CHURCHES: BRENTFORD.
Ecclesiastical
synods were held at Brentford in the 8th century, (fn. 8)
apparently before there was a church. Between
1175 and 1179 Ralph de Brito founded St.
Lawrence's hospital, New Brentford, in honour
of the royal family, his lord Richard de Lucy
(d. 1179), and his own kin. Beside it he founded
St. Lawrence's chapel, served by a chaplain, and
a burial ground. All offerings and tithes were
reserved to the rector of Hanwell, who was also
to receive an annual payment of wax from the
chaplain. The townspeople of New Brentford
were to worship at Hanwell on the four principal
feasts and to be buried there, except the infirm,
chaplains, and their servants. (fn. 9) There was no
further reference to the hospital until c. 1563, and
then perhaps only to a later almshouse, (fn. 10) but the
chapel survived. The chaplain, normally called
the curate from 1500, (fn. 11) was paid by residents for
his services c. 1529, because of their distance
from the parish church. (fn. 12) He enjoyed some tithes
by the mid 17th century, (fn. 13) when New Brentford,
already governed by its own vestry, was thought
fit to be made a separate parish. (fn. 14)
Ralph de Brito made no known provision for
appointments but apparently the chapel was
served by the rector of Hanwell or his nominees:
chapel and church were treated together in
surveys of livings from 1291 (fn. 15) and joint presentations were made by 1335. (fn. 16) It was claimed that
appointments were customarily made by the
township in 1707, when the rector successfully
named his own candidate. (fn. 17) The rector held
monthly services until 1744, when New Brentford became a perpetual curacy, often called a
vicarage, in his gift. (fn. 18) The presentation of 1760
was sold (fn. 19) and two later ones were delegated to
Dr. J. A. Emerton, principal of Hanwell college,
because of difficulty in finding candidates. (fn. 20) In
1961 the parish of St. Lawrence, New Brentford,
was amalgamated with St. George's and St.
Paul's, Old Brentford, in the united parishes of
Brentford, with the bishop of London as
patron. (fn. 21)
New Brentford, previously valued with
Hanwell, was worth £75 10s. in 1650. (fn. 22) The
curacy was worth £150 in 1763, £283 in 1828,
and £292 after rates in 1851. (fn. 23) Originally the
chaplain was to be supported by the inmates of
the hospital. (fn. 24) The householders of New Brentford paid him 1s. 4d. weekly until 1529, when an
endowment of £3 9s. 4d. was left by Henry
Redman and executed by his widow's gift of a
house, later the George inn, which was also
subject to other charges. On the dissolution of the
chantries the payment became a rent charge of
£6, to be divided equally between the curate and
the parish but normally paid entirely to the
curate from 1647 until at least 1851. (fn. 25) The curate
also received some tithes, perhaps from the mid
16th century: (fn. 26) in 1647 they amounted to £12 10s.
and in 1654 a larger share of the rector's
income was sought, (fn. 27) probably in vain. In 1714
the rector managed to assert his right to the hay
tithes from Boston manorial demesne (fn. 28) but in
1744 he gave up the small tithes of New Brentford, all hay tithes except those from Boston
demesne, and all offerings. Evidently there was a
further dispute over hay tithes in 1790. (fn. 29) In 1837,
when 52 a. in New Brentford were not tithable,
the rector was allotted £60 and the vicar of New
Brentford £85 in tithe rent charges. (fn. 30) In 1694 the
pew rents of a new gallery were assigned to the
curate (fn. 31) and in 1764 a successor was assigned
pews in the new church, (fn. 32) worth £98 in 1851. (fn. 33)
The living was augmented by £60 in 1647 and
£100 in 1657 but payment may not have survived
the Restoration. (fn. 34) Queen Anne's Bounty supplemented it by 1721 and endowed it in 1747 with
land at Heston and in Surrey, (fn. 35) which yielded
£71 a year in 1851. (fn. 36) In 1843 the cure was so poor
and the charity required of incumbents so heavy
that only rich men could be presented. (fn. 37)
The medieval hospital may have been the
almshouse which c. 1563 lay west of the church
and was said to have been the gift of a former
manorial lessee. (fn. 38) Perhaps the almshouse was
also the church house, towards which money was
given in 1531. (fn. 39) A church house stood immediately east of the church in High Street in
1611 and 1621 (fn. 40) and later was said to stand in the
churchyard. (fn. 41) It had customarily been inhabited
by the curate or the poor in 1646, when the lord
leased it to the township for those purposes. (fn. 42) In
1647 the curate apparently was excluded and in
1655 he was consequently allowed £4 towards his
rent. (fn. 43) The house was used as a school in 1672 (fn. 44)
and rebuilt in 1698, when the freehold was
acquired for the curate, (fn. 45) who leased it out in
1716 and lived elsewhere in New Brentford c.
