Greenford: Churches

CHURCHES.

There was no church or priest mentioned in Domesday Book in 1086, but in 1157 a bull of Adrian IV which confirmed royal grants of churches to Westminster Abbey included the chapel of Greenford. (fn. 1) In 1205 Lewis of Greenford sold the advowson of Greenford and half a knight's fee to Brice of Stepney, (fn. 2) but it is possible that this refers to the church of Perivale or Little Greenford. By the early 14th century Westminster Abbey was presenting regularly to the rectory, (fn. 3) and it seems likely that the abbey had always had the advowson. Leases of the manor usually reserved the advowson to the abbey, (fn. 4) but occasionally grants of the next presentation were made. (fn. 5) After the surrender of the abbey, the advowson was granted in 1541, together with the manor, to the Bishop of Westminster. (fn. 6) When this bishopric was dissolved, the advowson was granted in 1550, with the neighbouring manor of Northolt, to Thomas Wroth, a gentleman of the privy chamber. (fn. 7) There was a dispute over one presentation in 1554 between Sir Edward Waldegrave, by virtue of a grant from Wroth, and Thomas Thornton, by virtue of his lease of the manor from the abbey. (fn. 8) Thornton made the next presentation in 1554, (fn. 9) and seems to have come to an agreement with Wroth, as the Thorntons appear to have presented in 1558 and in 1560 by the grant of Sir Thomas Wroth. (fn. 10) Wroth's trustees sold the presentation in 1627 to Edward Terry (rector 1629-60) and his son, another Edward (rector 1660-1), sold it in 1663 to Charles Castle for John Castle (rector 1661-86). (fn. 11) John's son, Henry Castle, sold the advowson in 1700 to King's College, Cambridge. (fn. 12) In 1959 the patronage was still exercised by the college.

The benefice of Greenford is a rectory, and although it was under the patronage of Westminster Abbey, it was never appropriated. It was valued at 6 marks in 1254, (fn. 13) at £6 in 1291 and 1359, (fn. 14) and at £20 in 1535. (fn. 15) The income was leased for 23 marks yearly in 1369, (fn. 16) and the rectory was apparently held at farm by Edward Thornton in 1580. No tithes belonging to the parsonage were said to be known in 1610, (fn. 17) but the whole tithes were in the rector's possession in 1650, when the income was valued at £160. (fn. 18) The value of the benefice rose to £280 in the late 18th century and to £350 in the early nineteenth. (fn. 19) By 1837 it had risen to £560. (fn. 20) In 1841 the tithes of the whole parish were redeemed for £612 17s. 10d. (fn. 21) The benefice was sequestered in 1895 after the bankruptcy of the then rector, and the sequestration was prolonged until 1912. (fn. 22) In 1895 the benefice was said to be worth £600 a year, but the payments that had to be made from it reduced the net value to £250. (fn. 23) By 1913 Queen Anne's Bounty had augmented the benefice with £13. (fn. 24) The income of the benefice in 1957-8 was £1,653 net, of which the endowment provided £1,335. (fn. 25)

Both glebe and church land are mentioned in 1369. (fn. 26) The church was endowed by Henry Collin with 2½ acres of land for finding five lights before the image of the Trinity and Our Lady in the church, but the date of this gift is not known. (fn. 27) In 1610 there were 48 acres of inclosed glebe-land, (fn. 28) which had risen to 50 by 1650; (fn. 29) these still remained in 1775, (fn. 30) when they excluded the site of the rectory-house. One acre of glebe is known to have been sold in 1890-1, when the remainder amounted to 41½ acres. (fn. 31) The rest of the glebe was sold during the 20th century. (fn. 32) The glebe is known to have been leased in 1369 to William atte Cross, rector of St. Clement Danes, (fn. 33) and in 1775 44 acres were under lease to Dr. Samuel Glasse, rector of Hanwell. (fn. 34)

