Hammersmith, Fulham and Putney

by G. E. Mitton; John Cunningham Geikie

"The east end has been carried nine feet, and the south wall five feet, beyond the limits of the previous church, while the floor of the nave has been raised two feet nine inches, and the roof thirteen feet above the former levels. The cornerstone at the east angle of the north transept was laid by Archibald Campbell Tait, 1880, and the church was re-consecrated by John Jackson, Bishop of London, on July 9th, 1881."

The monuments preserved from the older buildings stand in the church in rather different order from formerly. In the west end is that in remembrance of Viscount Mordaunt, son of the Earl of Peterborough. It is a statue of a man larger than life; the figure, which is carved in marble, has a proud and defiant attitude. It stands on a slab of black marble supported by a pedestal. On either side on smaller pedestals are the Viscount's coronet and gauntlets. He is in Roman dress, and holds a baton as Constable of Windsor Castle. On the left is his pedigree engraved on marble. The date inscribed on the tablet to his memory is 1675. At the west end of the north aisle is the ancient font mentioned by Faulkner as standing in the east end of the south aisle. It was the gift of Mr. Thomas Hyll, churchwarden in 1622, and is of stone, painted and gilt. On the east wall of the north aisle are three monuments which attract attention. That of "Payne of Pallenswick Esqre," who "hath placed this monument to the memory of himself and Jane his wife who hath lived with him in wedlock XLIIII years and died the first day of May in Anno Dmi 1610, and the said William Payne the day of ____ Anno Dmi ____. The sayd William Payne hath given forever after his decease an Ilande in the Ryver of Thames caled Makenshawe to the use of the poor of this parish on Hammersmith side." The date of his own death not having been filled in, it is probable he is buried elsewhere. Next to his is the monument of Thomas Bonde, dated March, 1600, with a quaint inscription beginning: "At Earth in Cornwell was my first begininge, from Bondes and Corringtons as it may apere." Next to this is the monument of Katharine Hart, of which a representation is given by Faulkner. She is kneeling with her two sons and two daughters, in a style similar to the Lawrence monument in Chelsea Old Church. The inscription bears date 1605. On the north side of the chancel is a large monument to Sir Thomas Smith, died November 28, 1609. Opposite is that of Lady Margaret Legh, who is represented life-size dressed in stiff ruff and farthingale, holding an infant in swaddling bands on her knee. Another infant in swaddling bands is on her left side. Over her is an arch supported by pillars. The coat of arms of her family rests in the centre of the arch. She died July 3, 1603. The monument has been very much admired. In the southern aisle is the organ, with handsomely carved oak case. On a jutting wall close by is a curious old brass plate found buried in 1770. The inscription is in Latin to Margaret Svanders, who died 1529. The floor of the church is thickly covered with flat tombstones. One of these is in memory of Thomas Carlos, son of Colonel Careless, who hid in the oak-tree with King Charles II., and who was consequently allowed to change his name to Carlos, and to bear upon his arms a branching oak-tree. The coat of arms on the tomb is very distinct, and the date 1665.

Opposite to the Peterborough monument at the west end is a very large marble monument in memory of Dorothy Clarke, and her second husband. A great marble urn upon it is said by Bowack to have been the work of Grinling Gibbons, and to have cost £300. A memorial window to Archbishop Tait is fixed in the west end of the south aisle. In the churchyard are the tombs of Bishops Compton, Robinson, Gibson, Sherlock, Hayter, Terrick, and Lowth. Here also is the grave of Theodore Hook, the wit, with a perfectly plain stone at the head recording his death, "24th Aug. 1841 in the 53rd year of his age."

Near the entrance to what are now the public gardens stood Pryor's Bank, a well-known house, built about the beginning of the eighteenth century in an ancient style. It was originally called Vine Cottage, and was very elaborately fitted up. Nearly all the doors were surrounded with carving and golding. Many of them were of solid oak, and the panelling in the rooms corresponded. Two quaint old panels of painted wood in one of the reception-rooms bore curious figures on pedestals; underneath one who was in ecclesiastical robes was written: "John Baylis, Lord Pryor, 1554, of Werlock Abbey"; and under the other: "William of Wickham, 1366, Bishop of Winchester." Close by Pryor's Bank stood Egmont Lodge, where Theodore Hook lived. It was a small house, pulled down in 1855. The aspect of the whole of this part has been completely changed of late years by the building of a river-wall, and the laying out as a public garden of the strip of ground by the river called Bishop's Park.