1726. (fn. 46) The parish repaired the house in 1773 (fn. 47)
and again in 1803, when it was offered to the vicar
or, in his absence for six months, to his assistant
curate. The house was leased to another tenant
when the vicar refused those terms, but on his
successor's acceptance it was permanently
annexed as the Vicarage in 1805. (fn. 48) After more
repairs in 1817, it was dilapidated and again in
dispute in 1822. (fn. 49) A house adjoining it to the east
was said to have belonged to the attorney-general
Sir William Noy (1577-1634); (fn. 50) Noy's house was
acquired in 1889 and both were replaced by a new
Vicarage. (fn. 51) The clerk's house in the churchyard
was uninhabitable in 1743 and may then have
been demolished. (fn. 52)
There was a chaplain c. 1179 (fn. 53) and royal gifts
were made in 1226 and 1246 to recluses of
Brentford. (fn. 54) About 1330 the curate of Brentford
was killed in a brawl (fn. 55) and c. 1540 another was a
drunkard. (fn. 56) Curates in the 14th and 15th centuries probably lived in New Brentford (fn. 57) and
augmentation of the living in 1647 was intended
to encourage residence. (fn. 58) Both Dr. Chilcot,
curate 1726-69, and Dr. Stoddart, vicar 1837-
42, were pluralists but resident; (fn. 59) Chilcot, like
the curate in 1598, kept a local school. (fn. 60) John
Horne Tooke, vicar 1760-73, (fn. 61) was sometimes
non-resident and in 1822 Sir Robert Peat, vicar
1808-37, had been absent without licence for
six months. (fn. 62) There was a parish clerk by
1433. (fn. 63)
Joan Redman gave property towards the salary
of the curate and also for an obit, which was
observed in 1547. (fn. 64) Her other bequests of 1531
included a cow, pewter vessels for weddings of
the poor, and money towards the church house, (fn. 65)
which was used for drinkings in support of the
poor in 1621. (fn. 66) Richard Byfield (d. 1664), later
ejected from the rectory of Long Ditton (Surr.),
was lecturer at Brentford in 1643. (fn. 67) The augmentation of 1657 was annexed to an afternoon
lecturer, (fn. 68) who later was supported by voluntary
subscriptions until at least 1845. (fn. 69) There were
two Sunday services, monthly communions, and
catechisms in Lent between 1770 and 1828. (fn. 70)
Worshippers in 1806 were enjoined to stand,
rather than sit, during hymns, to take communion, and to kneel during prayers. (fn. 71) There
were attendances of 487, including 190 Sunday
school children, in the morning and 387, again
including Sunday school children, in the afternoon on census Sunday 1851, and of 163 in the
morning and 124 in the afternoon on one Sunday
in 1903. (fn. 72)
The existing church of ST. LAWRENCE,
New Brentford, on the south side of High Street,
is at least the second one on the site. Nothing is
visible of the 12th-century chapel and only the
15th-century tower, of Kentish ragstone with
Reigate stone dressings, remains from before a
rebuilding of 1764. (fn. 73) The existing tower, which
presumably replaced the bell tower mentioned in
1373, (fn. 74) stood at the west end of a three-bay nave
and two-bay chancel, which had been enlarged
by a north chapel before 1496 and a north aisle
and north porch with a chamber overhead by
1500. (fn. 75) There were lights to St. Mary in 1378, St.