A rectory-house is mentioned in 1369, (fn. 35) and in 1610 and 1650 the house had extensive out-buildings. (fn. 36) The building, which was of timber and plaster, was said to have been pulled down c. 1850. (fn. 37) In 1873 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners were informed that the rectory-house was usually in the occupation of the curate. (fn. 38) If this was in fact a new house it did not stand for long, as the present Rectory was built in 1875. (fn. 39) It stands some 20 feet farther west than did the old house, being farther set back from Oldfield Lane. (fn. 40) While the benefice was under sequestration the Rectory was disused, but it was made habitable by the next rector, H. W. Ogle-Skan (1912-15). (fn. 41) It was extensively restored and modernized in 1956. (fn. 42)

Some of the medieval incumbents seem to have been pluralists. (fn. 43) The stipulation that a resident curate was to serve the benefice was included in the lease of the income of the benefice in 1369. (fn. 44) There was one outstanding non-resident rector, John Feckenham, who was private chaplain and confessor to Queen Mary, and became Dean of St. Paul's, and rector of Finchley and Greenford in 1554, and Abbot of Westminster when the abbey was refounded in 1556. After Elizabeth I's accession he spent many years in prison. (fn. 45) Most of the post-Reformation rectors seem to have been resident, and almost invariably until the 1820's a curate served the parish as well. (fn. 46) Edward Terry, rector 1629-60, travelled in the interior of India as chaplain to the East India Company, and to the English ambassador to the Great Mogul. (fn. 47) His son, also Edward, succeeded him at Greenford but was ejected in 1661. (fn. 48) His successor, John Castle or Castell, rector 1661-86, was said by Calamy to have been an ejected fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, but there is no evidence of a fellowship. (fn. 49) In any case he must have conformed after the Restoration.

From the late 17th century and throughout the 18th services were held twice on a Sunday, and on other feast days. Communion was celebrated four times a year, and the children were catechized in Lent. (fn. 50) The communion table was railed in in 1685; (fn. 51) 99 years later the communion table cloth was stolen, together with two surplices, a bible, and some other articles. (fn. 52) In 1879 the rector began to hold occasional services in the schoolroom, (fn. 53) and in 1912 the use of vestments began and a service of sung eucharist was held on Sundays. These were discontinued in 1915 but became the general practice after 1923. (fn. 54) After 1940 the services were mainly held in the new church, and the old church was principally used for mid-week services. (fn. 55) In 1959 the main Sunday service was parish mass at 9 o'clock. There were then 709 persons on the electoral roll. (fn. 56)

The enormous increase of the population in the 1930's brought many changes. The church of All Hallows, which now has a separate parish and is discussed below, was opened, together with two mission churches which remain under the mother church. Of these two, the church of the Holy Redeemer, Windmill Lane, was opened in 1930 by the London Diocesan Home Mission, and St. Edward's, Perivale Park, was opened in 1936. (fn. 57) Holy Redeemer church was built as a memorial to Florence Martha Athill, and was the first church and hall to be built by the Forty Five Churches Fund for the Greater London Area. (fn. 58) It is a brick-built hall-church, divided across the centre by wooden partitioning. The sacrament is permanently reserved on the altar. The main Sunday service in 1959 was sung communion at 9 o'clock. St. Edward's, built in 1936 on Medway Drive, is a brick hallchurch with a small west turret. The chancel is partitioned off from the hall behind two pillars supporting three round-headed arches. The main Sunday service here was parish communion at 8 o'clock. Because of the growth in population and the opening of missions the staff of the benefice was increased from one curate in 1935 to four in 1940. (fn. 59) By the end of the thirties the church was proving far too small for the population, and during 1939-40 the new church of the Holy Cross was built, immediately west of the old church. (fn. 60) During the Second World War the incumbent was helped by three sisters of the Society of the Sisters of Bethany who opened a mission in Greenford at no. 177, Costons Lane. (fn. 61) This was closed after the war, but in late 1957 the mission was reopened by four sisters of the Community of the Reparation to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. (fn. 62) In 1959 the parish was served by the rector and five curates. (fn. 63)

