ROTHERHITHE
Retherhithe, Ruherhithe, Rotherethe, Rederith,
Redrith, Redruth, Redryff, Redriff.
The parish of Rotherhithe comprises the peninsula
half encircled by the Thames between Bermondsey in
Surrey and Deptford in Kent. The Lower Road
connects it with the latter town. Camberwell also
abuts upon its landward side.
Place-names which occur in the middle ages are
Bryhtradeslane in the Westone of Rotherhithe, (fn. 1) Slet
Aker, (fn. 2) Longefeld, Childremed, Gore, (fn. 3) Madbrok,
Shyttenhale. (fn. 4) Redenefield (fn. 5) and Swanworth Field. (fn. 6)
There is mention of Wyntersfeild, Hoggecrofte,
Marmede and Wheatcrofte in 1596, (fn. 7) and of a messuage and land, called respectively Paradise and
Longleaze, in 1631. (fn. 8) The former has given its name
to Paradise Street, which existed as Paradise Row in
1784. (fn. 9)
The river front of Rotherhithe lay below high-water level, and, as at Bermondsey, there are frequent
notices of the necessity for embanking. (fn. 10) In 1230
Bartholomew and John de Courtenay 'began to inclose
the lands of the Breach of Rotherhithe on the one
part, and Lord John de Rokeford on the other.' (fn. 11)
In 1294, when Bermondsey was flooded, 'there
happened the great breach at Rotherhithe.' (fn. 12) In 1348
the Prior and convent of Bermondsey demised to
Tyddeman Lymbergh, merchant, of Germany, and
Geoffrey de Wychingham, citizen and mercer, of
London, land in 'La Brecche' in Rotherhithe, including that which Richard Vynsent had recently entered
and inclosed, with waters and fisheries, and the rents
of the prior's tenants in 'La Brecche,' to hold for
Tyddeman's life and five years more. (fn. 13) This
property escheated to the king by reason of the misprision and offence of Tyddeman, and Edward III
gave it to the prior and convent in 1376. (fn. 14)
Rotherhithe from the River near Platform Wharf
Place-names which suggest the character of the soil
are Dikedchitenhale in the marsh of Rotherhithe (fn. 15) in
1309, pastures of the monastery, called marshes, and
Dryvingwales, the name of land next to Prestesmarsh,
in 1576. (fn. 16) Gregory de Rokesle,
the distinguished London
citizen, eight times mayor
between 1274 and 1285, (fn. 17)
received with Avice his wife
a grant from Christina and
Margery, the daughters of
William le Rous, of land
called Slede in Rotherhithe,
and the wall against the
Thames which belonged to it. (fn. 18)
He gave a messuage in the
parish, with lands and curtilages, to William de Rokesle
of London, cordwainer, and
his wife Sarah. (fn. 19) Their property adjoined that of William
de Blyburgh, (fn. 20) who held of
the Prior of Bermondsey, (fn. 21)
and he received in 1305 licence
to inclose a common way for
the enlargement of his house
on condition he made another
of like dimensions on his own
soil. (fn. 22)
The docks at Rotherhithe
existed from the beginning of
the 16th century. In 1525
a list of the king's ships includes The Henry of Hampton
at Rotherhithe, 'being of small
valour.' (fn. 23) In 1534 William
Wilcokkes wrote to Cromwell
that he maintained between
Rotherhithe and Greenwich
(i.e. presumably at Deptford)
a dock in which two of the
king's ships had lain for two
years, although no payment
had been made for them. (fn. 24)
The shipwrights of England
were incorporated in 1605
because both the king's ships
and barges, and the ships, boats, pinnaces and like
vessels of his merchants and other subjects, were made
'slenderlie and deceitfullie.' For the same reason,
in 1612 a charter was granted to shipwrights,
caulkers, ship carpenters and those who exercised any
trade in the making of ships, by which they were
constituted a corporation, under the name of 'the
master, wardens and commonalty of the art or
mystery of the shipwrights of Redrith in Surrey.'
They were to have three wardens and sixteen assistants,
and to meet annually in their common hall to elect
a master from those who had acted as wardens. (fn. 25)
The charter proves that the shipbuilders of Rotherhithe held a leading position in their trade. They
had power to survey the making of ships outside the
parish, (fn. 26) and they came into frequent conflict with
shipwrights who claimed to be freemen of London or
members of the brotherhood of London shipwrights. (fn. 27)
In 1636 the master and wardens wrote to Secretary
Nicholas that they had still to encounter many
difficulties in settling their corporation. They were
hindered by the boatmakers, some of whom would
not join them, and they found that their summons
to members to enter into a bond against service of a
foreign prince was met by much slackness, and sometimes by wilful refusal. (fn. 28) There was a storehouse for
cordage in Rotherhithe in 1629. (fn. 29)
Meanwhile the work of reclaiming land on the
river bank had apparently continued from mediaeval
times. It was accomplished to some extent by
individual tenants. In 1635 the poor inhabitants of
the manor of Rotherhithe and neighbouring lands,
whose wharves, houses and grounds abutted on the
Thames, stated in a petition that they and their fathers
had, at great charge to themselves, inclosed wharves
won from the Thames, which before had lain noisome.
Pretended lords and other rich men sought to compound with the king for his right, and the petitioners,
who had had all the labour, begged for preference
over them. (fn. 30) The royal right to which there is
reference is possibly that held by the king as immediate
lord of all land between high and low water-mark.
