LEIGH
Leghe (xii cent.); Legh and Leygh (xiv. cent.);
The Lea, 1499; (fn. 1) Lye and Lee (xvi cent.).
Leigh is a small village, 3 miles south-east of
Reigate. The parish, which is of irregular form, is
bounded on the north by Reigate, on the east by
outlying portions of Buckland and Charlwood and by
Horley, on the south by Horley and Newdigate, on
the west by Capel, and on the north-west by Betchworth. It measures about 3 miles west and east, by
2 miles north and south, but a tongue runs down
south into Newdigate for nearly a mile further. It
contains 3,412 acres.
The soil is Wealden Clay, with the exception of
some sand and alluvium on the banks of the Mole and
its tributaries, which traverse the parish. The Mole,
running generally from east to west, bounds the parish
on the north-east. Brooks flow into it from Charlwood on the south and the Holmwood Common on
the west.
The village consists only of a small cluster of houses
about the green near the church; there are cottages at
Dawes Green to the west, and scattered farms and
houses. Shellwood Mill stands on high ground, which
was once Shellwood Common, but is now inclosed,
and is that somewhat rare survival in these times, a
working windmill.
The extensive commons formerly in Leigh have been
inclosed, except Westwood Common and some roadside waste.
The roads of the parish are now as good and hard
as any others, though liable to interruption in places
by actual flood in a wet season. Formerly they were
almost a byword, even in the Weald, for the impassable character of this deep clay after the rain of any
autumn or winter.
Leigh is not named in Domesday, but was no doubt
partly inhabited before that date. Shellwood Manor,
which includes the greater part of it, was part of Ewell.
Banstead Manor included Dunshot tithing in Leigh,
Stumblehole, part of the Leigh Place estate, and other
farms. The manors of East Betchworth and Reigate
also extend into Leigh, both mentioned in the Domesday Survey; and Brockham and Charlwood, which
were not manors in 1086, are partly in the parish.
Elizabethan coins have been found on the site of
Shellwood Manor House, and the adjacent farm called
Shellwood Manor is a good old gabled house of perhaps 17th-century origin.
At Shellwood Common in Leigh the last stand of
the abortive Royalist insurrection of 1 August 1659
was made, but was overcome without fighting. The
original rendezvous of the Royalists at Redhill had been
occupied by troops beforehand, but a few men had
apparently ridden on here, only to scatter when the
soldiers appeared. (fn. 2)
Leigh was one of the parishes where the iron industry existed. It was among those excepted from the
operation of the Act 1 Eliz. cap. 15 against conversion of timber of a certain size into charcoal for the
purposes of iron smelting. During the 16th century
ironworks existed at Leigh on lands 8 acres in extent,
called Burgett and Grove Lands, a lease of which had
been obtained in 1551 by George and Christopher
Darell, who were engaged in developing the iron
industry in this part of Surrey. (fn. 3) Hammer Bridge in
Leigh, on a branch of the Mole, above the village,
commemorates perhaps a hammer of Mr. Darrell's
works at Ewood in Newdigate, a little higher up
the same stream. (fn. 4) In 1635 it was presented at the
court baron that there had formerly been great woods,
now cut down, of oak, beech, and other trees, in
Shellwood, Westwood, Leigh Green, Dawes Green,
and other places, where the tenants used to feed swine
and had since pastured their cattle. (fn. 5) This felling of
the woods must no doubt be associated with the ironworks, so that Darrell's preservation of his woods,
referred to in the statute of 23 Elizabeth, cap. 5, had
not been successfully imitated.
The extensive wastes of Shellwood Manor were
inclosed under an award of 12 January 1854. (fn. 6) There
is no evidence of common fields.
There are some good houses in the parish. Mynthurst is the property of Mr. Henry Bell, J.P.; Denshott (properly Dunshott), of Mr. Cecil Brodrick;
Burys Court of Mrs. Charrington; Nalderswood of
Mr. A. G. Fraser.
The present school (National) was founded in 1845.
On 20 October 1849 the Duke of Norfolk conveyed
a site on the waste of Shellwood Manor to the
National Society for the schoolhouse. It has been
enlarged in 1872 and 1885.
