MITCHAM
Miceham (viii cent.); Michelham (xi cent.);
Micheham, Micham (until xviii cent.).
The parish of Mitcham is now practically a suburb
of London. Its shape is regular, but the inhabited
parts are very straggling owing to the commons.
These are now all under public control. The
average level is low, rarely rising above 90 ft. The
parish contains 2,916 acres, 22 of these being
water, 646 arable land, 523 permanent grass and
5 woods. (fn. 1) No Inclosure Act is known, but Rocque's
map of 1762 marks the common fields east of
Upper Mitcham and north of the common. The
soil is a rich black mould with gravel subsoil. The
physic gardens, as they were called, were the chief
industry and feature of Mitcham up to sixty years
ago. Roses, camomile, white poppies, liquorice,
peppermint, angelica and lavender made the place
beautiful in the time of their flowering. The rose
and lavender cultivation has ceased and the others
are much diminished. There were numerous mills
on the Wandle, some of which still continue. The
manufacture of snuff and calico printing were former
industries of the parish.
The iron tramway from Wandsworth to Croydon
ran through Mitcham, on the line now used for the
Brighton Company's line to Croydon from Wimbledon,
opened in 1855. Several branches of this company's
lines now pass through the parish in different directions. Mitcham station and Mitcham Junction station
are within it. The line through Mitcham Junction
to Sutton was opened in 1868.
Mitcham Green is famous as one of the great
centres of cricket in its earlier days, and good matches
are still played there. Several of the distinguished
Surrey players were Mitcham men. Tom Richardson
was the last of great fame. A fair is held at Mitcham
every year from 12 to 14 August.
The main direction of the old village is north-east
and south-west along the main road from London to
Sutton. There are two distinct parts of it, Upper
Mitcham and Lower Mitcham. On the east it is
bounded by the common, which stretches away on
that side to Croydon and on the north to Streatham,
while at the southern extremity of the settlement the
Sutton road crosses the Wandle, where, on the east
side of the bridge, the old mill still remains. Both
Upper and Lower Mitcham have greens, the green
of Lower Mitcham being divided by the road into
Lower Green East and Lower Green West. The
present Ravensbury Park, partly in Mitcham and
partly in Morden, used to be called Mitcham Grove.
It was bought by Lord Clive and presented by him to
Alexander Wedderburn (Lord Loughborough) in
acknowledgement of his defence of Lord Clive before
the House of Commons. Wedderburn sold it to
Mr. Henry Hoare. It is now the seat of Mrs. George
Gibb. Gorringe Park used to be called Biggin Grove,
and was occupied by Mr. John Manship in 1789
when lord of the manor of Tamworth and Biggin.
It is now the seat of Mr. P. C. T. Lipshytz. Baron
House (more correctly Barron House), on the left-hand
side of the road leading from Mitcham station, now
the seat of Mr. J. Boobbyer, belonged to a Mr. Barron,
after whom it is called. Mitcham Hall, on the
opposite side of the road, a large 18th-century house
with extensive grounds, now the seat of Mr. Sidney
Gedge, belonged in the 18th century to a Mr. Andrew
French. Cranmers, which stands opposite Canons,
is the seat of Mr. J. E. Peat. It is a house of the
late 18th century, named from the Cranmer family,
who owned the manor and claimed descent from
Thomas Cranmer, son of the archbishop, who was
restored in blood in 1563, his father having been
attainted before he was burned. The alleged residence
of the archbishop at Mitcham is not supported by
evidence.
Mitcham had, however, several distinguished residents. Sir Walter Raleigh had a house here, probably the jointure of his wife Elizabeth Throckmorton,
whose family had succeeded the Carews of Beddington
(q.v.), owners of the manor of Mitcham. He sold it
for £2,500 when setting out on his last Guiana expedition. The house traditionally known as Raleigh
House stood at the corner of Whitford Lane on the
road from London. It was used as a boys' school,
but is now pulled down. Sir Julius Caesar, Master of
the Rolls, resided at Mitcham, and entertained Queen
Elizabeth in 1598. This house, which stood near
Upper Mitcham Green on the right-hand side of
St. Mark's Road, is also pulled down. Dr. Donne
had a house in Whitford Lane. (fn. 2)
Eagle House stands back on the west side of the
road to Tooting, in the grounds belonging to the
Holborn Union, who now use the building as a
children's convalescent home. The house was erected
early in the 18th century—the date 1705 on the rainwater heads no doubt giving the exact year of its
erection—and is a brick building two stories high
standing on a basement and having attics in the roof.