In the 17th century there are various references
to ships at Rotherhithe and to its dock. (fn. 31) The place
is described between 1670 and 1680 as 'a hamlet
where there is and long hath been a dock and arsenal
where ships are laid up, built and repaired.' (fn. 32) The
Shipwrights' Company does not appear, however, to
have survived this period. In 1693 the 'late'
company of shipwrights of Rotherhithe prayed for a
renewal of their charter. (fn. 33)
The importance of the docks continued. Two
bomb vessels lay in them in 1693. (fn. 34) In 1695–6
William Duke of Bedford, Lady Rachel Russell, the
widow of his son William, and Elizabeth Howland,
the mother-in-law of Wriothesley Marquess of
Tavistock, who was the son of Lady Rachel and of
William Lord Russell, stated in a petition that they
had made a dry dock at Rotherhithe, and asked for
powers to construct also a wet dock. In consequence
an Act of Parliament vested property in the parish,
which had belonged to the Howland family, in
trustees, for the purpose of raising the necessary funds
for such construction, and afterwards for the use of
the Marchioness of Tavistock in tail, with remainder
to her in fee. (fn. 35) The Great Wet Dock was by these
means completed in 1700. In 1725 a lease of it
was taken by the South Sea Company, with a view
to a revival of the Greenland fishery, and it thus
acquired the name of Greenland Dock. The enterprise
was attended with great loss and was relinquished. (fn. 36)
In 1756 there were three docks for shipbuilding in
Rotherhithe. (fn. 37) John Duke of Bedford and John and
William Wells bought the Greenland Dock in 1763,
and were proprietors of it in 1804. (fn. 38) In 1792
there were eleven dockyards in the parish, at some
of which a considerable number of ships for the East
India service and smaller vessels were built. (fn. 39) Certain
docks, besides the Greenland Dock, were held severally
by the Duke and by John and William Wells in
1804. Three docks near Globe Stairs were the
property of the Marquess of Stafford and others. (fn. 40)
A scheme projected in 1800 by Ralph Dodd for the
construction of a ship canal from the Greenland Dock
to Greenwich proved abortive. The fact that the
decline of the whaling trade had been counterbalanced
by a great increase in the importation of timber and
other merchandise from northern Europe caused
the appropriation of the Greenland Dock to such
commerce under the name of the Baltic Dock in
1807. It was much altered and the shipbuilding
yard and dock enlarged. In 1809 it was reopened
as the Commercial Dock, (fn. 41) and by Acts of Parliament
passed in 1810, (fn. 42) 1811 (fn. 43) and 1817 (fn. 44) the Commercial
Dock Company was incorporated and consolidated.
Under the direction of the board of this company a
new dock was excavated and the premises extended,
until in the middle of the 19th century they included
an area of about 60 acres of water and 40 of land.
In 1844 891 ships entered the dock; the chief
articles of their cargoes were wood, corn, seed and
sundries. At that date the East Country Dock
adjoined the Commercial Dock on the south and on
the east side of the Grand Surrey Canal. It was
appropriated to the east country and the American
trade. (fn. 45) The Surrey Commercial Docks now cover
practically all of Rotherhithe between the river and
the line of Lower Road and Evelyn Street.
In 1587 the queen granted to Thomas Brickett,
to hold for thirty-one years from 1604, 'Le Gonepowder Myll' and the wharf and dam called 'Le
Gonepowder Myll Ponde' in Rotherhithe, which
had lately been occupied by Francis Lee, and were
former possessions of Bermondsey Abbey. (fn. 46) In the
following year the property was conceded to Richard
Branthwaite and Roger Bromley. (fn. 47) Two water mills
called Redrith Mills, which occupied the site of the
gunpowder mills, were held by John Jollis, kt., when
he died in 1621, and had been settled in 1616 on
his niece Alice Towers in tail. (fn. 48) In 1756 there was
in the parish a corn mill worked by the Thames water
which belonged to the king. (fn. 49)
In 1684 Christopher Monck Duke of Albemarle
received a grant to him, his heirs and assigns of a
market at Rotherhithe every Thursday and Saturday
for the purchase and sale of all goods and merchandise,
cattle and pigs, and two annual fairs to last each for
two days from the first Thursdays in April and in
October. Further, there was conceded to him a
ferry at Rotherhithe for the transport of men, beasts,
wheels, carts, goods and merchandise across the
Thames, with profits correspondent to those of the
ferry at Greenwich. (fn. 50) The duke died childless in
1688. (fn. 51) In 1695 (fn. 52) and 1700 (fn. 53) the ferry, markets
and fairs were held by Christopher Monck, esq.,
presumably a relative. There is no later reference
to any of these rights. The fairs and markets were
not held in 1792. (fn. 54)
ST. Mary's Free School, Rotherhithe
Samuel Rosewell, the Nonconformist divine, was
born in Rotherhithe in 1679. In or about 1761
John Trusler, the eccentric divine, literary compiler
and medical empiric, took a house there. John
Warner, the horticulturist, who lived from 1673 to
1760, made a garden on the east side of East Lane
which was famous for its various products. (fn. 55) In 1792
some 40 acres of the parish were occupied by market
gardeners, and there were still about 470 acres of
pasture land. With the growth of the docks the population had more than doubled within the century. (fn. 56)
The St. Helena Gardens were opened in 1770.
They occupied some 5½ acres to the west of Evelyn
Street, south of the present St. Helena Road, and
they were considerably frequented as tea-gardens in
the first half of last century, chiefly by the dockyard
population of the neighbourhood. In 1831 fireworks and other amusements were introduced into
the gardens. They were closed in 1881, and their site
has been partly occupied by St. Katherine's Church. (fn. 57)
The Manor House stood east of them in 1836.