MANORS
The earliest records of SHELLWOOD
show it to have been a member of the
manor of Ewell; it is not mentioned in
the Domesday Survey, but was probably included in
Ewell, which was ancient demesne of the Crown. In
1156 Henry II granted the manor of Ewell with its
members of Kingswood and
Shellwood to the Prior and
convent of Merton, Surrey. (fn. 7)
In 1324 John le Dene, one
of the prior's tenants at Shellwood, (fn. 8) received licence to build
a chapel in the 'manor of
Leigh.' (fn. 9) Shellwood was held by
the prior until the surrender of
the monastery in 1538. (fn. 10) In
1539 the king made a grant to
Sir Thomas Nevile, for £400,
of the manor of Shellwood with
land called Deneland, Manwood, and Fynchland, and tenements called Ryvesland
and Hokesferm in Leigh, to hold for an annual rent of
£3 7s. 7¾d., with reversion to Sir Robert Southwell
and Margaret his wife, daughter and heir of Sir
Thomas Nevile, and Margaret's issue: the grantee was
charged with a life annuity of 40s. granted by the
late priory to James Skinner. (fn. 11) In 1547 Sir Robert
Southwell and Margaret received licence to alienate
to Henry Lechford, (fn. 12) in whose family the manor
remained until 1634, (fn. 13) when Sir Richard Lechford,
great-grandson of Henry, conveyed to Sir Garret
Kempe and John Garnett. (fn. 14) They in the same year
conveyed to Penning Alston and Spencer Vincent,
trustees of Dr. Edward Alston, the estate being then
charged with an annuity of £70 to Mary, Lady
Blount. (fn. 15) It was sequestered for her delinquency in
1644; in 1651 the trustees complained that they
had paid £40 per annum to the State ever since, and
that though Lady Blount's term had expired, yet the
sequestration of two-thirds was continued on a false
pretext of the recusancy of Edward Cotton, the tenant. (fn. 16)
The latter seems, however, to have been a recusant,
and petitioned to contract for his estate in January
1654. (fn. 17) Later in the same year he, with the trustees
of Edward Alston, conveyed Shellwood to George
Browne of Spelmonden, Kent, (fn. 18) whose sons, Ambrose
and John, both held after him. (fn. 19)
Merton Priory. Or fretty azure with eagles argent at the crossings of the fret.
Both died childless; the survivor, John, who died
in 1736, devised the property to Thomas Jordan, son
of his sister Philippa. (fn. 20) Jordan also died without issue
in 1750, his sisters Elizabeth Beaumont and Philippa
Sharp were his co-heirs. (fn. 21) Shellwood became the
property of the Beaumonts, to whom John Sharp and
Philippa quitclaimed their right in 1753. (fn. 22) The
manor descended to the son and grandson of
Elizabeth Beaumont, (fn. 23) and was sold in 1806 to the
Duke of Norfolk. (fn. 24) The present duke is now lord of
the manor.
During the 13th and early 14th centuries the
customs and services due from the men of Shellwood
to the Prior of Merton seem to have been a constant
subject of dispute. In 1223 Gilbert de Covelinden
and others were summoned to answer to the prior for
their refusal to do the services which he exacted of
them for the tenements which they held of him, as
he said, in villeinage. The men, however, denied all
villeinage (defendunt omne villenagium), and said they
held freely. The prior maintained that the manor
of Ewell, of which the lands of Fifhide and Shellwood
were members, was held in villeinage, and demanded
judgement as to whether the members of a manor
could be freer than the chief holding. The men
asked that an inquisition might be taken to discover
what services and customs their ancestors had performed when first the lands came to the prior. (fn. 25) An
account of the inquiry, enrolled on a Curia Regis
Roll for 1226, gives an interesting description of these
services. (fn. 26) The prior claimed that besides paying the
ordinary rent of 5s. per virgate for their lands, every
tenant should come in harvest time, with his entire
household, exclusive of his wife and his shepherd,
to the 'bedripe' (the wheat harvest) of the lord,
and should then be allowed two meals, the first with
ale, the second without, that each man should assist
in making a house called the 'Sumerhus,' or pay 6d.