It is symmetrically designed both in plan and elevation, though against its north and south elevations
modern additions have been built, while an ugly iron
escape stair, also a stone stair inclosed within brick
walls, have been erected on the west front. The walls
are of stock brick with gauged brick dressings to the
windows and quoins, while at the wall head is a
wooden modillioned cornice. The centre part of the
east front projects slightly in front of the general wall
face and finishes in a triangular pediment. The roof,
which is of purple slates, is hipped and finishes in
a lead flat surrounded by a wooden balustrade. It is
reached from the top floor by an octagonal staircase
rising through the roof in a wooden turret of the
same form, surmounted by a small lead dome. Over
the front doorway is a coved hood supported by carved
brackets and approached from the garden by a flight
of stone steps having a wrought-iron balustrade.
Practically all the rooms in the three upper floors are
panelled with painted deal panelling and many have
still their 18th-century grates. There are two staircases, both having turned balusters, the main one
stopping on the first floor, but the secondary staircase
continues up to the top floor. On the rain-water
heads, besides the date 1705, are the initials P.F.M.,
which have also been worked into a monogram in the
upper part of the wrought-iron entrance gates. The
railings on either side of the gate stand on dwarf
brick walls, at the ends of which are brick piers
crowned with cornices and each surmounted by an
eagle holding a rabbit in its talons.
Many of the old cottages are entirely of timber
construction, the quartering being externally covered
with weather-boarding and the roofs tiled, while others
are built partly of brick and partly of timber. On
the west side of the Sutton road, towards the south
end of the settlement, is a row of 18th-century red
brick cottages, two stories high, with tile roofs, wooden
cornices and hood of the same material to their
doorways supported on carved brackets.
Eagle House, Mitcham: East Front
The oldest house in the parish is Vine Cottage, a
small brick building—externally washed over with
a yellow wash—with a tile roof, standing at the northwest corner of Lower Green West. It is two stories
high, with attics in the roof, and has the angles
emphasized by brick quoins of slight projection. The
'King's Head,' which stands at the west corner of
Lower Green East, is an 18th-century red brick
building with tiled roof, considerably restored.
The Conservative Club is a fine red brick building,
three stories high, with a dentil cornice and a Doric
porch with a hood supported on brackets.
A Church Sunday school was built at Mitcham in
1788 and turned into a National school in 1812. A
Sunday school was built in 1819, was enlarged in
1842 by the Congregationalists and further enlarged
as a British day school in 1857. Singlegate school
was built for infants in 1874, enlarged in 1897 and
1907, and a boys' school was added in 1906. A
girls' school was also added in 1897 and enlarged in
1907. Lower Mitcham school was built in 1897;
St. Mark's Road school was built for girls in 1884 and
enlarged for boys in 1896; Lonesome mixed school
was built in 1903 and the Roman Catholic school
in 1867.
There is also a school attached to the Holborn
Union in this parish.
MANORS
The earliest mention of Mitcham is
in the alleged charter of 727, which is a
confirmation of the grant by which
Erkenwald gave lands at Mitcham to Chertsey
Abbey. (fn. 3) Later there is a grant of land at Merton,
near Wimbledon, and Mitcham from Edgar to Earls
Alphen and Elswith. (fn. 4)
In 1086 the canons of Rayeux held of the Bishop
of Bayeux 5 hides in Mitcham which in the time of
King Edward had been held by Brictric of the king,
and also 2½ hides which two homagers had held of the
king. Another hide which Brictric had mortgaged
was held in 1086 by Otbert. (fn. 5) The canons also held
part of Witford in Mitcham of the bishop. It is
probable that the tenure of the canons did not outlast the disgrace and forfeiture of the bishop in 1088.
Several grants of land at Mitcham were made by
Henry I, (fn. 6) and it is not improbable that some of their
estates formed the manor described below, which
before the end of the 13th century had come into
the possession of the priory of St. Mary Overy.