The Thames Tunnel from Rotherhithe to Wapping
was bored between 1825 and 1842, under the direction of Sir Marc Brunel. (fn. 58) In 1864 an Act of
Parliament enabled the Metropolitan Board of Works
to provide a park for the south-eastern districts of
London, to be called Southwark Park. (fn. 59) This is a
pleasant place, which covers a considerable area and includes an artificial
sheet of water. It is on the west side
of Lower Road.
Rotherhithe became part of the parliamentary borough of Southwark in
1832, and of the county of London in
1888. (fn. 60) In 1899 it was assigned to
the metropolitan borough of Bermondsey, except its narrow southern
extremity, which is part of Camberwell
metropolitan borough.
The population of Rotherhithe has
been trebled in the 19th century.
Rotherhithe is more open and more
prosperous than Bermondsey. The
riverside parts have been almost entirely
rebuilt, large warehouses taking the
place of houses of the seafaring and
longshore population of former days.
A few of these remain, however. In
Rotherhithe Strect are a number of
simple weather-boarded houses, probably
of the 18th century, and a few dating
from the beginning of the 18th century
of brick with flush frame sash windows,
&c. In Purnell Place is a picturesque
range of small dwellings with weatherboarded walls and a tile and pantiled
mansard roof. All of these have probably fallen considerably as regards the
status of their inhabitants, and the
wooden houses are mainly inhabited by
the poorest classes following the various
trades of the 'water-front.' About St.
Mary's Church are a few streets dating
from the latter half of the 18th century, the houses of which, built of stock brick with
good woodwork, are very similar to those of the
same date in parts of Kensington, but in this case
have been allowed to fall into a state of squalid decay.
Near Durand's Wharf is a handsome dwelling-house
belonging to the latter half of the 18th century. It
is built of brick with a stuccoed Doric portico, &c.,
and there are a pair of good wrought-iron gates at
the entrance to the garden. A curious trace of the
early topography of Rotherhithe is the right of way
existing through and between many of the warehouses
along the water-front and still leading to small wharves
and stairs used by the watermen.
The modern buildings have little interest. In
Lower Road there are a town hall and a public
library. The course of the small streets near St.
Mary's Church indicates their antiquity. Opposite
this church there is a building of which the doorway
is surmounted by the figures of a charity school girl
and boy in 18th-century dress. The free school for
seamen's sons, founded in 1612, was set up in this
house in 1742 and removed thence in 1792. To the
west of it is the disused parish churchyard with an
entrance flanked by two small buildings of stone.
These were erected in 1821, the one as the watchhouse and the other as the engine-house of the parish.
MANORS
In 893 King Alfred granted to Archbishop Plegmund and to Uuerfride
(Werefrith), Bishop of Worcester, land at
'Rethereshide in London.' (fn. 61) In the Domesday
Survey, however, there is no mention of Rotherhithe;
its territory appears to have been comprehended in
Bermondsey and Camberwell. (fn. 62)
Bermondsey was royal demesne until it was granted,
probably by William Rufus in 1094, to the monks of
Bermondsey (fn. 63) ; this grant does not mention Rotherhithe, which was, however, included in a later grant
by Henry I in 1127, (fn. 64) and remained in the possession
of the monastery until the Dissolution. (fn. 65)
The other moiety of Rotherhithe, which was at
the time of the Domesday Survey included in the
adjacent fee of Camberwell, became part of the
honour of Gloucester. (fn. 66) Gilbert de Clare, Earl of
Gloucester, claimed in 1278–9 to have view of
frankpledge in Rotherhithe, as a part of the estates
attached to his dignity from a date prior to the reign
of John, and maintained that the vill had been
acknowledged to be of the honour of Gloucester as
the result of an inquisition after Richard his father
had come of age, and had been conceded to him and
his heirs in perpetuity. (fn. 67) In 1347 a fee or part of
one in Rotherhithe was
held of Hugh de Audley
Earl of Gloucester, (fn. 68) and in
1440 a moiety of a knight's
fee there was said to be held
of Isabella Countess of Warwick, the inheritor of the
honour of Gloucester. (fn. 69) Part
of this fee was included in the
manor of Rotherhithe, which
in 1280 and afterwards was
held by Robert Burnell, Bishop
of Bath and Wells, partly of
the Prior of Bermondsey for
suit at his court, (fn. 70) and partly of the Earl of
Gloucester for suit at his court of Camberwell. (fn. 71)
The prior and convent granted to Robert and his
heirs a way within the vill, to drive cattle to water
in the prior's park which adjoined the Thames
at Rotherhithe. (fn. 72) The bishop died in 1292, (fn. 73) while
he was in attendance on the king at Berwick, (fn. 74) and
he left as heir Philip the son of his brother Hugh. (fn. 75)
This was Sir Philip Burnell of Acton Burnell in
Shropshire, who married Maud daughter of Richard
Earl of Arundel. He died in 1294, and his son and
heir was Edward Lord Burnell. (fn. 76) The latter, at his
death in 1315, held 5 acres of land in Rotherhithe
of the prior, by service of 5s. and suit of court,
and of the Earl of Gloucester 24 acres, of which
16 acres were below high water mark and 8 acres
were dry. His heir was his sister Maud, the wife
of John Lovel Lord Lovel de Titmersh. (fn. 77) She,
after the death of this husband in 1315, married
John de Handlo, (fn. 78) on whom, in conjunction with
herself, the manor was settled in 1331. (fn. 79) In 1340
it was settled on John for his life, with remainder to
Nicholas his son by Maud. (fn. 80) The name of Burnell
was assumed by Nicholas. (fn. 81) He succeeded his father,
who in 1346 died in possession of tenements in
Rotherhithe, which included a messuage and land,
and were held of the Prior of Bermondsey. (fn. 82) Sir
Nicholas was summoned to Parliament, in 1350 and
afterwards, as Lord Burnell. (fn. 83) He died in 1382–3,
and left as heir a son Hugh. (fn. 84) This Hugh, kt., and
Lord Burnell, called lord of Wocleygh, is said to have
held the manor of Rotherhithe of the Abbot of Bermondsey when he died childless in 1420. (fn. 85) It then
reverted to the heirs of Maud
sister of Edward Burnell by
her first husband John Lord
Lovel. Her great - great - grandson William Lord Lovel
de Titmersh, a knight before
1425, (fn. 86) died in 1455, and
then possessed the manor.