towards the same, at the choice of the prior, that
they should cut down brushwood in the wood of
Shellwood and bring it to Tadworth, and should
inclose a rood of land around the court of Ewell, and
that they should send a man of their household to
till the fields of Ewell both in winter and in Lent,
the prior finding them food. They also owed him
pannage at the rate of one hog in every ten, or, if
they had less than ten, 1d. for every hog. No son
or daughter of a tenant might marry without the
prior's licence; each man also owed Peter's pence—1d. so long as his wife was alive, ½d. after her death.
Moreover the prior claimed that every man should
come to the court of Ewell to make the court when
summoned by the prior's bailiff. They were not
allowed to sell ox or horse without the prior's leave,
and the best ox in each man's possession, or horse if
he had any, could be taken as a heriot by the prior
at death of a tenant. Lastly, they were not to cut
down oaks in Shellwood without his permission.
The men of Shellwood allowed that they owed for
the farm of the land 5s. per virgate, or 100s. for
5 hides. They said that when the prior had need
of their aid for the requirements of the church they
gave it freely, not by reason of their villeinage, but
rather from courtesy. They allowed the claims for
pannage and Peter's pence, but said that they came to
the court of Ewell as free men, at the election of
the prior's bailiff, to act as jurors.
The jurors for the inquest denied the prior's claim
for work from his tenants in harvest time, and they
stated that the brushwood cut down by the men should
be taken by them over the hill called Bridelcumbe.
The other services were allowed to the prior. The
men of Shellwood were said to owe tallage whenever
the men of Ewell did so, and it was not voluntary, but
compulsory; they were also required to plough the
lands of Ewell if the prior wished it, bringing their
own horses and ploughs.
In 1311 John de Dene, a tenant of the prior in
Shellwood, was remitted certain of these services in
consideration of an increase on his annual assize rent
of 8d., payable at four terms of the year. (fn. 27)
In 1316 the men of Shellwood accused the prior
of exacting from them other services than those which
they were required to perform. The prior, however,
said that he exacted no more than those allowed to
his predecessor in the suit of 1223, and judgement
was given in his favour. (fn. 28)
It may be that the memory of an ancient dispute
caused the careful insertion in the conveyance from
Southwell to Lechford in 1547 of the words 'with
the bondmen and their families.' The liberation of
the tenants from the essential villein service of attendance at the bedrip probably means that in 1223 it was
recognized that they were not technically villani, had no
share in the common fields, but were yet servile tenants.
Free warren in all their lands of Merton, Ewell,
Kingswood and Shellwood was granted to the prior
and convent in 1252. (fn. 29) In a plea of 'quo warranto'
in 1279 the prior claimed assize of bread and ale and
gallows on the ground that Henry II had granted
them Shellwood with soc, sac, &c., and quittance of
shires and hundreds, and that these liberties had been
confirmed by Richard I. (fn. 30)
The capital messuage of Shellwood was separated
from the manor itself during the 18th century. According to Manning, Ambrose Browne obtained an
Act of Parliament in 1712 enabling him to sell a
manor in Kent and the capital messuage of Shellwood,
which was therefore vested in Jemmett Raymond,
second husband of Elizabeth, widow of George
Browne. (fn. 31) From Raymond it passed, in 1755, to
John Winter, (fn. 32) who conveyed it in 1781 to Richard
Simpson. (fn. 33) It passed in 1796 to his nephew Cornelius Cayley, and was sold three years later to the
Duke of Norfolk, (fn. 34) and thus became reunited to the
manor. It is not now standing (see above), but the
farm next to it is of about 17th-century date, and
perhaps had superseded the original manor-house
before the separation from the manor.
