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Last modified: 7 October 2026
Transcribed in full, keeping Brayley’s spelling, capitals and punctuation, and checked line by line against the printed pages. The original page numbers are shown in grey, like this: [491]. Brayley’s footnotes are numbered as in the book and collected at the end. This volume was issued in 1850, but the text was written in the 1840s and brought up to about July 1847, so “the present vicar” and the like mean then, not now. Compare the earlier account in Manning and Bray (1814).
[490] The village which gives name to this parish is situated on the banks of the river Wandle, whence it was called Wandlesworth, and in the Domesday book, Wendele-sorde; the termination worth, in the Saxon language, according to Lysons, signifying a village or a shore. On the north, this parish is bounded by the Thames; on the east, by Battersea; on the south, by Streatham and Tooting; and on the west, by Putney and Wimbledon. The soil, in general, is a sandy loam, with a sub-soil of gravel.
The following particulars of this place are derived from the Domesday book:—
“William Fitz-Anculf holds Wendelesorde, which was held of King Edward, by six socmen [socmanni] who could remove whither they pleased. There were two Halls. Then and now it was assessed at 12 hides. The arable land consists of 4 carucates. Ansculf had this land after he received the Shrievalty; but the men of the hundred say they never saw seal or livery. Ansfrid held 5 hides, now assessed for 1 hide; Eldred 3 hides, now for nothing; Wolfward [Vluuardus] 3 hides; Walter the Huntsman [Vinitor] 1 hide, which never paid geld. In the lands of these men are 2½ carucates in demesne; and five villains, and twenty bordars, with 2 carucates; and 22 acres of meadow. The whole manor, in the time of King Edward, was rated at 110 shillings; afterwards at 50 shillings; now at 8 pounds in all.”
“The Abbot of St. Vandreuil [St. Wandregesil] holds Wandesorde, by Ingulph the monk. Sweyn held it of King Edward, and could remove whither he pleased. It was then assessed at 1 hide; now at nothing. There are three villains, and two bordars, with 1 carucate. It was, and is valued at 20 shillings.”
In the survey of Battersea, which was held by the abbot of Westminster, it is stated that “the toll of Wandelesorde yielded 6 pounds to the Abbot.”
At the present time there are four manors, or reputed manors, either wholly, or in part, in this parish; namely, Battersea and Wandsworth, Downe, Dunsfold, and Alfarthing.
The Manor of Battersea and Wandsworth.—The land called Wendelesorde in the Domesday book, and recorded to be held by William Fitz-Ansculf, appears to have been illegally acquired by his father, whilst sheriff of Surrey. The jurors testified that they had not seen either seal or livery respecting it, and in consequence of this defect, the king is supposed to have seized the land, and to have given it to the abbot of Westminster, by whom it was annexed to Battersea.
The Manor of Downe, or Downe-buys.—This manor is thought to have had origin in some one of the parcels of land mentioned in the Domesday book as held by Ansfrid, Eldred, and others. Robert de la Dune, in the reign of Henry the Third, held one-third of a [491] knight’s fee in Wendelesworth, of the abbot of Westminster. In a record of the 51st of Edward the Third, it is stated that the abbot held this manor (valued at 4l.), of the king, in frank-almoigne. After the suppression, it remained among the possessions of the crown, until Queen Elizabeth, in 1581, in consideration of the sum of 191l., granted it to William Cammock, esq.; who, in the following year, conveyed it to Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burghley. From him, this manor descended to his grandson Edward, viscount Wimbledon; whose daughters and co-heiresses sold it to Mrs. Elizabeth Howland, of Streatham. By the marriage of her daughter Elizabeth, with Wriothesley, marquis of Tavistock, this manor, with Streatham and other estates, became vested in the Russell family; and in 1792, Francis, duke of Bedford, sold Downe to George-John, 2nd earl Spencer; whose third son, Frederick, the 4th and present earl, is now owner.