The lands of the priory of St. Mary Overy in
Mitcham, known as the manor of MITCHAM
CANONS, seem to have been held as a quarter of a
knight's fee of the honour of Clare. (fn. 7) In 1291 the
lands of the priory were taxed at £1. (fn. 8) At the
Dissolution St. Mary Overy held 6 acres of wood at
12d. an acre, 7s. rent and the rectory of Mitcham,
worth £16. (fn. 9) In 1545 Henry VIII sold the manor
of Mitcham, described as lately belonging to St. Mary
Overy and demised together with Buckwood (comprising 7 acres) to Thomas Fremonds, to Nicholas
Spackman and Christopher Harbottell, citizen and
haberdasher of London. (fn. 10) Licence was given to
Spackman and Harbottell in 1550 to alienate to Sir
John Gresham, (fn. 11) who again received licence the next
year to alienate to Spackman and Harbottell. (fn. 12)
They re-alienated to Laurence Warren, (fn. 13) who conveyed the manor to Nicholas Burton. (fn. 14)
In 1589 Richard Burton died seised of the manor
of Mitcham, leaving a son Henry. (fn. 15) In 1619 (fn. 16)
Henry Burton sold it to Nicholas Carew. (fn. 17) Sir Francis
Carew conveyed it to Thomas Hamond, (fn. 18) who sold
the manor in 1656 to Robert Cranmer, (fn. 19) in whose
family it has remained ever since. (fn. 20) Robert Cranmer
died in 1665, and it descended in direct succession to
his son John, who died in 1705; to James son of John,
who died in 1752; to James son of James, who died
in 1801, and to the latter's daughter Esther Maria,
who married Captain Richard Dixon, of the 85th
regiment. Under James Cranmer's will Captain
Dixon assumed the name and arms of Cranmer.
Amongst other children they had Emily Cranmer, who
married William Simpson of Lichfield. Simpson's
eldest son William married Winifred daughter of
Sir Edward Martyn, whose son Mr. William F. J.
Simpson is the present lord of the manor. (fn. 21) There
are no Court Rolls extant. Disputes between the
manors of Biggin, Ravensbury and Mitcham as to
rights over the common ended in the waste being
regarded as one common. Mr. Simpson granted his
manorial rights to the conservators of the common.
The tenants of the manor still have grazing rights.
Cranmer. Argent a cheveron purpure between three pelicans azure with three cinqfoils or on the cheveron.
Simpson. Party sinister bendwise or and sable a lion counter-changed holding a gauntlet azure between his paws.
The old manor, now the seat of Mr. J. O.
Lewis, is an 18th-century two-story mansion of red
brick with a tile roof. The entrance doorway is of
the Doric order.
The present manor-house, called the Canons,
occupied by Mr. J. H. Glass, is a large Georgian
house two stories high with a basement and attics.
The walls are stuccoed externally and have at the
caves level a modillioned cornice; the roofs are tiled.
In the garden at the back of the building is a small
stone garden-house, square in plan and covered with
a hipped tile roof.
The land in Mitcham belonging to the priory of
Merton, known afterwards by the name of the manor
of BIGGIN and TAMWORTH, was valued in
1291 at £1 5s., (fn. 22) and seems to have partly consisted of a quarter or one fifth of a knight's lee held
of the Earls of Gloucester. (fn. 23) In 1243 Laurence son
of William granted 20s. rent in Mitcham to Robert,
Prior of Merton, (fn. 24) and in 1248 Amysius de Wauton
conveyed a carucate of land to the same prior. (fn. 25) A
grant of free warren in the Mitcham estate was made
to the prior in 1252. (fn. 26) Baldwin de Lisle gave a
moiety of a mill to Eustace the prior in 1260, (fn. 27) and
in 1393 Adam Titsey was allowed to give lands to
Merton. (fn. 28)
At the Dissolution Biggin is set out as yielding
£11 1s. 7d. in rent, the perquisites of court in
Mitcham being worth 7s. to the priory. Henry VIII
in 1544 granted it under the name of the manors of
Biggin and Tamworth to Robert Wilford, together
with land called Mareslonde in Mitcham. (fn. 29) Wilford's
widow Joan married Lord Mordaunt, (fn. 30) who held his
court as life-tenant in his wife's interest in 1567.
Wilford left two daughters—Anne the wife of Henry
Whitney, and Joan, who married Robert Apreece.