His heir was his son John,
kt., (fn. 87) but Rotherhithe appears
to have passed to his younger
son William Lord Morley.
The latter's son, Henry Lovel
Lord Morley, was slain at the
battle of Dixmuide in Flanders in 1489. (fn. 88) He left no
children, but his property in Rotherhithe, described
as 40 acres of land and pasture held of the Abbot of
Bermondsey, had been settled on his cousin Francis
Lord Lovel, created viscount in 1482–3 and attainted
in 1485. The manor thus devolved upon the Crown. (fn. 89)
It was granted by Henry VIII in 1515 to Gerard
Danett, (fn. 90) who, however, surrendered it; and in the
same year it was conceded to the Abbot of Bermondsey and his successors for the support of a solemn
anniversary for the souls of the king's parents. (fn. 91)
Clare. Or three cheverons gules.
Lovel. Barry wavy or and gules.
Another part of the Gloucester fee was held by
the family of Utdeners (or Vitdeners). In 1202
Philip de Utdeners demised to the Prior of Bermondsey 13 acres of land in Rotherhithe to hold
for four years, with reversion to the grantor, (fn. 92) and
between 1210 and 1212 this Philip is returned
as holding half a knight's fee in Rotherhithe of the
honour of Gloucester. (fn. 93) His property passed to Alice
Utdeners, who under Henry III owed 40s. for one
fee in Rotherhithe to the aid for marrying the king's
daughter. (fn. 94) In 1248 Alice daughter of Philip Utdeners
and William Bolle and his wife Agnes conveyed to
Laurence Fitz William customs and various services in
Rotherhithe. (fn. 95) This was probably an alienation of the
manor. In 1311 (fn. 96) and 1313 (fn. 97) lands in the parish were
in the tenure of John de Drokensford, Bishop of Bath
and Wells, and he is returned in 1314 as holding
half a knight's fee in Rotherhithe of the honour of
Gloucester. (fn. 98) By his sale or otherwise the manor
afterwards devolved on the Crown. Edward III in
1367 and 1368 assigned to Robert de Sybthorpe,
clerk, the great works which he had appointed to be
done in his manor of Rotherhithe and elsewhere. (fn. 99)
In 1372 he gave the custody of the reeds in the
breach which pertained to the manor to Richard
Glovere to hold for two years at an annual rent of
10 marks, (fn. 100) and in 1374 he made a like concession for
four years to Ralph atte Gate. (fn. 101) He enfeoffed before
the end of his reign John Duke of Lancaster, John
Bishop of Lincoln, Henry Bishop of Worcester, and
Robert de Aston and John Dipres, kts., of the manor. (fn. 102)
These persons by grants of 1382 and 1386 gave it
to the abbey of St. Mary Graces by the Tower, (fn. 103) and
an exemplification of the enrolment of the indenture
was made by Letters Patent in 1403. (fn. 104) In 1399 the
abbot and convent received licence to grant the manor
of Rotherhithe to the priory of Bermondsey. (fn. 105) A
papal confirmation of the possessions of the abbey of
St. Mary Graces in 1402 included a yearly fee farm
of £20 paid by Bermondsey Abbey for this manor. (fn. 106)
In 1428 the abbot owed to the aid 6s. 8d. for one fee
in Rotherhithe, which pertained to Camberwell, and
which Alice Utdeners once held. It had from of old
been submerged by the waters of the Thames. (fn. 107) At
the time of its dissolution Bermondsey Abbey duly
rendered the rent of £20 to the abbey of St. Mary
Graces for a manor of Rotherhithe. (fn. 108)
The details as to the possessions of Bermondsey
Abbey in Rotherhithe at the time when the house
was surrendered cannot be separated from those which
concern Bermondsey and Deptford Strand. (fn. 109) The
distinction between the manors in Rotherhithe which
had been held by the monastery was not maintained
when they were Crown possessions. A survey of
February 1605–6 assigned to the manor of Rotherhithe territory which comprised the whole parish
except some 50 acres. Pastures called Bruettesmersh
and Brechefield had been conceded in fee farm to
Robert Earl of Salisbury. (fn. 110) In 1608 James I granted
to this earl and to his son and
heir an annual rent of £20
from Bruettesmersh and
Brechefield and adjacent land
and from the houses and
buildings situated on them
and between Le Breach,
which had belonged to the
abbot and convent, and the
river on the north, the river
also on the north-east, Horseleas and Cowleas, both once
of the monks, on the north-west, and Prestsmarsh on the
south-east. The rent was
derived also from Prestsmarsh
and from certain appurtenant
property in Bermondsey, and
the grant included fishing and fishing rights in the
open pool in Prestsmarsh. The amount suggests that
the payment was that once made to the abbey of St.