Lawrence, St. Michael, and St. Katherine by
1396, and St. Nicholas by 1475, (fn. 76) and there was
a roodloft by 1496. (fn. 77) A gallery existed in 1632,
another was added in 1694, the west gallery was
altered in 1712, and there were north and west
galleries in 1762. (fn. 78) The church was repaired
in 1673 (fn. 79) and the tower in 1757, (fn. 80) but in 1762
both walls and roof were decayed, (fn. 81) whereupon
services were moved to the Red Lion inn during
rebuilding. (fn. 82)
The new church, designed by Boulton
Maynwaring and built by Thomas Hardwick the
elder, (fn. 83) abutted west on the tower and north-east
on the Vicarage, like its predecessor, but extended much farther south. Built of brick, it
consisted of a recessed chancel, north-east vestry,
and nave with galleries on three sides. (fn. 84) The
original intentions to enclose the tower in the
nave and to avoid any ornament were not observed. (fn. 85) The church, seating c. 500, was too
small by 1797 (fn. 86) but it was not until 1874 that the
replacement of the galleries by a south aisle
provided 50 extra seats. A north-east organ
chamber was built and the chancel was refurnished at that time (fn. 87) and wooden Gothic
arcades were inserted in 1889. (fn. 88) Disused from
1911, (fn. 89) the church was dilapidated by 1979, when
it was leased to the St. Lawrence, Brentford,
Trust. Many fittings were then removed, while
the fabric was restored to serve as a theatre. (fn. 90)
Fittings formerly included a plain font of c.
1500, a 15th-century panel with the Berkeley
family's arms, (fn. 91) and a brass to William Clavell
(d. 1496). (fn. 92) The oldest surviving brass commemorates Henry Redman (d. 1528), the king's
master mason, and his family. (fn. 93) In 1834 the
chancel walls were covered with tablets and
monuments; (fn. 94) many, from the 17th century or
later, commemorated the Hawley and Clitherow
families, including one to Ann Clitherow (d.
1801) by John Bacon the younger. (fn. 95) Among other
memorials are figures of Faith and Hope for
William Howell Ewin (d. 1804), the usurer,
and his sister Sarah Howell (d. 1808) by John
Flaxman, (fn. 96) kneeling wall figures for John
Middleton (d. 1624) and his wife, a neo-Greek
tablet by J. J. P. Kendrick for Thomas Hardwick
the younger (d. 1829), the architect, (fn. 97) and tablets
for John Howard (d. 1818) by Sarah Holmes of
Brentford and for the Revd. William Cook
(d. 1810) in Coade stone. (fn. 98) There was only one
chalice in 1669 and 1685 (fn. 99) but the plate later
included a silver chalice and paten of 1689, a
silver flagon of 1709 by D. Willaume, and other
pieces of the 18th century and later. (fn. 1) The six bells
in 1955 included one by William Culverden c.
1510. (fn. 2) The registers begin in 1570. (fn. 3)
ST. FAITH, (fn. 4) Windmill Rd., Old Brentford.
Mission church of St. Paul's until dist. assigned
1907. (fn. 5) Patron bp. of London. Attendance 1903:
94 a.m.; 148 p.m. Ho. in Windmill Rd. used from
1901, then temp. church by 1903. Bldg. of red
brick and stone dressings in early Decorated style
1907 by G. F. Bodley and C. G. Hare: chancel,
N. chapel, aisled and clerestoried nave with N.
porch, SW. bell turret. Fittings inc. font and altar
from chapel of St. James's Palace, Westm. Seating reduced from c. 600 to c. 400 by 1977.