The messuage and farm of LEIGH PLACE was
the residence of the Ardernes in the 15th century. (fn. 35)
John Arderne, who was high sheriff of Surrey in
1432, was of Leigh Place. By his will, which was
proved in 1449, he directed that if he died at or
near Leigh he should be buried
in the church there. His son
John inherited the estate, and
was in turn succeeded by his
son Richard, (fn. 36) who died in
1499 seised of 3 messuages,
255 acres of land, &c., in
Leigh. Richard Arderne by
his will bequeathed all his
lands to his wife Joan, requiring her 'to fynd an
honest pryst to pray for me &
all my friends & all cristyn
sowlys deuryng her lyf'; after her death his step-brother John Holgrave was to find the priest, who
was to receive an annual sum of £6 13s. 4d. (fn. 37) There
is apparently no record of any such chantry in Leigh
Church. Leigh Place soon after became the property
of the Dudleys. (fn. 38) By an Act of 1512, reversing the
attainder of Edward Dudley, John Dudley his son,
subsequently Duke of Northumberland, was restored
to his father's lands. (fn. 39) He sold the estate of Leigh Place
to Edward Shelley of Findon in Sussex in 1530. (fn. 40)
The deed recites that in 1527 Sir John Dudley
had conveyed the manor of Findon, which had belonged to his father, to Edward Shelley, that Shelley
had agreed to re-sell it to Dudley, in consideration of
which sale Dudley agreed to sell to Shelley 'a
messuage called Lye Place (fn. 41) with appurtenances in
the parish of Lye, Surrey.' In an account made in
1534, of defaults of bridges in Surrey, a reference
occurs to 'the bridge before Mr. Shellie's place,
Lye.' (fn. 42) Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Shelley
and niece of Edward Shelley, married Sir Roger Copley
of Gatton, (fn. 43) and in 1540 Edward Shelley and Anne
Cobbe (possibly his daughter-in-law) made a settlement
of Leigh Place on them. (fn. 44) The property is described
as a messuage, 200 acres of land, 40 acres of meadow,
100 of pasture, 20 of wood in Leigh, and 40 acres
of pasture in Betchworth, the said messuage and lands
being known as that mansion, messuage or farm with
dovecot called 'Le Ley,' held of the manor of Banstead by service of 11s. Elizabeth Copley survived
her husband, and died in 1559, Sir Thomas Copley
being her son and heir. (fn. 45) He was M.P. for Gatton in
1554, 1557–8, and 1562–3. Under Mary he was a
supporter of the rights of succession of Elizabeth, (fn. 46)
who was his third cousin twice removed through the
marriage of Sir Geoffrey Boleyn with his great-great-aunt Anne, daughter of Lord Hastings. But he had
scruples about subscribing to the Acts of Supremacy
and Uniformity, (fn. 47) and left England in 1569 and spent
the rest of his life abroad, dying in Flanders in 1584. (fn. 48)
William Copley, eldest surviving son of Thomas, inherited the estate. (fn. 49) It was settled on his son William
on the marriage of the latter with Anne Denton in
1615. (fn. 50) In 1620, however, William Copley the
father, having married as his second wife Margaret
Fromond, appears to have made a second settlement
of the estate, this time on himself and his wife
Margaret and the survivor of either of them for life,
with reversion to his son by his first wife. (fn. 51) The son,
who had predeceased him, had left two daughters and
co-heirs—Mary, who married John Weston, and Anne,
wife of Sir Nathaniel Minshull. (fn. 52) William Copley
the father died in 1643, and his widow Margaret
apparently entered on Leigh Place. In 1649, Mary
Weston, to whom on the partition of estates Leigh
Place had been allotted, conveyed the reversion,
expectant on the demise of Margaret Copley, widow,
to John Woodman. (fn. 53) The latter in 1651 conveyed
to Thomas Jordan in trust for Robert Bristowe, and
at the end of the same year Margaret Copley agreed
to sell to the latter her life interest in the estate. (fn. 54)
From Susanna Moore, daughter and heiress of Robert
Bristowe, Leigh Place passed in 1706 to Edward
Budgen, who by will of 1716 devised to his grand-nephews in turn. Thomas, the youngest, married
Penelope Smith, and in 1806 his grandson, Thomas
Smith-Budgen, conveyed the estate to Richard Caffyn
Dendy, (fn. 55) in whose family it remains, Sir John Watney,
the present owner, having married Elizabeth, a daughter and co-heir of Stephen Dendy. (fn. 56)
Arderne. Argent a fesse checky or and azure.