Mary Graces; but it was said in 1535 to be received
by the monks of Bermondsey from Bruettesmersh and
Brechefield, (fn. 111) and both Prestsmarsh and Bruettesmersh
were held of the house of Bermondsey in 1362. (fn. 112) In
1608 also a fee farm or rents of £48 were conceded
to the earl from the tenement or grange which had
belonged to the monastery and the appurtenant lands,
meadows and pastures. (fn. 113) He held in Rotherhithe
when he died in 1612, (fn. 114) and he bequeathed to his
heir the grange and demesne lands of Bermondsey. (fn. 115)
Cecil, Earl of Salisbury. Barry of ten argent and azure six scutcheons sable with a lion argent on each, and the difference of a crescent.
In 1614 the grant to him was repeated in favour
of his son and successor William. (fn. 116) The manor of
Rotherhithe was mortgaged by the king in 1625 to
the mayor and commonalty of London. (fn. 117) Afterwards it was acquired by William Earl of Salisbury
(probably during the interregnum, when he was
persona grata with the government), for the manorial
courts were held in 1668 in the name of James,
third earl, immediately on his succession to the title.
James, fourth earl, was lord from 1683. (fn. 118) He
married Frances daughter of Simon Bennet of
Beachampton in Buckinghamshire and of Witley
Park in Surrey, (fn. 119) and in 1692 the manor was
alienated to John Bennet, esq., brother-in-law and
cousin of the countess. The courts were held in his
name in 1706 and 1720, in that of Thomas Scawen
from 1720 to 1739, and in that of Samuel Swinfen
from 1740 to 1746. (fn. 120) It is suggested in the
History of Surrey, by Manning and Bray, that Swinfen
was a trustee for Sir Charles Wager, kt., Admiral
of the White and Treasurer of the Navy. He in
1743 left as residuary legatee his wife Martha, from
whom in 1748 the residue of her property was
inherited by the widow of her husband's nephew
Charles Bolton. This lady had been Martha
Goldsworthy, and had since Charles Bolton's death
married Francis Gashry, treasurer and paymaster of
ordnance, in whose name the manor court was held
in 1755 and who died in 1762. In 1777 the
manor under the will of Mrs. Gashry passed to her
nephew Philip Goldsworthy, who attained to the
rank of major-general and who was colonel of the
first regiment of Dragoons, first equerry and clerk
marshal of the mews to George III after 1788 and
member for Wilton. (fn. 121) In 1791–2 an Act of Parliament enabled him to grant building or repairing leases
on Rotherhithe Manor. (fn. 122) He died in 1801 and
bequeathed the manor to his unmarried sister Martha
Carolina. She had been for many years governess
to the princesses, the daughters of George III. She
died in 1816 and bequeathed Rotherhithe Manor
to her 'worthy friend and
companion' Miss Gomm, who
had been associated with her
at the court, with reversion
to Miss Gomm's niece, Sophia
Louisa daughter of Lieut.-Colonel William Gomm, and
with power to demise and
lease lands on the manor for
any term not exceeding sixtythree years in possession. Miss
Sophia Gomm died, however,
before her aunt in 1817, and
Rotherhithe Manor was inherited in 1822 by her brother
William Maynard Gomm, an
officer distinguished in the
Peninsular campaigns, who fought at Quatre Bras and
Waterloo. He held the chief command in Jamaica from
1839 to 1842; from the latter date until 1849 he was
governor and Commander-in-Chief in Mauritius, and
from 1850 to 1855 he was Commander-in-Chief in
India. He became colonel of the Coldstream Guards
in 1863 and received in 1868 a field marshal's baton.
He was made Constable of the Tower of London in
1871 and died in 1875. He had been awarded the
rank of G.C.B. During his tenure of Rotherhithe
Manor a considerable portion of the property was
sold to make the Surrey Commercial Docks and
60 acres for the formation of Southwark Park. The
manor was inherited by his widow Elizabeth, who
died in 1877 and who bequeathed it in tail to her
niece Emily Blanche, the wife of Francis Culling
Carr, of the Madras Civil Service. With her
husband and their children she assumed by royal
licence in 1878 the additional surname of Gomm.
Gomm. Argent a lion sable and a chief gules with two crossed seaxes argent therein having hiles and pommels or.