The Manor of Dunsfold, which before the reformation belonged to Merton priory, was granted by Henry the Eighth to Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk; who sold it to Thomas, lord Cromwell, for 403l. 6s. 8d. On his attainder in 1541, it reverted to the crown. Queen Elizabeth, in 1564, granted it to her favourite, Robert Dudley, afterwards earl of Leicester; of whom it was purchased by Sir Wm. Cecil; and in the next year, 7th of Elizabeth, conveyed by him to John Swift, esq.1 He sold it to Thomas Smith, esq.; who held his first court here in 1569; and whose descendant, George Smith, in 1661, transferred it to Sir Alan Brodrick, ancestor of George-Alan Brodrick, 5th viscount Midleton, its present owner.
[492] The Manor of Alfarthing.—This manor appears to have anciently belonged to the Molyns family; of whom John, lord Molyns, in the 8th of Edward the Third, obtained a grant of free-warren in all his demesne lands in Halverthing and Wandsworth. Alianor, daughter and sole heiress of William Molyns, or de Molines, was married in 1441, to Robert Hungerford, who was summoned to parliament as lord de Molines, in right of his wife, by king Henry the Sixth; for espousing whose cause in the war of the Roses he was attainted and beheaded in 1463, when his estates escheated to the crown. Henry the Eighth annexed this manor to the Honour of Hampton-court; but subsequently, in 1534, he granted it for a term of sixty years to Thomas, lord Cromwell. After its reversion to the crown by his attainder, the king regranted it, (apparently on lease), to Robert Draper, esq., page of the Jewel office; by the marriage of whose daughter, Elizabeth, with John Bowyer, esq., it was transferred to that family; and Sir Edward Bowyer, of Camberwell, held a court here in the 21st of James the First. That monarch settled the manor on Prince Charles, who, after his accession to the throne in 1625, demised it for a term of ninety-nine years to Sir Henry Hobart and others. Afterwards, in 1629, the king granted this estate in fee-simple to Thomas Porter, esq.; whose descendant, John Porter, esq., married Catherine, daughter of Lieut.-Gen. Sutton, leaving, at his decease in March 1764, one son and five daughters. One of the latter married Pierce Walsh, of an honourable Irish family; and to their son, Pierce Patrick Walsh, esq., this manor was bequeathed by his maternal uncle, on condition of his taking the name of Porter. He died in 1809; and was succeeded by his son, the late Walsh Porter, esq., who enfranchised much of the copyhold property; and, in 1811, sold the manor to the Rev. Mr. White; by whom, in 1816, it was resold to Earl Spencer, and now belongs to the present earl.
Advowson, &c.—The rectory and advowson, which had previously belonged to the abbot of Westminster, became vested in the crown after the dissolution of the monasteries; and Henry the Eighth annexed the former to the Honour of Hampton-court. In 1581, Queen Elizabeth gave both rectory and advowson to Edw. Downing and Peter Ashton; and they were afterwards transferred conjointly to successive [493] proprietors until 1731, when Mr. John Acworth, who then held them, sold the rectorial tithes to the trustees of Marshall’s charity for augmenting small livings. But he retained the advowson, which was held by his grandson, Thomas Acworth, who died in 1783; when it fell to his three sisters and coheirs. It was afterwards purchased by the Rev. R. H. Butcher, but is now the property of the present vicar. This benefice is a vicarage in the deanery of Southwark. In the 20th of Edward the First, it was valued at 10 marcs; in the King’s books, at 15l. 5s. 5d.; paying 7s. 7¼d. for procurations, and 2s. 1d. for synodals.—The earliest Register commences in 1603; but is very defective. The following entries of Longevity are given by Lysons:—
Alice Palladaye, widow, aged 114 years, buried March 25, 1622.
Mr. Thomas Tayer, aged 101, buried Dec. 30, 1653.
Mary Cross, widow, aged 102 years, buried August 5, 1760.The following entry also occurs:—“Sarah, daughter of Praise Barbone, was buried April 13, 1635.” This is considered by Lysons to refer to a daughter of the celebrated Puritan nick-named “Praise God Barbone,” a distinguished member of the Parliament which has been designated by his name. He was a leather-seller in Fleet-street.
Vicars of Wandsworth in and since the year 1800:2—
Robert Holt Butcher, LL.B. Instituted in 1778: died on the 21st of August, 1822.