In 1564 (fn. 31) Henry Whitney and Anne conveyed their
moiety to John Reynolds on trust and in 1595 (fn. 32) gave
one George Smythe a right of free fishery. In 1583
Robert Apreece, his wife and son sold their moiety to
Henry Whitney, probably son of Henry Whitney and
Anne Wilford (described as a servant to Sir Thomas
Bromley, the chancellor). (fn. 33) In 1603 (fn. 34) Henry and
Ann Whitney, Ann Whitney, widow, and John
and Thomas Whitney sold the manor to Sir John
Carryll. The manor extended into Tooting Graveney
and Streatham and comprised 640 acres, including
200 of wood.
In 1609 the manor belonged to John Lord
Hunsdon, (fn. 35) whose son in 1614 (fn. 36) conveyed it to
Sir Nicholas Carew alias Throckmorton. In 1633 (fn. 37)
Carew conveyed it on trust to Sir Thomas Crymes
and Robert Wolrich. (fn. 38) He was succeeded by his son
Francis Carew. Sir Francis in 1649 (fn. 39) settled the
estate on Edward Thurland of Reigate, who devised
it to his son Edward. Edward Thurland the younger
devised it, subject to his widow's life interest, to his
three nieces Elizabeth, Ann (afterwards the wife of
Philip Brooke) and Isabella Bowes, (fn. 40) who all three
joined in a conveyance to John Manship in January
1744–5. (fn. 41) John Manship died in 1749, leaving the
estate to his son of the same name, who in 1804 (fn. 42)
sold it to James Moore, who developed the plantations of medicinal herbs in the parish. James Moore
had a son James Bridger, who inherited the lands and
business of distilling essential oils and left it to his
children. The lands were sold and the business has
failed. The manorial rights, after passing through
the hands of Messrs. Paine & Brettell, solicitors, of
Chertsey, were recently sold to the Prince's Golf Club.
The common rights are under the same arrangement
as those of Ravensbury. There are a very few copyholds still left. (fn. 43) Almost all the manor of Tamworth
has been parcelled out as a building estate. It lies
beyond the railway bridge off the Croydon road.
The manor of RAVENSBURY or RASEBURY
(Ersboury, xiv cent.) was held of the lords of Ashtead
Manor. As Ashtead, like Mitcham and Witford,
was held by the canons of Bayeux of the bishop in
1086, it is possible that here too we have part of the
canons' holding, granted with Ashtead to the Mara
family. At the beginning of the 13th century
William de Mara or de la Mare appears as lord of
Ravensbury. (fn. 44) In 1283 the manor was held by John
de la Mare and his wife Parnel, who in that year
received a grant of free warren in their demesne
land. (fn. 45) William de la Mare died seised of Ravensbury
in 1314, which he held for his life of his daughter
Florence by rendering for Florence a pair of gilt
spurs or 6d. to Peter de Montfort, lord of Ashtead. (fn. 46)
Florence married Philip de Orreby and in 1321
conveyed two parts of a messuage, a mill, a carucate
and 55 acres of land, 30 of meadow, 10 of pasture
and 100s. rent in Mitcham and Morden to William
de Herle for life. (fn. 47) By 1328 Florence had been
apparently remarried to Nicholas le Fraunceys, for
in that year a settlement was made on Nicholas and
his wife Florence of 9 messuages, 3 tofts, 2 carucates
and 56 acres of land, 46 acres of meadow and 60s.
rent which William de Herle held for life. (fn. 48) In
1338 Nicholas and Florence quitclaimed all right
in the same lands to William de Herle, (fn. 49) who in
1347 conveyed Ravensbury to Henry de Strete,
citizen and vintner of London, to hold for life,
with remainder to Thomas de Strete of London,
son of Katherine of the Temple. (fn. 50) In 1377–8
James de Strete conveyed the manor to trustees
to himself for life and remainder to John Lord
Nevill of Raby, kt., and his heirs. (fn. 51) The latter
in 1381–2 sold it to Sir Robert de Plesyngton. (fn. 52)
Sir John Burghersh acquired the manor by sale
from Plesyngton in 1382, (fn. 53) and died seised of it in
1392 (when it was said to be held of Baldwin Frevile
as of his manor of Ashtead), leaving two daughters,
Margaret the wife of Sir John Grenville and Matilda,
co-heiresses. (fn. 54) He also held a parcel of land called
Allmannesland of the Prior of Christchurch as of his
manor of Vauxhall by 6s. a year for all services. The
manor was worth £10 a year and the land 20s.