The old church of the HOLY CROSS consists of a chancel, nave, west tower and belfry, and south porch. The exterior is of flint with stone dressings, and flint buttresses, which have been much restored. The tower is of timber construction, in two stages, and the roof is tiled. The present church was probably built or rebuilt in the late 15th or early 16th century, and the timber roof of the chancel and the interior timber structure of the tower both date from this period. The chancel roof is of king-post type with four-way struts. The nave is probably late 15th century also; the south door is of this date, but the four windows are much restored. The timber south porch is of early-16th-century date, with round-headed mullioned lights on each side. The chancel was rebuilt in the 17th century, (fn. 64) and in 1656 boards inscribed with the ten commandments were hung over the chancel arch. (fn. 65) These appear to have been incorporated in a reredos at some later period. The front of the west gallery with its turned balusters also dates from 1656, (fn. 66) and during the late 17th century the east wall of the chancel was painted with an elaborate royal arms, with supporters and decorations. (fn. 67) Thorough repairs seem to have been carried out in the early 19th century, which included 'removing the soil round the church to prevent if possible the dry rot'. (fn. 68) There was an extensive restoration in 1871 when the chancel arch was enlarged and rebuilt and the level of the chancel raised to that of the nave. In 1882 the chancel was refaced and in 1913 the bell turret was rebuilt. (fn. 69) The church was closed in 1951, and was in danger of being demolished. However, another extensive restoration resulted in its being reconsecrated and opened in 1956. (fn. 70) During this work the nave ceiling was removed, displaying the timber rafters, the rood was set up over the chancel arch, the gallery was restored, and the whole church was decorated and made weatherproof.

There are three brasses in the church, two of which are named. In the nave is the inscription to Richard Thornton (1544) and Alice his wife, with indents for two figures and groups of children. The brass of Thomas Symons (rector, d. 1521), showing him in mass-vestments, is on the north wall of the chancel. Also in the chancel is a half-figure of a priest also in mass-vestments (c. 1450). There are two 17th-century wall monuments that embody figures. On the chancel north wall is the monument to Michael Gardiner (rector, d. 1630) and Margaret, his wife, with kneeling figures. The other is to Bridget Coston, signed by Humfrey Moyer in 1637. (fn. 71) Floor slabs in the chancel include those to Edward Bennett (1657), William Millett (1663), and several rectors. There are also wall monuments in the chancel to John Castle or Castell, rector, and his wife, c. 1695; and to various members of the White family c. 1638. The stained glass in the chancel is mostly of the early 16th century, and is said to come from King's College, Cambridge. Among the glass are the arms of Henry VIII impaling Catherine of Aragon, France quartering England, the Grocers' Company of London, King's College, and Eton College. Two windmills are also depicted. (fn. 72) The font, which consists of a small circular bowl supported on a pedestal, was given by Frances Coston in 1638. The plate of the church includes a cup and a stand-paten, both of 1638, a large paten of 1661 emblazoned with the Coston arms, and a flagon of 1640 with the Gardiner arms. (fn. 73) The register for baptisms, marriages, and burials dates from 1539, but the marriage entries are not complete during the 17th century. There are three bells: (i) 14th century, and uninscribed; (ii) c. 1510, by William Culverden and inscribed; (iii) 1699, by William Eldridge. (fn. 74)

In 1939-40 the new church of the HOLY CROSS was built, a few yards west of the old church. Designed by Professor Sir Albert Richardson, it is in the form of a hall-church, and is built on a north- south axis, with a structurally undivided nave and chancel, small north and south aisles, east and west galleries, and a west turret. Apart from the low external walls, the construction is entirely of Canadian timber. The tall tiled roof is supported on open wooden trusses reaching to the floor. The west gallery is lighted by a large oriel window, and there are two tiers of dormers, the upper one forming a continuous clerestory. (fn. 75)

The London Diocesan Home Mission founded the church of ALL HALLOWS, North Greenford, in 1931. (fn. 76) The church was the fourth church to be built by the Forty Five Churches Fund for the Greater London Area. (fn. 77) The church stands on the corner of Horsenden Lane North and Elton Avenue. It was designed by C. A. Farey and opened in 1940. (fn. 78) It is built of brown brick, plastered internally, and consists of an east Lady chapel, chancel, north and south transepts, nave, small north and south aisles, and a central tower. (fn. 79) There are two bells. A separate parish was assigned to it in 1949, when the area of Greenford north of the canal formed the basis of the new parish, which extended northwards into Harrow. (fn. 80) The patron of the living is the Bishop of London. (fn. 81) In 1959 there were 312 persons on the electoral roll. (fn. 82) The main Sunday service was parish eucharist at 9 o'clock.