William Borradaile, D.D. Instituted January 10th, 1823.
Daniel Charles Delafosse, D.D. Instituted July the 12th, 1838: resigned for Wotton, in 1844.
Edward Robert Pemberton, D.C.L. Inducted April 6th, 1844; on the cession of the preceding vicar.
There are now three churches in this parish, namely,—St. Mary’s church, near the bridge, in the High street; St. Anne’s, on St. Anne’s hill; and St. Mary’s, Summer’s town, in the hamlet of Garrett, between Wandsworth and Upper Tooting.
St. Mary’s Church.—We have no account of the origin of this church; but it must have been prior to the time of bishop Toclivius, who appropriated the rectory to the abbey of Westminster; and was in possession of this see in 1189. His successor, Godfrey de Lucy, ordained that the monks should receive an annual pension of six marcs out of the revenues of the church, leaving the vicar enough to support himself, and to pay the episcopal burthens.—The old church was almost wholly taken down in 1780, and the present structure was built in its stead, at an expense of about 3,500l. At the west end [494] is a handsome square tower, of two stories, the lowermost of which formed part of the old tower, but was re-cased, and a belfry story raised upon it in the year 1841. The latter, which is pierced with three circular-headed windows on each side in the Italian style, is terminated by an ornamented parapet surmounted at each angle by a well-shaped vase. The whole is of light-coloured brick, with stone dressings. It contains a fine set of eight bells, cast by Mears, of Whitechapel, in 1841.
The interior of this church, which almost forms an exact square, and is very neatly fitted up, was repaired and re-decorated in 1828. Its galleries are spacious; and on the front panelling of those to the south and west, are numerous inscriptions in gilt letters, recording the charitable benefactions which have been made to the poor: in the west gallery is a small organ. The ceiling over the nave is wagon-shaped, but that over the aisles is flat. The pulpit is very neat; and the chancel is fitted up with propriety and taste.
Here, among the old monuments which were replaced after the enlargement of the church, are the following; which require notice from the characters of the persons they commemorate.
Against the east wall, south of the chancel, is the mural monument of Mr. Alderman Smith, who was a native of Wandsworth, and whose memory will ever be revered on account of his extensive and useful charities. It is architecturally designed, and exhibits, within an arched recess, a statue of the deceased in a gown and ruff, kneeling devotionally at a desk, and holding a skull. At the sides are Ionic columns supporting an entablature, surmounted by a shield of arms, and two small figures, bearing emblems of mortality. On a tablet beneath the plinth is this inscription:—
Here lyeth the body of Henry Smith, Esquire, sometime Citizen and Alderman of London, who departed this life the 3d day of January, anno Dni 1627, being neere the age of 79 years, whome while he lived gave unto the several Townes in Surrey following, one thousand pounds apiece to buy lands for perpetuity for ye relief and setting the poor people a-worke in the said Towns, viz. to the Towne of Croydon one thousand pounds; to the Towne of Kingston one thousand pounds; to the Towne of Guildford one thousand pounds; to the Towne of Dorking one thousand pounds; to the Towne of Farnham one thousand pounds; and by his last Will and Testament did further give and devise, to buy lands for perpetuity for the reliefe and setting their poore a-worke unto the Towne of Rygate one thousand pounds; unto the Towne of Richmond one especialtye or debt of a thousand pounds; and unto the Towne of Wandsworth, wherein he was borne, the sum of 500 pounds, for the same uses as before; and did further will and bequeath one thousand pounds to buy lands for perpetuity to redeeme poore captives and prisoners from the Turkish tyranie. And not here stinting his charity and bounty did also give and bequeath the most part of his estate, being to a great value, for the purchasing lands of [495] inheritance for ever for the releife of the poore and setting them a-worke. A pattern worthy the imitation of those whom God hath blessed with the abundance of the goods of this life to follow him herein.
Besides the above, the following lines, inscribed on brass, are on a grave-stone in the upper part of the nave:—
Mole sub hâc quæris quis conditur, optime lector,
Cuius et qualis, quantus in orbe fuit:
A dextris muri, statuam tu cernere possis
Oranti similem, marmore de Pario;
Subter quam statuam cernatur tabula sculpta
Auratis verbis quæ tibi cuncta notant.