Margaret Grenville married secondly John Arundel
of Bidford, who at his death in 1424 held in right of
Margaret all this same property, the heir being John
Arundel the son. (fn. 55) It comprised 672 acres of arable
land worth 4d. an acre, 68 acres of meadow worth
12d., 48s. rent, the whole manor being worth £17.
The manor went ultimately to the family of the other
daughter Matilda. She married Thomas Chaucer,
son of the poet, it is believed; their daughter Alice
married William de la Pole Duke of Suffolk, whose
grandson was John de la Pole Earl of Lincoln, among
whose possessions the manor was included at his death
and forfeiture in 1487. In the same year the manor
was granted to Simon Digby in tail-male, (fn. 56) and
appears to have been alienated to the Carews shortly
afterwards. (fn. 57) In 1584 Lord Howard of Effingham
brought an action against Sir Francis Carew for a
messuage, two water mills and 30 acres called the
'Marrish' in Mitcham in the tenure of Bartholomew
Clerk, which Lord Howard claimed were held of the
manor of Reigate, and which Sir Francis said formed
part of his manor of Ravensbury. (fn. 58) It subsequently
descended as Beddington in the Carew family and
their heirs. Mr. Frank M. M. H. Carew was the last
member of the family who owned it. Mr. Cox
bought it from him after 1907. A great portion of
the manor has been recently sold as a building estate,
and the manorial rights have been sold to the Prince's
Golf Club, with a power of purchase to the Conservators of the Common after a certain term of years
at the original price. There are still one or two
copyholds unenfranchised. (fn. 59)
A holding of William Fitz Ansculf in 1086, which
was assessed at 2 hides and a virgate and comprised a
moiety of a mill, appears to have descended with the
manor of Ravensbury. John de la Mare at his death
held land 'outside the manor' of the lord of Barnack
(co. Northampton), who was the successor of William
Fitz Ansculf, (fn. 60) and in 1428 John Burghersh was
assessed for a knight's fee in Mitcham which William
de la Mare formerly held of the fee of Barnack. (fn. 61)
At the time of the Domesday Survey, besides the
holding of the canons of Bayeux called Witford, a
holding at WITFORD or WICKFORD was among
the possessions of William Fitz Ansculf, lord of the
manor of Dudley, and was in the tenure of William
the Chamberlain. (fn. 62) It was assessed for one hide.
From the Testa de Nevill it appears that Alexander
de Wickford held a fee in Mitcham of the honour of
Dudley, (fn. 63) and in 1218–19 he conveyed one-third of
a knight's fee to Henry Cresby and his wife Alice. (fn. 64)
Later William Mareys enfeoffed Arnold de Wickford
of a messuage in Mitcham and 17 acres of land. (fn. 65)
In 1349 another William Mareys granted lands and
tenements in Mitcham, Wickford, Wandsworth and
Carshalton for twenty-five years to Henry de Strete (fn. 66)
(see Ravensbury), who had previously purchased land
of him, (fn. 67) and in 1361 he conveyed a capital messuage,
two water mills and moorland in Wickford to the vicars
of Mitcham and Morden. (fn. 68) This grant may have
been in trust for Merton Priory, for in 1380 the prior
was holding the manor of Wickford. (fn. 69) There seems
to be no further trace of it under this name, but at
the Dissolution the prior received £3 1s. 8d. as the
farm of land called Maresland (fn. 70) (sc. Mareys' land).
This was granted by Henry VIII with Biggin and
Tamworth (q.v.), and may be the land called the
'Marrish,' comprising a messuage, two water mills
and 30 acres of land which was disputed between
Lord Howard and Sir Francis Carew (see Ravensbury).
The original name survives in Whitford Lane.
Lower Mitcham Green seems to have once been called
Whitford Green, for a title deed of one of the old
houses on the Green describes it as 'on Whitford
Green, now commonly called Mitcham Green.'
In 1624 (fn. 71) Sir John Leigh was granted the manor
of LODGE in East and West Cheam and Mitcham,
pending its sequestration for the recusancy of Bartholomew Fromond, who retained his third part. The
capital messuage was called Hall Place and lay in
Mitcham. It was sold by Sir Francis Leigh to Gabriel
Colstone in 1627.