ST. GEORGE, (fn. 6)
Kew Bridge Rd., Old Brentford. Founded as an unconsecrated chapelry with
subscriptions first raised 1762 from 57 prominent
inhabitants. (fn. 7) Under construction, as George
chapel, 1766. (fn. 8) Min. apparently chosen by V. of
Ealing 1763 and 1784, although chapel maintained by proprietors until 1820 when it was
bought with money raised from sale of waste
lands. Min., perhaps normally non-resident, received £30 in 1774, £35 in 1790, and also pew
rents in 1797. (fn. 9) Income, after augmentation in
1828, £135 c. 1830, (fn. 10) excluding £40 from
lectureship founded 1630 by John Bowman. (fn. 11)
Two Sunday services with sermons, up to 50
communicants in 1790. (fn. 12) Consecrated as St.
George's church 1828. Dist. assigned 1828 and
later, 1865-79, inc. Ealing detached at Stamford
Brook. (fn. 13) Patron V. of Ealing. (fn. 14) One asst. curate
1881 and 1935, none 1947. Attendance 1851: 700
(inc. Sunday sch. 300) a.m.; 500 p.m.; (fn. 15) 1903: 229
a.m.; 392 p.m. Brick bldg. in domestic style c.
1766 by J. J. Kirby: pedimented S. front, with entrance in projecting centre, square- and roundheaded windows, cupola. (fn. 16) Seating enlarged to
400 1828, perhaps by galleries, (fn. 17) and to 651 by
1851, when bldg. was too small. Church, in
shadow of gasworks, dilapidated 1863 and demol.
1886. (fn. 18) New site bought 1852 (fn. 19) but used for St.
Paul's iron church 1861 and another site bought
1881 but made superfluous by St. James's Gunnersbury. Ragstone bldg. in early Decorated style
on old site by A. W. Blomfield, seating 600:
chancel, SE. chapel, N. organ chamber, nave, S.
aisle, base of octagonal SW. tower 1886-7; tower,
without projected spire, (fn. 20) 1913. Fittings from old
chapel inc. painting of Last Supper by Zoffany c.
1770, (fn. 21) later moved to St. Paul's. Vicarage S. of
High St. at Bull Wharf Ho. provided 1866. (fn. 22)
Benefice sequestrated 1958 and united with St.
Lawrence's and St. Paul's 1961. Church closed
1959 (fn. 23) and used as musical museum from 1963. (fn. 24)
ST. JAMES,
Chiswick High Road, Gunnersbury. Mission church of Christ Church,
Turnham Green, in Chertsey Rd. before move
1884 to Blenheim Rd., Chiswick, where served
by London Diocesan Home Mission. (fn. 25) Dist.
assigned from St. George's, Christ Church,
Turnham Green, and All Saints', S. Acton,
1888. (fn. 26) Patron V. of St. George's, then V. of
united parishes of Brentford. One asst. curate
1965-6, none 1977-9. Attendance 1903: 186
a.m.; 172 p.m. Kentish ragstone bldg. in Early
English style, on site given by Rothschild fam. on
Ealing side of Chiswick High Rd., 1887 by
T. Chatfeild Clarke: chancel, N. transeptal chapel,
vestries, organ chamber, aisled and clerestoried
nave, W. baptistery and porches. (fn. 27) Seating
reduced from 750 in 1926 to 350 by 1978. (fn. 28)
ST. PAUL, St. Paul's Rd., Old Brentford.
Iron church for W. part of Old Brentford provided by Ealing Ruri-Decanal Assoc. on site for
projected new St. George's church. (fn. 29) Dist.
assigned 1864. (fn. 30) Patron Crown and bp. of
London alternately, bp. of London alone by
1915. Two asst. curates 1881, one 1896, none
1926. Attendance 1903: 494 a.m.; 318 p.m.
Ragstone bldg. on new site in early Decorated
style 1867-8 by H. Francis, seating 700: chancel,
N. vestry, aisled and clerestoried nave, S. porch,
SW. tower with spire. Chapel in N. aisle 1909
and additions 1918. Restoration, after bomb
damage, by M. Farey 1953. (fn. 31) Chapel of ease of
St. Lawrence's 1952 (fn. 32) and principal church of
united parishes of Brentford from 1961. (fn. 33)