Depositum Henri Smith Senatoris Londinensis.3
Another mural monument (adjacent to the last) displays a small kneeling figure of Mrs. Susanna Powel, a benefactress to this parish. She was the daughter of Thomas Hayward, yeoman of the guard to king Henry the Eighth, king Edward the Sixth, and the queens Mary and Elizabeth; and died on February 19th, 1630.
On another monument, north of the chancel, are full-sized Busts in white marble, of Sir Thomas Brodrick, knt., and Katharine his relict; with commemorative inscriptions in Latin: the former died in January, 1641, aged forty-six years; and the latter departed this life in 1678.4
Among the modern tablets is one in memory of the Rev. Robert Holt Butcher, LL.B., and others of his family: he died in August, 1822, at the age of seventy-nine, having been forty-four years minister of this parish.
There is an ancient Brass on a grave-slab near the pulpit, of a knight in armour, but much defaced: the date is 1420, temp. Hen. V; but the name has long been broken off and lost.
The adjoining church-yard is small; but there are two others, the oldest on the East hill, and the other, consecrated in 1808, in Garrett lane: these contain many tombs and other sepulchral memorials.
St. Anne’s, on St. Anne’s hill, now a district church, was erected from the designs of Robert Smirke, esq. (now Sir Robert), and completed in July, 1822; but it was not consecrated until the 1st of May, 1824: the contract for its erection was 14,600l., which was defrayed [496] by the Commissioners for building new churches. The ground-plan is nearly a parallelogram (of about 100 feet by 70 feet), with a hexastyle portico and pediment of the Ionic order, annexed to the west end; and an embowed recess, with vestries, at the east end. The body of the church is constructed of brick, with stone dressings; the portico, &c., is of stone. From the central part of the roof behind the portico rises a cylindrical steeple of two stories: the lower story is surrounded by eight antæ sustaining an entablature and cornice; and the upper story (which has a circular stylobate pierced with four apertures for dials), with engaged columns: the whole is surmounted by an hemispherical dome and gilt cross. The interior is divided into a nave and aisles by six square piers on each side, with moulded caps, and these, together with intervening pedestals, support a colonnade of slender Doric columns, on which rests an horizontal ceiling. Here are large side-galleries; and also a spacious western gallery, occupying two of the intercolumniations, and containing a good organ: the number of sittings is about 1750; of which the greater portion are free. The Rev. —— Townsend, who recently succeeded the Rev. John Flowerdew Colls, D.D., is the present incumbent.
Wandsworth is an extensive village, which from its population, tradesmen’s shops, inns, &c., and the various manufactures established in the neighbourhood, has all the air and bustle of a market town. Here is a police court and station; a court of requests (held at the Ram inn) for debts under 5l.; and a Union workhouse for the Wandsworth and Clapham districts on the East hill. An annual fair is held on Whit Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. In the High street is a small bridge crossing the Wandle, which, from a minute in the churchwardens’ accounts quoted by Lysons, appears to have been originally built at the expense of queen Elizabeth, between the 18th and 25th days of July, 1602: it was rebuilt with three arches in 1820. Aubrey, writing about 1673, says, “here is a bridge call’d the Sink of the Country.”5
The same writer mentions a manufacture at Wandsworth, “of Brass plates for kettles, skellets, frying-pans, &c., by Dutch Men, who keep it a Mystery.” The houses wherein this was established long bore the name of the Frying-pan houses. Additional manufactures, as hatting, dyeing, &c., were introduced by a colony of French refugees, whom the religious persecutions, consequent upon the revocation of the edict of Nantz, by Louis the Fourteenth, had driven from their native country. For the purposes of their own worship, they enlarged a Chapel (standing somewhat back from the High street), which had [497] been erected by the Puritans in the reign of Elizabeth; and their descendants continued to occupy it until within the last fifty years, the service being performed in the French language. In 1809, and again in 1831, the chapel, which is a low and plain building, was repaired, and is now used by a congregation of Independents, of whom the Rev. J. E. Richards is pastor. In the High street is a Friends’ meeting-house; a Catholic chapel on the West-hill; and a Baptist chapel in Brook-field.