Leigh Place is the remains of a 15th-century house
surrounded by a moat. Part of the house was pulled
down about 1810, and the interior as restored and
modernized is not of any great interest; there is, however, some fine woodwork. In a room on the ground
floor is a large fireplace of 18th-century design, and on
the first floor a large room now divided into three bedrooms has a four-centred arched ceiling, and over it
a bell turret. It used to be approached by a drawbridge, which is now superseded by a permanent way.
Old maps show the house to have been foursquare
with a central courtyard, and the view in Manning
and Bray shows the entrance front as it existed about
1806, with the drawbridge over the moat. (fn. 56a) The
Copleys being Catholic recusants accounts for a cupboard near the chimney in the hall which was called
the Priest's Hole. Robert Southwell the Jesuit and
poet was son of Bridget, sister of Sir Thomas Copley
of Leigh and Gatton, and may have been here.
STUMBLEHOLE.
—In 1325 R. de Stumblehole
held a tenement at Stumblehole of Banstead Manor. (fn. 57)
A messuage and lands at Stumblehole were held by the
de Bures family as parcel of lands at Burgh in
Banstead in the 14th century. (fn. 58) The property seems
to have afterwards belonged to the Leigh Place estate,
as Bray, writing in the early 19th century, states
that it had then been sold as a farm to William
Brown by John Smith-Budgen of Leigh Place. (fn. 59)
CHURCH
The church of ST. BARTHOLOMEW
has a chancel 25 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft. 2 in.,
a south vestry, a nave 54 ft. 3 in. (of
which 10 ft. at the west end is covered by the tower
and divided from the nave by an arch) by 21 ft., and
south and west porches.
The building is of 15th-century origin, but has
been much modernized. The nave was formerly
about three-quarters of the present length, and had
a west tower with a stone base and upper part of
wood. The tower had a west doorway, and over it
a three-light traceried window, and its west wall was
flush with that of the nave. At a later date the wooden
part was replaced by one of stone. When the church
was lengthened in 1890 the tower was demolished and
replaced by the present wooden erection above the
nave roof: the arch opening to the nave appears to have
been re-used, but no other part of the work is old.
The east window of the chancel is a modern one
in 15th-century style, of three lights under a traceried
head. The two north windows are both partly restored 15th-century work: the first is of two cinquefoiled lights under a traceried pointed head with a
label, the external jambs and arch having a wide casement moulding, while the second window is of two
trefoiled lights under a square head. The south-east
window is quite modern and similar in design to that
opposite. In this wall, near the chancel arch, is the
doorway to the modern vestry. The chancel arch has
chamfered jambs with moulded bases and capitals, and
the arch is two-centred and of two chamfered orders.
The bases and some other stones are modern, the rest
may be original.
The two easternmost of the north windows of the
nave are both old, of three cinquefoiled lights under
pointed segmental heads, the third window is a new
one of similar character but of two lights. The
south-east window is an old one of three lights like
that opposite, and below it is a small cinquefoiled and
square-headed piscina. The south doorway is original,
and has two moulded orders continuing round the
two-centred arch and jambs. The porch is comparatively modern. Just west of it is the junction
of the old walling with the new, although the old
nave was some 10 ft. or 12 ft. longer than this. The
south-west window is a new two-light one, similar to
that opposite.
The arch dividing off the western portion of the
nave has old stones re-used, and is of like detail to the
chancel arch, except that the bases have a plain
hollow chamfer. The space to the west of it has
a three-light square-headed south window and a
west doorway; on the north side is a stair to the gallery,
which contains the organ; this gallery has a modern
panelled traceried front. Over it the bell-turret
rises; it has battering sides covered with oak
shingles, and the bell-chamber is lighted on each side
by two-light windows. Over it is an octagonal
spire also covered with shingles, the whole being of
modern construction.
Both the roofs are modern, and are covered with
Horsham stone slabs. All the furniture is modern.
The font has an octagonal bowl of grey marble with
shallow trefoiled panels in 13th-century style, carried
on a central stone stem and a cluster of shafts.