Mrs. Carr-Gomm died in May 1909 and the
manor passed to her son, Mr. Hubert William Culling
Carr-Gomm, who has been member of Parliament
for Rotherhithe since 1906. (fn. 123)
A survey of the manor made in 1605 (new style)
states that it extended
from a great Sluse or Common Sewer, the farthest point East
the Close, is called Earle's Close, abutting on the Kings
Meadowes; and unto the farthest part to the West to a
Lane commonly called the West Lane abutting on the East
part of St. Mary Magdalens. The length from the East part
unto West of the said Mannor contains a mile and a halfe or
near thereabouts; and from the North part, which is abutting
on the River of Thames, unto the Utermost part Southward to
the Common Sewer, abutting on divers Grounds of Detford
Strand in the County of Kent, and the Breadth from the North
to the South, contains three Quarters of a mile. The whole
Compass wee do estimate to be three miles. There is within
the limit of pasture and Meadow Ground the numbers of six
hundred forty acres, besides certain lands belonging to the
parson. (fn. 124)
The last manorial court of which there is record
was held in March 1846. (fn. 125)
KING'S HOUSE
In 1370 a writ of privy seal
ordered payment to Walter
Forester, citizen and skinner, for
lands and tenements in Rotherhithe, Bermondsey and
Greenwich bought for the king's use; and Peter
Conynger, bailiff of the king's manor of Rotherhithe,
delivered to him £33 13s. 4d. for divers goods and
chattels. (fn. 126) The king in the same year granted to
Robert Crull for ten years, at an annual rent of £10,
a place with barns, buildings called 'La Daierie,' a
dovecote, arable land, rents, gardens, meadows,
pastures, hedges, ditches, stock and other appurtenances, and a fishery called La Innerbreche, situated in
the same parishes and all acquired from Walter
Forester. He reserved to himself the hall with the
chambers which belonged to it, the barns and stables
between two great gates, La Utterbreche, Bruettesmersh (fn. 127) and a road. The tenant must repair his
part of the premises and fell trees to mend the walls
of the place and of the Thames. (fn. 128) The messuage let
to Robert Crull followed the descent of the king's
manor of Rotherhithe, (fn. 129) but the reserved house
continued for a time to be Crown property. It is
said to have been a residence of Edward III, (fn. 130) and
Henry IV is alleged to have stayed in it while his
leprosy was curing. (fn. 131) It has been identified, with
great probability, with a house afterwards known as
The Moated Place or King John's House. (fn. 132) Bermondsey Abbey, when dissolved, was in receipt of a
yearly farm of £2 13s. 4d. from the mansion called
Le Moated Place, (fn. 133) which in 1526 had been demised
to Robert Lord Fitz Walter, called Lord Egremont, to
hold for ninety-nine years for such rent. (fn. 134) In 1544
it was granted in fee, as a late possession of Bermondsey, to Robert Lawerde or Loorde, and it was then
stated to have been formerly in the tenure of Matthew
Dale, and before him in that of Lord Fitz Walter. (fn. 135)
It was in the possession of Robert when he died in
1549; but he had apparently alienated a reversionary
interest in it to Henry Polsted, the husband of his
daughter Alice, (fn. 136) who had surrendered his acquisition
to Henry VIII. In 1552 it was surveyed as part of
the Crown possessions acquired by that king from
Henry, and described as a messuage or mansion called
'Le Moted Place,' or 'The Lord Fitzwauter's Place,'
with appurtenant tenements, orchards, and gardens,
all held to farm by William Dale. (fn. 137) The queen
granted it in 1576, with its wharf, 18 virgates of
land and all 'le Barneyarde' to John Dudley and
John Ayscough, enquires. It was then in the occupation of William Bayley. (fn. 138) In 1590 the queen gave it
to Roger Rant, Peter Whetcombe and their heirs and
assigns. (fn. 139) In 1651 a Parliamentary survey was taken
of the messuage commonly called King John's House
or The Moated Place, reputed to be part of the
possessions of the late king. It consisted of a hall,
kitchen and wash-house, several other rooms below
stairs and six or seven chambers above stairs, a little
courtyard, a stable and another yard. It was in the
possession of certain potters who used it as a pottery
and had built workhouses near it. They occupied
under a lease from Henry Jessow of Rotherhithe,
yeoman, who claimed to hold the premises in fee
farm, but had not produced proofs of his title. (fn. 140)
CHURCHES
The church of ST. MARY consists
of a chancel mainly formed by a small
sanctuary recess, a nave of fair size,
north and south aisles and a western tower. The
whole structure is of brick except the stone spire
which surmounts the tower, and dates from 1714,
when the body of the church was rebuilt in its
present form and the old church destroyed. A few
years later the present tower and spire were built,
and the spire was again rebuilt in 1861.
The whole building is of classical design, and is a
good though simple example of its style. The bricks
used are mainly yellow stocks, but red bricks are used
in bands and at the openings. The latter have plaster
architraves, and there is a heavy moulded plaster
cornice and plaster quoining at the angles.
The interior is divided into three bays by two
Ionic columns on either side, and the nave is ceiled
with a plaster segmental vault, while the aisles are
ceiled flat, all being cut up into panels by moulded
plaster beams. The windows are in two stages, a
pair in each bay, but the north and south galleries,
for which this arrangement was made, have been
removed. The west gallery, however, remains, and
has a pair of good stairs with turned and twisted
balusters leading up to it.
Externally the church is quite plain, with plain
moulded architraves to the windows and a pedimented
door. The tower is square and topped by a classical
balustrade. Above this rises a cylindrical base supporting an open stone lantern of Corinthian columns,
which supports a slender stone obelisk or spire.
There is a good carved reading-desk of early 18th-century date. The organ dates from 1764, and has a
well-designed case. On the wall at the north-west of
the north aisle is a brass with the figures of a man in a
long fur-lined robe and his two wives in the fullhipped skirts, tight-fitting pointed bodices and ruffs of
the early part of the 17th century. An inscription
plate below it is to Peter Hill, one of the elder
brethren of the company of the Trinity, and his two
wives, 1614. A second plate is inscribed with the
following verse:—
'Tho Hills be dead Hills will an act survives
His freeschole and his pension for the poore
Thought only by him, performed by his heir
For eight poor seamens children and no more.'
Above is also a shield of arms, but this is quite
illegible, all the plates being much corroded. On
the wall of the south aisle is a small painted inscription to Brian, Richard, Marke, Alize and Elizabeth,
the three sons and two daughters of Nicholas Reynolds, citizen and goldsmith of London, and his wife
Elizabeth. The only date given is that of Elizabeth,
who died in 1593. To the east of the same aisle is
a rococo cartouche ornamented with cherubs, &c.,
and bearing an inscription to 'Mr. Joseph Wade,'
1743, 'for many years King's carver in his Majesty's
shipyards at Deptford,' and his wife Christian
(Stephenson). In the north aisle is also a tablet
to Captain Roger Tweedy, 1655, with a lengthy
epitaph in somewhat lame verse in which the captain's
spiritual career is set forth in nautical terms of a highly
technical nature. Near it is an interesting tablet set
up by the Secretary of State for India in Council in
1892 to the memory of Prince Lee Boo, who was buried
in the churchyard in 1784. He was the son of Abba
Thule, rapack or king of the island of Coorooraa in
the North Pacific, on which the crew of the East
India Company's ship Antelope were cast away in
1783, and where they were treated with great kindness by the inhabitants. The grave still remains in
the churchyard. Externally against the west wall of
the north aisle is a small stone tablet to Captain
Anthony Wood, 1625, with a spirited relief of a
three-masted ship in full sail. Another external
tablet is to Captain Thomas Stone, jun., 1666. In
the north aisle are also preserved an achievement of
the royal arms, carved in wood and of early 18th-century date, and an oil reproduction of the frontispiece of 'The Eikon Basilike,' probably of Restoration
date.