Between Wandsworth and Tooting is the hamlet of Garrett,6 which from the records of the manor of Dunsfold appears to have consisted, in the early part of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, of a single house called “the Garrett”: which was sold by Wm. Cecil, afterwards Lord Burghley, to John Swift, esq., in the year 1564. It was afterwards the mansion of the Brodricks; but was pulled down about eighty years ago, and the grounds pertaining to it were subsequently let to a market gardener. When Lysons wrote, there were about fifty houses in this hamlet; but the buildings in Garrett-lane and its neighbourhood have of late years been greatly augmented, and the population so much increased that a new church became necessary for their accommodation; and this has been supplied by the munificence of Joshua Stanger, esq., in whom the patronage is vested.—This edifice was dedicated to St. Mary, and opened for divine worship in 1838. It is built in the lancet style of architecture, with a square tower, surmounted by a small octagonal spire at the west end. It is called St. Mary’s Summer’s town, to distinguish it from the mother-church at Wandsworth. The present minister is the Rev. Edward Whitley.
In this parish are two National schools; a British and Foreign school; two Infant schools; and a School of Industry for girls, which was erected by voluntary contributions in 1805; but had originated a few years before, and is a very excellent institution.
The resident gentry of Wandsworth are chiefly located on the East and West hills, as they are respectively denominated, and whereon divers villas and respectable mansions have been built, as well as on the skirts of the common. Among those on the Kingston road is Melrose Hall, an elegant villa with pleasant grounds, the seat of John [498] Augustus Beaumont, esq.; and a superior mansion, erected by Lady Rivers about sixty years ago, and afterwards purchased by John Anthony Rucker, esq., a Hamburgh and Russia merchant, who enlarged the estate, and had the house much improved under the direction of Gibson, of Hackney. It is now occupied by his descendants, Henry and Sigismund Rucker, esqrs.
An Iron Railway, extending from the Thames at Wandsworth to Croydon, was constructed in pursuance of an act of parliament obtained in the year 1800; by which the subscribers were authorized to raise 30,000l. for the purpose, in shares of 100l. each. Its utility in conveying the manufactures of the intermediate places to the river was soon apparent; and under another act, the railway was continued to Merstham in 1805, with equally beneficial results.
The Surrey Pauper Lunatic Asylum.—This important establishment occupies about 96 acres of land at the south-west corner of Wandsworth common, which were purchased by the county magistrates in the year 1839. Advertisements for plans and designs were then issued, and twenty-three sets were submitted by different architects to the superintending committee; of which those of Mr. William Moseley, surveyor for the county of Middlesex, were adjudged the best, and selected for execution; premiums of 200l. and 100l. respectively, being awarded to Mr. A. H. Hunt and Mr. J. B. Watson, for the next approved designs. The buildings, which are in the latest style of Tudor architecture, stand on a gently-rising ground, and were erected at a cost of about 63,000l. They are constructed of red brick, with stone dressings in rusticated quoins, window frames, string courses, &c.; and the brickwork itself is diversified by the insertion of black headers in various devices and interlacings. Much effect is thus obtained by colour alone, independently of the relief produced by the play of the light and shade arising from the relative position of the principal buildings.
The entire pile is composed of three principal masses, variously subdivided, and consisting of a centre with advanced wings; presenting a façade about 535 feet in extent, and having a western aspect. The middle portion of the central part, which is sixty-eight feet in width, and more lofty than its lateral adjuncts, projects about forty-six feet: it has three breaks, or divisions, each being surmounted by a finialed gable. On the first floor is an appropriately-arranged chapel, thirty-five feet in length, and twenty-seven feet wide, with an open timber roof, and a large window at each end, north and south. The advanced wings have a pavilion at each angle, carried up a story higher than the intervening parts, and ornamented with gables, &c. [499] Almost every portion of the Asylum is fire-proof; the wards and cells for the patients are completly so, there being no wood-work of any kind, except the doors, used in the construction. The accommodations are adapted for about six hundred inmates, and so arranged as to admit of a suitable classification. The northern side is allotted to the male, and the southern to the female patients. Every part is well ventilated; and on each side are three separate courts for air and exercise.