There are three monumental brasses in the chancel;
the slab on the north side of the altar has the figures
of John Arderne and Elizabeth his wife; he wears a
long cloak with a high collar and loose sleeves gathered
in close at the wrists, and his tunic underneath is held
by a waistbelt enriched with rosettes. She wears a
mantle fastened across the breast by a cord which
descends below her waist and finishes with tasselled
ends, and a close-fitting gown with a high belt. A
shield above the man is charged with a fesse checky
between three crescents, for Arderne, that above the
woman is missing, as is also the main inscription.
Below are the mutilated figures of three sons and the
inscription: 'Thomas Joh[anne]s et Henricus, filii Johis
Arderne Armig'i et Elizabeth ux'is sue,' and the figures
of three daughters inscribed 'Anna, Birgitta, et Susanna
filiae Joh[annis]s Arderne et Elizabeth ux'is sue.'
Between the figures is a shield with the Arderne
arms impaling a quarterly coat, of which the first and
fourth are blank and the second and third paly of six.
The slab south of the altar has lost the brass figures
of a man and woman, but the inscription below
remains intact and reads: 'Orate pro Animabus
Ricardi Ardern Gentilman et Johanne uxoris ejus qui
quidem Ricardus obiit xxii die Mensis Novembris
Anno D[omini] Mill[essim]o cccco l xxxxixo Quorū Animabus
Propiciet' deus Amen.' From the woman's mouth
issues a scroll inscribed 'Fili redemptor mũdi deus
miserere nobis,' and from the man's, 'Ut videntes
Ihūm semper Colletemur.' Above is a small representation of the Trinity between two shields, the first
Arderne as before, and the second with the same
impaling a cheveron between three harts tripping.
These two shields also occur in reverse order at the
bottom.
The third brass is a small one west of the communion rail, and is to Susanna the daughter of John
Arderne, and shows her whole-length figure. It is
undated, but she is doubtless the same lady as the
third daughter on the John Arderne slab; a scroll
above her head is inscribed 'Mercy Jhū et graunt
m'cy.'
The stained glass in the windows is modern, but
in the vestry are preserved a few fragments of old
glass, chiefly borders of three cinquefoiled heads, with
red roses and jessant de lys repeated continuously.
There are five bells, all cast by Mears & Stainbank in 1889; the second was formerly by Lester &
Pack, 1756; the third by William Eldridge, 1687;
and the fourth by Bryan Eldridge, 1638.
The communion plate includes a cup of 1606 with
an egg-and-tassel ornament around the foot; below
the top edge is pricked the inscription 'TEH PARICH
OF LEIGH + GC + WN.' There are also a standing
paten of 1773, a flagon of 1899, both of silver, a
small modern plate of base metal, a large plated flagon
(now used to serve the font), a pewter plate, and a
pewter bowl.
The first book of the registers has paper leaves and
begins in 1579. The entries are much mixed up,
but the baptisms appear to run from 1579 to 1703,
the marriages from 1584 to 1643, and 1648 to 1653,
and burials from 1584 to 1670 and 1674 to 1675.