There is a ring of eight bells: the first seven by
T. Lester, 1748, and the eighth by T. Mears, 1831.
There is also a sanctus bell.
The plate consists of a silver cup of 1620, a silver
cup, copy of above, and paten of 1672, 'ex dono
Mathasi Crouch'; a silver paten of 1632, the gift
of Aaron Woodcock; a silver paten of 1639; two of
1715, the gift of Capt. Plaford Clarke; a silver
flagon of about 1666, presented in that year by
Capt. Thomas Stone; two silver covers of about
1713; a silver alms-basin of 1703, and two almsplates of 1745, given in that year by Capt. Thomas
Bayly; a silver salver, probably foreign, of early
17th-century date; and a silver spoon of about
1740.
The registers are as follows: (i) 1553 to 1630;
(ii) 1630 to 1673; (iii) 1674 to 1698; (iv) 1698 to
1721; (v) 1722 to 1733; (vi) marriages 1733 to
1754, baptisms and burials 1733 to 1764; (vii) marriages 1754 to 1765; (viii) marriages 1765 to 1785;
and (ix) marriages 1804 to 1812. Baptisms and
burials are continued in three books running respectively between 1765 and 1792, 1792 and 1810, and
between 1810 and 1812.
The ecclesiastical district of CHRIST CHURCH
was formed in 1840. The church, consecrated in
1839, consists of a chancel recess, a broad nave of
four bays, and a western tower. It is built of yellow
brick and is designed in a poor Gothic style. There
is a small churchyard.
The ecclesiastical district of ALL SAINTS was
formed in 1842. (fn. 141) The church, which was built in
1840, consists of a chancel, vestry, nave and west
tower and spire, all of white brick with stone dressings.
The design is of an early English type. There is a
gallery at the west end, and the nave is roofed in
one span.
The ecclesiastical district of HOLY TRINITY
was formed in 1842. (fn. 142) The church consists of a
shallow sanctuary recess and a wide barn-like nave
with vestibules and a tower at the west. The nave
is lit by large lancet windows and the whole church
is meanly designed in 13th-century style. The
tower has an embattled parapet. The church was
consecrated in 1838. (fn. 143)
The church of ST. PAUL in Beatson Street, a
chapel of ease to the parish church, consists of a
chancel, nave of five bays, north vestry and south
porch. It is built of yellow stock brick with stone
detail, and is designed in 13th-century style with an
effectively high-pitched slated roof and small lancet
windows. It was built in 1850. There is an ample
churchyard now used as a small park.
The district chapelry of ST. BARNABAS was
formed from St. Mary and All Saints in 1873. (fn. 144) The
church consists of a chancel with vestry, a nave with
aisles and a porch. It is built of yellow stock brick
banded with red bricks and with stone detail and
tile roofs. It was built from the designs of William
Butterfield in 1870 and is in early 14th-century
style. There is no churchyard.
The consolidated chapelry of ST. KATHERINE
was formed out of parts of St. Barnabas, All Saints
and St. James, Hatcham, in 1886. (fn. 145) The church
consists of a chancel with vestries, a nave with north
and south aisles and a clearstory, a south transept,
and a narthex. It is built of yellow stock brick
banded with red brick. The roofs are of slate and
the whole building is poorly designed in 13th-century style. There is no churchyard.
On the south of Southwark Park is a small mission
church of the Clare College Mission. It is built of
red and yellow brick and dates from 1885. Besides
the church are parish and club rooms, &c., a part of
the latter forming additions made in 1893.
In the parish are the Roman Catholic churches of
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Rotherhithe Street, of St. Gertrude in Debenham's Road,
and of St. Peter and the Guardian Angels in Paradise
Street.
A Nonconformist meeting, denomination unspecified, was licensed in Rotherhithe in 1672. In
1725 (fn. 146) there was a Presbyterian meeting, and a
Presbyterian meeting-house is mentioned in 1756. (fn. 147)
The Independent Southwark Park Church is
in Lower Road and St. Winifred's Congregational
Church in Hawkstone Road. The Baptists have a
chapel in Maynard Road built in 1857, the United
Methodists in Albion Street, and the Wesleyans in
Lower Road and in Silver Street. There are also
the Ark Church in Paradise Street, Rotherhithe Great
Hall, and the Swedish Seamen's Church in Lower
Road, a small building of yellow stock brick consisting of a semicircular apse and nave with a small bell
gable, dating from the latter part of the 19th century.
