, was built there, financed by private
subscription and endowed from Queen Anne's
Bounty. The patronage, initially exercised by
trustees, in 1835 was transferred to the bishop in
return for a stipend for the perpetual curate. (fn. 52) A
district chapelry was assigned in 1836, there was
seating for 407 in 1851, (fn. 53) and on one Sunday in 1903
there were 120 worshippers in the morning and 122
in the evening. (fn. 54) The church, a small, plain building
with polygonal turrets and a campanile, was extended when the chancel, designed by James Brooks,
was added in 1879 and a vestry in 1898. The east
window, by William Morris & Co., and the roof
date from 1879. The church was restored in 1948. (fn. 55)
Fittings include a modern statue of the Virgin and
Child and other indications of High Church practice.
A church hall was built in 1958. (fn. 56)
HOLY TRINITY (fn. 57) church was built in Church
(formerly Bull) Lane in 1846 after Charles Worsley,
Mrs. Salvin, and others had stressed the spiritual
needs of the 'godless' hamlet of East End. (fn. 58) A
district chapelry was assigned in 1846 (fn. 59) and a
vicarage created in 1872. (fn. 60) The bishop, who was the
patron, endowed the living with £100 a year and
gave the site of the parsonage in East End Road, at
some distance from the church. (fn. 61) The Church
Building Society and Queen Anne's Bounty made
grants and local benefactors like the Lermitte family
raised subscriptions. (fn. 62) The church, which possessed
437 sittings, was attended by 295 in the morning
and 330 in the evening on census Sunday 1851. (fn. 63)
Numbers had declined to 141 in the morning and
190 in the afternoon by one Sunday in 1903, (fn. 64) after
the parish had been reduced by the creation of All
Saints', East Finchley. It was further reduced after
the opening of St. Jude's, Hampstead Garden
Suburb, in 1932. Anthony Salvin, who was also
churchwarden, designed both church and vicarage.
The church, built of stone in the Early English style
and consisting of chancel, nave, and west turret, was
enlarged in 1860 by a south aisle and in 1866 by a
north aisle, both provided for in the original design. (fn. 65)
The clerestory windows were added in 1893. A
red-brick hall was built next to the church in 1913. (fn. 66)
CHRIST CHURCH, North Finchley, originated
in 1864 when the London Diocesan Home Mission
sent Henry Stephens to open a mission for navvies
working on the railway. (fn. 67) Services were held in an
iron building in High Road until part of a permanent
church was consecrated near by in 1869. A consolidated chapelry was assigned from the mother parish,
St. John's, Whetstone, and Holy Trinity in 1872.
The patronage was vested in trustees, including
the rector, who had given glebeland for the
site, (fn. 68) and later exercised by the Church Patronage
Society. (fn. 69) Additions were made to the building as
funds became available, especially from wealthy
parishioners like the Hamiltons. On one Sunday in
1903, when there were 700 sittings, 237 people
attended in the morning and 314 in the afternoon. (fn. 70)
Christ Church always maintained an evangelical
tradition. By 1899 two curates helped to run the
memorial hall and library in High Road, which had
been built in memory of Henry Stephens (d. 1898),
an institute in Percy Road (c. 1899), and missions
at Holden Road (1885-1909) (fn. 71) and Summers Lane
(1906-60). In 1938 the Stephens memorial hall was
sold and a new hall built behind the church.
Designed by J. Norton, the church is of brick with
stone facings in the early Gothic style. The foundation stone of the nave was laid in 1867. The north
aisle was built in 1874, the south aisle in 1880, and
the chancel, side chapel, and vestries were built in
1891. The large Victorian vicarage next to the church
survived in 1977.
In 1885 Mrs. F. A. Hamilton of Brent Lodge laid
the foundation stone of the church of ST. PAUL,
Long Lane. Financed by private subscriptions and
the Bishop of London's Fund, the church was built
in 1886 and a parish was formed from Christ Church
and St. Mary's. (fn. 72) The benefice was augmented from
investments belonging to the rectory, and the first
vicar was a former curate of Finchley. (fn. 73) Patronage
was vested in the Simeon Trustees. Attendance on
one Sunday in 1903 was second only to St. Mary's,
with 301 in the morning and 324 in the evening. (fn. 74)
The church, of stone in the Early English style and
designed by John Ladds, consists of chancel, nave,
aisles, transepts, and turret. (fn. 75) It contains a bell
inscribed 'Beatus venter qui te portavit' of c. 1380,
probably made by John Langhorne of London (d.
1406) and brought from Hatford (Berks.). (fn. 76) A church
hall was built in 1899. (fn. 77)
An iron mission church, dedicated to ST.
BARNABAS, (fn. 78) was built in Holden Road in 1885
by Christ Church (fn. 79) to serve the growing population
of Woodside Park. It was attended by 98 people on
the morning of one Sunday in 1903. (fn. 80) In 1912 a
permanent church was founded on the same site
and in 1914 a parish was created, with the Church
Patronage Society as patron. (fn. 81) The church, built of
red brick with stone dressings in the Gothic style to
the design of J. S. Alder, has a stone interior, a
rounded apse, and wooden barrel roof. It consists
of chancel, aisled and clerestoreyed nave, and southeast chapel. The iron building was moved to
Gainsborough Road, where it served as the parish
hall until its replacement by a larger hall, which was
sold in 1969 to St. Alban's Roman Catholic churhc.
The west end of the church has been altered to form
a new hall.
ALL SAINTS' (fn. 82) church was built in 1891 in
Durham Road, on the eastern border of East
Finchley, on land given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. A consolidated chapelry was assigned in
1900 from Holy Trinity and St. James's, Muswell
Hill, (fn. 83) and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners made
further grants for building and endowment. (fn. 84) From
1900 the church was a vicarage in the patronage of
the bishop of London. (fn. 85) There were 500 sittings
and attendances on one Sunday in 1903 of 208 in the
morning and 337 in the afternoon. (fn. 86) Built of brick
with stone dressings in the Perpendicular style to
designs by J. E. K. and J. P. Cutts, the church
consists of clerestoreyed nave, aisles, south chapel,
north-east organ chamber, and western narthex.
The chancel was added in 1912. High Church
fittings in 1977 included a rood and stations of the
cross. An adjacent hall was built in the 1930s. (fn. 87)
A parish for the church of ST. LUKE, Mountfield Road, was created in 1904 from St. Mary's and
St. Paul's. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners made
grants towards the church but the largest sums were
contributed by subscribers, in whom the patronage
was vested (fn. 88) before it passed to the Church
Patronage Society. (fn. 89) The church, built in 1905 to
the design of W. D. Caroë, is of red brick with stone
dressings and consists of chancel, nave, and north
aisle. (fn. 90) A church hall was erected in 1937. (fn. 91)