The present house is situated to the south-west of
the green on the road to the church. It bears over
the door the date 1707 and the initials W.W. (for
one of the Worsfold family), but alterations were
made in 1867 and 1877, and the house is now
modernized. At right angles to the house on the
west side is a stone archway of about 1400, formerly
the doorway into a building, with a small window
over it. Inside the house was a so-called chapel, which
had an open timber roof. It was used for a horsemill by J. T. Worsfold, a maltster, who owned the
house in 1729. It may have been a chapel or a hall.
Henry Strete had a licence for a chapel in his
house at Mitcham in 1349, (fn. 72) and there is also a local
tradition that the room at Hall Place was used for
service when the church had been burnt by lightning
in 1637. But, conversely, its use then may have
originated the idea that it was a chapel. The garden
beyond the old gateway mentioned above is now
called Chapel Orchard. Mr. T. Cato Worsfold, who
now lives at the house, is a descendant of the owner
in the 18th century.
In 1428 the Prior of Christchurch held 2 hides
(of which I hide contained one-fifth of a knight's fee)
in Mitcham, which are described as having once been
in the king's hands and as having been held by
Edward, former Prince of Wales (fn. 73) (see Vauxhall).
In 1476 Sir Richard Illingworth died holding a capital
messuage in Mitcham of the
Prior of Christchurch, service
unknown, leaving a son and
heir Richard. It comprised
a parcel of land called Allmannesland, formerly in the
tenure of Sir John Burghersh
(see above), held of the prior
as of his manor of Vauxhall. (fn. 74)
Another Sir Richard Illingworth died in 1512 seised
of lands and tenements in
Mitcham, leaving a son and
heir William. (fn. 75) In 1572 a Ralph Illingworth, esq.,
was buried in the north aisle of the church. The
estate is said to have carried with it rights in the
north aisle of the church.
Illingworth. Argent a fesse flowered gules between three scallops sable.
A messuage and 18 acres of land in this parish
were held by the serjeanty of receiving and keeping
distraints made by the king's bailiff in Mitcham, of
providing a house in which to keep prisoners attached
by the sheriff and taking them to the castle of Guildford, by paying 5s. yearly to the sheriff's aid, and by
doing suit at Wallington Hundred court every three
weeks. Margery the widow of William le Bule was
holding this land in 1318, when she received licence
to grant it to John de Bockyng. (fn. 76) In 1332 Thomas
de Sutton received licence to enfeoff Thomas Godard, (fn. 77)
and in 1349 William Fige died seised of it, leaving
a son and heir William. (fn. 78) The land is probably
that known as Figg's Marsh, i.e. boundary.
CHURCHES
The church of ST. PETER AND
ST. PAUL consists of a chancel with
a north aisle, a south-east vestry to the
west of which is a tower, a nave in five bays, north
and south aisles, and a baptistery at the west end of
the nave with vestibules on either side out of which
rise staircases to galleries over the aisles. The church
was practically entirely rebuilt in 1821, but from the
masonry inside the tower below the level of the bell
chamber the old tower appears to have been incorporated in the new building. At what date the old
tower was erected it is impossible to say, as it has
been robbed of all its original detail and the walls
have been cemented externally.
The present church is erected in the Perpendicular style prevalent in the early 19th century.
The walls are cemented over, both inside and out,
with sham jointing incised on the surface in imitation
of ashlar masonry. The nave arcades are tall and
slender, with pointed arches carried on clustered
shafts having moulded capitals and bases. All the
ceilings are vaulted with plaster vaults and have
moulded ribs which intersect in an elaborate
design.
On the north wall of the baptistery is a marble
monument to Sir Ambrose Cowley, kt., and his wife
Mary daughter of Charles Owen, esq. Sir Ambrose
died 7 October 1713, aged fifty-four, and his wife in
the sixty-third year of her age in 1727.
There is a peal of eight bells, all by Thomas
Mears, 1820.
The plate consists of a silver paten of 1678,
inscribed on the foot 'Mitcham,' two silver flagons
of 1729, both inscribed 'This Piece of Plate was
Given to the Church of Mitcham in Surrey by the
Will of Mrs. Dorothy Card deced. One of the
Daughters of Mr. William Toll late of this Parish.'