ADVOWSONS
There is no evidence of a church
at Rotherhithe before 1291, when
its annual value was £6 13s. 4d.,
and it paid a yearly pension of £1 to the abbey of
Bermondsey, (fn. 148) who had the advowson but did not
appropriate the church. The king presented in
1337, (fn. 149) 1338 and 1339, while the possessions of
the house were in his hands. In 1522 the abbot
and convent demised one turn in the advowson
to the assignees of Robert Hoogan, Thomas
Henley and Robert Fayrwell, and in consequence
a presentation was made in 1534–5 by William
Bekworth and Robert May. (fn. 150) The yearly value of
the rectory in 1535 was £19 9s. 8d., out of which
sum 2s. 1d. was paid to the bishop for synodals,
7s. 7½d. to the Archdeacon of Surrey for procurations,
and the old pension of 20s. to Bermondsey Abbey.
A rectory-house and glebe lands were worth 40s. a
year, and an annual increment of like amount had
been conceded to the rector by the Abbot of Tower
Hill. (fn. 151) The advowson was granted in 1560 to Ralph
Bosseville, his heirs and assignees, (fn. 152) and he presented
in 1560–1. Subsequently, however, the right of
patronage underwent many changes of ownership.
Thomas Ludwell, citizen of London, presented in
1562 and 1571, the queen in 1592, Edward
Wingate, esq., in 1594, and John, Thomas and
Richard Dawson in 1611. (fn. 153) In 1629 there was a
conveyance by fine of the advowson to William Selby,
gentleman, from Joshua Downinge and Robert
Ball, (fn. 154) and another in 1640 to Jane Selby, widow,
from Thomas Stanton and his wife Barbara, Henry
Selby, clerk, and his wife Mary, Margaret Evans,
widow, and Thomas Neville and Thomasina his wife. (fn. 155)
Abraham Gardiner, citizen of London, presented
in 1660, and Nicholas Hurleston (fn. 156) in 1661 and
1662. By the demise of the latter John Thornborough exercised the right of patronage in 1675.
William Strong, citizen of London, presented in
1681 and Humphrey Whedrock in 1711. In 1721
James Duke of Chandos bought the advowson from
Edward Stokes and others, and in 1735 he sold it to
the master and fellows of Clare College, Cambridge. (fn. 157)
It is still in their tenure.
In the end of the 13th or the beginning of the
next century William le Gaunter of Rotherhithe
enfeoffed Adam de Aldham of a curtilage in Rotherhithe, situated between Adam's tenement on the east,
that of Hamo the physician on the west, the curtilage
of Gregory de Rokesle on the north and the highway
on the south. For this he had to render to the
rector of Rotherhithe 5d. a quarter, and on Christmas
Day a cock and a hen; to find also a man to work
for the rector one day in autumn for the autumn
works. The rector was to provide the latter with
three meals, and give to the man and woman who
delivered the cock and hen a meal in his house on
Christmas Day. A rent of 1d. a year was payable to
William. (fn. 158) Adam and Christina his wife conveyed
the property to Hamo atte Churche of Rotherhithe
and Margery his wife. The deed of feoffment makes
no mention of the obligation of finding a man to
work for the rector, but it imposes again the other
burdens on the curtilage, with the additional rent of
a clove gillyflower due to Adam. (fn. 159) At about the
same date another feoffment occurred, which may
concern the same holding. Hamo atte Felde, clerk,
perhaps identical with Hamo atte Churche, granted to
William de Rokesle and his wife Sarah a curtilage
which he had bought of Adam de Aldeham. He
gave a lamp and its light to the parish church, to
remain there for ever for the souls of his parents, and
he burdened the curtilage with a yearly rent of 8½d.
to keep this light burning before the altar of
St. Katherine the Virgin on Sundays and on feast
days.
Thomas Gatacre was rector of St. Mary, Rotherhithe, from 1611. He states in his Discours
Apologetical that he found 'a dwelling-house wilfully
much negelected and defaced by the late incumbent's
widow,' and the wharf before it 'ready to drop
down.' The house was thatched with reed, and to
prevent fire he covered it with tiles. He enlarged it
until it was nearly twice its former size, 'for more
convenient lodging of mine assistant, scribe, and a
student, one or two, such of our own country as had
left the university and were preparing themselves for
the ministry, or strangers that come over ... to
learn the language and observe our method of teaching.'
Further, he gained ' a room of more capacity for the
bestowing of my library.' He let the glebe and
tithes for £100 a year, out of which sum he provided
the stipend of a curate and other costs. A rentcharge had anciently been paid upon houses, but had
lapsed, and his predecessor had failed to recover it.
Gatacre finally obtained in its stead a yearly sum of
£40, raised by assessment of the wealthier inhabitants. (fn. 160)
The chapel of ease of St. Paul is served by the clergy
of the parish. The advowson of Christ Church belongs
to Hyndman's trustees, that of Holy Trinity, All
Saints, and St. Barnabas to the rector of Rotherhithe,
and of St. Katherine to the bishop of the diocese.
CHARITIES
The most important of the old
charities of Rotherhithe was the
school, founded in 1612 by Peter
Hills and Robert Bell for the education of eight
sons of seamen. In 1712 £220 was raised by
subscription in the parish to augment the foundation.
About £900 was given in small benefactions during
the next century. (fn. 161) In 1709 Josiah Bacon left £150
to buy land for bread for the poor and £700 to buy
land for endowing a free school. (fn. 162) The former
school was enlarged to educate, and partly to support,
thirty boys and twenty girls beyond the original eight
seamen's sons. (fn. 163) Bacon's school fund was augmented
by small gifts amounting to about £350, and the
two were finally amalgamated in 1849. (fn. 164)
Smith's charity is distributed as in other Surrey
parishes, and there are upwards of fifty small charitable
benefactions on record, including two to buy Bibles,
one of £10 a year to buy a fat ox at Christmas for
the poor, and one of £6 to make good deficiencies in
other funds. (fn. 165)