The grounds of this public park are decorated with flower-beds and supplied with seats. On part of the space once stood Craven Cottage, built by the Margravine of Brandenburg when she was Countess Craven. Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton lived here from 1840 to 1846. At the beginning of Bishop's Avenue is the entrance to the Manor House, or Fulham Palace, as it is commonly called, the residence of the Bishop of London. Passing between two lodges of red brick, and following a short drive, we come to a massive gateway with heavy oak doors. Through this lies the first courtyard, very little altered from Faulkner's print in 1813. The Manor of Fulham, as we have seen already, has belonged to the See of London since about 691, when it was given to Bishop Erkenwald and his successors by "Tyrtilus, a bishop, with the consent of Sigehard, king of the east Saxons and the king of the Mercians." Lysons adds that Tyrtilus, Bishop of Hereford, who he supposes is intended, was contemporary with Erkenwald. In 1647 it was sold to Colonel Harvey with the leasehold land belonging to it for £7,617 8s. 10d., but was given back to the See at the Restoration. In Domesday Book we read: "In Fulham the Bishop of London holds forty hides.... Its whole value is forty pounds, the like when received in Edward's [the Confessor's] time fifty pounds."

The carriage-entrance is in Fulham Palace Road, and this leads to an avenue of limes. To the north lies a part of the public park, once a field belonging to the Bishops. The drive crosses the wonderful moat, which is nearly a mile in circuit, and, if dug by the Danes as conjectured, must be a thousand years old. This moat has given rise to much discussion, as it is too far from the palace for any purpose of defence, and the idea that it was made by the Danes as a partial safeguard against the floods of the river is that which gains most credence.

The palace is built round two courtyards, and the one first entered is by far the older. It was built by Bishop Fitzjames in the reign of Henry VII., and the great gateway which leads to it bears his arms cut in stone. There are few places that preserve so completely their ancient aspect as this courtyard; the material is red brick, and in summer, when creepers climb over the worn bricks, its attractiveness is greatly enhanced. The wing on the west or river side contains the rooms used by Laud while Bishop; this part has been refaced, and the buttresses were added at the same time, but within it is unchanged. Opposite, on the eastern side, are the rooms once occupied by Bishop Bonner, which carry an association no less interesting, though of a different kind. The great porch facing the entrance gateway leads into the hall, which is also part of Bishop Fitzjames's work. The hall is divided by a screen of dark oak, which came from old Doctors' Commons, and the other oak fittings were brought here from the former chapel, and originally belonged to the chapel of London House, Aldersgate Street. A new ceiling was put up by Bishop Sherlock, whose arms are over the fireplace, in conjunction with a framed inscription recording the building of Bishop Fitzjames on a site where buildings had stood as far back as the Conquest. The hall was at one time used as the chapel, of which more will be told presently. In the same block is the kitchen, once the dining-room.

In 1715 Bishop Robinson presented a petition to the Archbishop of Canterbury, stating that the palace was in a ruinous condition, and was too large for the revenues. A number of commissioners, amongst whom were Sir John Vanbrugh and Sir Christopher Wren, were accordingly appointed to examine into the matter and report upon it. The purport of their report was that, after taking down "the bakehouse and the pastry-house, which adjoined to the kitchen, and all the buildings to the northward of the great dining-room, there would be left between fifty and sixty rooms beside the chapel, hall, and kitchen." These being judged sufficient for the use of the Bishop, a license was granted to pull down what was superfluous and put the rest into better condition.

However, in 1764 Bishop Terrick began a further extension and rebuilding, and it is to him we owe the idea of the second quadrangle or courtyard. He died too soon to complete his project, and left only the western wing of the new courtyard, but his work was carried on by his successor, Sherlock. The design was distinctly good, particularly for that age of debased taste. Engravings of Sherlock's palace show battlemented angle towers, and a recessed main building which is very picturesque. In the southern wing he placed the library and dining-room, and on the eastern side he made the chapel. When Bishop Howley came into power, he set to work at once to alter the palace of his predecessors, and replace it by something which can only be described as a block. He levelled the frontage between the towers, and cut off the battlements, and made the building much as we see it now, with the exception of the modernization of some of the windows. Howley then converted the building made for the chapel into the library, which it still remains. It includes the famous collection of books made by Bishop Porteous. The rooms on the south side became under Bishop Howley's modifications the dining and drawing rooms, and the great hall he used for a chapel.

It was not until 1867, under Bishop Tait, that the present chapel was opened. It is connected with the main building by a passage, and stands on the river side of the palace. It was designed by Mr. Butterfield, and is bright and well proportioned. Behind the altar at present stands a reredos of carved wood with a representation of the Crucifixion.