Mulberry Cottage, on Wandsworth common, was once the residence of the well-known antiquary, Francis Grose, esq.
1 The following is an abstract (translated) from the Deed of Feofment relating to the Dunsfold (Downeforthe) and Garrett estates in Wandsworth, which was enrolled in Chancery on the 20th of March, 1564, and entered on the Dorse of the Close Roll, on the 26th of the same month.
“Know all men that I William Cecill, Knt. Principal Secretary to the Queen, and Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries, for a competent sum of lawful money of England, paid me by John Swifte, Esq. of London, have delivered and enfeoffed the said John Swifte and Margaret his Wife in all that my Lordship and Manor of Downeforthe or Donneforth, in the co. of Surrey, which belonged to the lately dissolved Monastery of Marten [Merton], and was afterwards annexed to the Honour of Hampton Court.—And also all that Messuage or Tenement, with its appurtenances, called “the Garrett,” in the Parish of Wannesworthe, Surrey, with all the arable lands, meadows, fields, pastures, and hereditaments whatsoever, being part and parcel of the same, and usually heretofore demised and held with it; and likewise all my tithes, greater and less, predial and personal, arising within the said parish of Wannesworth, now or lately in the occupation of John Bowland or his assigns, formerly pertaining to the Monastery of Marten, and afterwards annexed to the Honour of Hampton Court; and all and singular the premises which I the before-named William Cecill had and obtained for myself and my heirs for ever, from the most noble Robert Duddeley, K.G. Earl of Leicester, and which he held under a grant of our Lady Queen Elizabeth, by letters patent dated June 9th, in the 5th year of her reign. I assure, in the most full and ample form the above-mentioned Lordship, Manor and Tenements to the fore-named John Swifte, Margaret his wife, and their heirs and assigns. Moreover, be it known that I William Cecill have constituted and ordained Anthony Rotsey and Robert Hodgeson, Gentlemen, to be my true and lawful attorneys, to give seisin and possession of the above premises. In Witness, &c.
“Signed W. Cecill; and sealed with his Crest; and dated March 17th, 1564: the 7th of Queen Elizabeth.”
2 Stow has recorded the fate of Griffith Clarke, vicar of Wandsworth, who, (together with his chaplain, and his servant, and Friar Waire), was hanged and quartered, at St. Thomas Waterings, on the 8th of July, 1539. The Chronicler professes himself ignorant of the cause of their execution; but Mr. Lysons says, they probably suffered for denying the king’s supremacy.—Environs, &c.; vol. i. p. 510.
3 The above grave-stone was taken up and the ground opened a few years ago, under permission of the bishop of the diocese, by Mr. George Gwilt, architect, of Southwark, to ascertain whether it actually covered the burial-place of Mr. Smith; but not the least trace of his coffin could be found. It was concluded, therefore, that the grave-slab had been removed from its original site when the church was enlarged in 1780. The monument is gilt and painted as in former times.
4 Sir Alan Brodrick, knt., surveyor-general of Ireland, ob. Nov. 25, 1680, a benefactor to this parish;—Alan Brodrick, 1st viscount Midleton, ob. 1747;—George Brodrick, 2nd viscount, and several others of the family, have also been buried in their vault in this church.
5 Aubrey, Surrey, vol. i. p. 14.
6 This hamlet was formerly notorious for its mock election of a Mayor upon the meeting of every new Parliament. The candidates were generally half-idiotic and deformed persons, who were urged forward and furnished with gaudy clothing and gay equipages by the publicans, who, as Lysons remarks, “made a good harvest of the day’s frolic.” This once-popular scene of confusion and riot gave origin to Foote’s amusing farce intituled “the Mayor of Garrett.” The last Garrett election was in the year 1796. Its most celebrated members, (who were mock knights as well as mayors), were Sir Jeoffrey Dunstan, a hawker of old wigs, and Sir Harry Dimsdale, a muffin-crier; of both of whom there are portraits.
Transcribed by Philip Boys, with Claude, October 2026. Build 2.