There are also some churchwardens' accounts dating
from 1586 in the same volume. The second book contains baptisms from 1702 to 1800, marriages 1704 to
1754, and burials 1704 to 1800. The third book has
the marriages from 1754 to 1812, and the fourth
baptisms and burials from 1801 to 1812.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of the church was
granted to the priory of St. Mary
Overy, Southwark, by charter of
Hamelin de Warenne in 1202; (fn. 60) it is not evident
when it ceased to belong to this priory, but the
church was in the hands of the Prior and convent of
Newark next Guildford by 1262, (fn. 61) and so remained
until the Dissolution. (fn. 62) The cure of the parish was
habitually served by one of the canons, the successive
priors thus 'saving to themselves the stipend of a
curate.' (fn. 63) Richard Arderne of Leigh Place, who died
in 1499, expressed a desire in his will to be buried
before the image of St. Katherine in the parish church
of Leigh. (fn. 64) John Grave, elected prior in 1534,
demised the rectory for ninety-nine years to Edward
Shelley of Leigh Place, who afterwards granted his
term of years to Edmund Saunders. (fn. 65) By the terms
of the lease, according to Manning, the tenant of the
rectory was to find a priest, provide wine and wax,
to repair the parsonage and the chancel, and to find
food for men and horses when the prior's servants
came to collect rent. (fn. 66)
At the Dissolution, when the property came to the
Crown, there seems to have been some uncertainty
regarding the benefice of Leigh, as the advowson of the
'vicarage' was granted apart from the rectory to Sir
Thomas Nevile, with remainder to his daughter
Margaret, wife of Sir Robert Southwell; (fn. 67) the latter
conveyed it to Henry Lechford, (fn. 68) from whom it passed
to Richard his son. (fn. 69) Henry son of Richard in 1599–1600, during his father's lifetime, joined with Robert
Casey in purchasing the rectory of Leigh 'with the
mansion there,' &c., from the Crown for themselves
and their heirs. (fn. 70) Casley seems to have quitclaimed
his right to Lechford. The latter predeceased his
father Sir Richard, who, already possessed of the advowson, (fn. 71) held the rectory also after his son's death, (fn. 72)
probably during the minority of his grandson Richard.
Henceforth the rectory and advowson were presumably
held together, the benefice reverting to its original
curacy, for which the lay rectors were responsible. (fn. 73)
Sir Richard Lechford conveyed in 1610 to Richard
Dallender, (fn. 74) who in 1627 sold to Sir Ralph Freeman
'the rectory and parsonage impropriate of Leigh with
the capital messuage called the parsonage house.' (fn. 75)
After this time the property frequently changed hands,
passing from Freeman to George Smith in 1630, (fn. 76)
and from the latter to Edward Bathurst in 1638. (fn. 77)
The Parliamentary Surveys of Church Lands made
during the Commonwealth record in 1658 that 'the
parish of Leigh . . . is an impropriation. That
Mr. Anthony Bathurst of Dogmershfield in the county
of Southampton is Impropriator thereof. That Tithes
and Gleabe Land thereof are worth threescore pounds
by the yeare. That John Bonwicke Clerke is Curat
there to whome the said Mr. Anthony Bathurst
giveth of his free will ffive pounds everie quarter of
the year.' (fn. 78)
In 1691 members of the Bathurst family conveyed
to Mary Tainturier, widow, and Daniel Tainturier, (fn. 79)
and from the latter the rectory passed to Thomas
Scawen in 1711–12. (fn. 80) James Scawen held it in
1779, (fn. 81) and conveyed it in that year to Cartwright, (fn. 82)
from whom it passed in 1790 to the Duke of Norfolk. (fn. 83) It passed from trustees of the duke in 1819
to the Rev. Joseph Fell. (fn. 84) Fell conveyed to Joseph
Hodgson in 1823, and the latter, in the same year, to
R. C. Dendy, of Leigh Place, (fn. 85) in whose family the
patronage remained for many years. After the death
of Stephen Dendy it passed to his third daughter and
co-heir, Elizabeth wife of John Watney. (fn. 86) She died
in 1896; her husband, who was knighted in 1900,
still holds the advowson. (fn. 87) The living was created a
vicarage in 1869. The benefice, as has been said, had
previously been a perpetual curacy, the impropriator
of the rectory holding both great and small tithes. (fn. 88)
CHARITIES
Smith's Charity is distributed as in
other Surrey parishes. In 1786 three
houses, with orchards, from one benefaction, and one house, with no orchard, from another,
were held for the poor; but the donors were unknown. Two houses on the road from Leigh to
Charlwood were called the Poor's Houses in living
recollection, but they have been long in private
hands, and were probably sold after 1834. (fn. 89)
Earl's Charity, date unknown, was £1 12s. charged
on land for the poor. This is not known to exist at
present.
In 1637 the Rev. Thomas Bristowe, by will, left
a schoolhouse with 5 acres of land for the education
of four poor children. This is lost apparently.
S. Dendy, by will, proved 1861, left stock producing £11 0s. 3d. yearly for the school.