On both the flagons are engraved the arms of the
donor. A silver plate of 1752 inscribed 'Mitcham
Parish in Surrey 1753'; two silver plates of 1802,
both inscribed 'I. Hellier & T. Bennett Mitcham
Surrey 1803'; two silver cups of 1848, both inscribed 'The Gift of William Wilson Esq. of Wandle
Grove Mitcham 1848'; and a silver paten of 1874
similar in design to the paten of 1678. There is
also a large brass alms-basin.
The registers previous to 1813 are in eleven
volumes: (i) all entries from 1563 to 1640, no
entries between 1640 and 1649, a few odd entries
between 1649 and 1670, all 1670 to 1678; (ii)
baptisms and burials 1653 to 1670, marriages 1651 to
1669; (iii) baptisms 1679 to 1734, burials 1678 to
1734, marriages 1679 to 1733; (iv) marriages and
burials 1704 to 1737, baptisms 1704 to 1739; (v)
baptisms and burials 1735 to 1778, marriages 1734
to 1752; (vi) marriages 1754 to 1788; (vii) marriages 1788 to 1812; (viii) baptisms 1779 to 1807;
(ix) burials 1779 to 1807; (x) baptisms 1808 to
1812; (xi) burials 1808 to 1812.
CHRIST CHURCH, Singlegate, consists of a
chancel, north organ chamber, south vestry, nave in
four bays, north aisle, north-west tower and spire, the
bottom stage of which is used as an entrance vestibule,
and a south porch.
The parish was formed in 1875, and the church
dates from 1872. The style is 'early English'
Gothic, and the materials are stock brick with stone
dressings to the windows and doorways.
The open-timber roofs are slated, and the spire is
shingled.
The church of ST. MARK, Upper Mitcham, consists of a chancel, north transept containing vestry
and organ chamber, south chapel, nave, north and
south aisles, west baptistery, and north porch.
The nave and aisles were erected in 1899; the
chancel, north transept and south chapel were added
in 1910. The style is approximately that of the
13th century, and the materials are red brick with
stone dressings and tiled timber roofs.
The parish was formed in 1905.
ST. BARNABAS mission church is at Gorringe
Park.
The present Roman Catholic church of St. Peter
and St. Paul was opened in 1889.
Mitcham and Cheam in the 16th century were
Roman Catholic centres (see Cheam). In 1587 (fn. 79)
complaints were made against seminary priests at Sir
Thomas Tresham's house at Mitcham. (fn. 80) In 1589
John Leeds, one of the recusants on bail, applied for
leave to go to Mitcham to dispose of his affairs, and
Mistress Rutland (of a family that for some three
generations was settled here) was security for him.
The Talbots of Mitcham were prominent recusants
in 1586. John Talbot of Mitcham was among
the recusants who paid a yearly composition for
their estates, and the Fromonds of Cheam, the
holders of Hall Place, Mitcham, appear in the same
list. (fn. 81)
There are Baptist, Congregational, Primitive
Methodist and two United Methodist chapels in the
parish.
ADVOWSON
The advowson of Mitcham Church
was granted by Bartholomew de
Lisle, who had property in Mitcham,
as appurtenant to his manor of South Lambeth (q.v.),
to the Prior of St. Mary Overy in 1259, (fn. 82) and has
followed the descent of the manor of Mitcham Canons
until the present day. The date of the appropriation
of the church is not known. In 1535 the vicarage
was worth £10 13s. 2d., out of which the priory
was entitled to a pension of 2s. and Christchurch to
8d., the net value being £10 0s. 9d. (fn. 83)
The rectory was sold in 1646 by Edmund Carew,
fourth son of Sir Nicholas, on whom it had been
settled, to Richard Surman, who conveyed it in
1659 to John Swift and John Morris in trust for
Robert Cranmer. (fn. 84) John Cranmer son of Robert
alienated the tithes of corn to Peter Batt. (fn. 85) In 1716
the tithes were in the possession of William Tyson
and his wife Jane, who in that year conveyed them
to Peter Hambly and John Mosden. (fn. 86)
CHARITIES
The almshouses on the Green were
built by Mrs. and Miss Tate in 1829
for twelve women over fifty years of
age, and were especially intended for domestic servants.
Mr. Thomas Plummer left £4 a year in 1639 for
bread. Mrs. Ellen Fisher of Hammersmith left
£200 to be invested in land for twenty-four poor
housekeepers in 1709. Mrs. Oxtoby left £2 12s. a
year for a bread charity in 1792.
Smith's charity is distributed as in other Surrey
parishes.