Six of the old bells were in the Old Church but re-cast, and two were added to them. Length of church, 88 feet; breadth, 49 feet 3 inches.—Rev. Owen Manning, S.T.B. In digging for the foundation of the present structure was found an ancient coffin lid of stone, on the top of which was a cross fleury. The Rev. Erskine Clarke in an article headed "S. Mary's Church in the Last Century" has furnished his parishioners with some interesting details gathered from the Parish books respecting the re-building of the Parish Church. He says: "It does not appear that our ancestors were more expeditious in carrying on business of this nature than we of the present day, as the first resolution to inquire into the state of the old Church[1] was passed by the Vestry in December, 1769, whereas the re-building was not finished till November, 1777. The first suggestion was to sell a portion of Penge Common in order to raise the money required, but it was afterwards found that the condition of the church was so bad that the money raised by this means would not be sufficient for the necessary repairs. On March 1st, 1771, it was ordered by the Vestry that an extra estimate be made of the needful repairs, allowing for enlargement of the chancel to the north wall, to elevate the roof and make galleries, and to raise the bottom of the church so high as five inches from the present coming in, and that the Vicar and Churchwardens wait upon Lord Spencer to get his sanction and assistance for this, and to enlarge the church yard. On December 14, 1771, it was resolved this Vestry is unanimously of opinion (there not being one dissenting voice) that a new Church shall be built in this Parish at an expense not exceeding £4,000: the said sum to be raised by annuities at the most advantageous rate; and the interest or annuity thereon to be paid by a rate not exceeding sixpence in the pound. That twelve gentlemen be nominated to be a Committee for carrying the above-named purposes into execution, and that the following gentlemen be the said Committee with such others as choose to attend, all having voices. Viz.:
The Revd. Mr. Fraigneau, Vicar.
Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Dixon, Churchwardens.
Mr. Camden, Mr. Bremmer, Overseers.
Isaac Akeman, Esqr.
Chrisr. Baldwin, Esqr.
Philip Worlidge, Esqr.
Mark Bell, Esqr.
Thos. Bond, Esqr.
Thos. Misluor, Esqr.
Philip Milloway, Esqr.
And that any five of them be a Committee to transact the business. And that the said Committee may adjourn themselves from time to time, to such place as they shall think proper and at their own expense: and that the Vestry Clerk be ordered to attend the said Committee at all times of their meeting. In the following year we find that the petition to Lord Spencer to present an additional piece of ground was granted, for the following resolution is recorded in the Parish Books on April 21st, 1772. 'That the Rev. Mr. Fraigneau, Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Dixon do wait upon the Right Hon. Earl Spencer on behalf of the Parish of Battersea, to return his Lordship their hearty thanks for his noble and generous grant of the houses and ground north and south of the present entrance to the church yard.' In March, 1773, a plan prepared by Mr. Dixon was laid before the Vestry, and it was unanimously resolved that the said plan be carried into execution with all possible expedition, and the expenses not to exceed £3,000. On March 1, 1774, it was reported to the Vestry by the Church Committee that it would be necessary to apply to Parliament for power to sell some estates belonging to the Parish, and also forty pews in the new church in order to procure necessary funds. From this time to the reopening of the Church there is no further reference to the restoration except an order for the payment of £18 for 'alterations to the Tabernacle at the Workhouse which was used for Divine Service during the re-building of the Church.' The entire cost of the Church was £4950 13s. 9½d. The following entry is made in April, 1778. Entered by order of the Reverend Mr. William Fraigneau (Vicar), Mark Bell and John Camden, Esquires, Churchwardens. The new Church of Battersea Parish was opened for Divine Service on Sunday, the 17th of November, 1777. The additional ground for enlarging the church yard granted by Earl Spencer, was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Oxford, on Wednesday, the 15th of April, 1778. Towards the end of the year 1778 we find the inhabitants of Battersea developing a musical taste. A faculty was applied for to erect an organ, the petitioners making their request on the ground that an organ would be 'a decent and agreeable addition and ornament to the Church.' The faculty was granted, and an organ was erected at the west end of the gallery where the present one now stands."—St. Mary's Battersea Parish Magazine, Nov. 1876. The organ has been removed to a place under the gallery, adjacent to the choir, and the Church has been re-seated.
[1] There is a river view of Battersea by Boydell, which shows the old Church as it stood in 1752.
The following copy of one of these leases on which the pews in St. Mary's Church were held, will be read with interest.
THIS INDENTURE made the Twenty-sixth day of December, in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Eight, and in the Nineteenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Between the Reverend John Gardenor of Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Clerk, Allyn Simmons Smith, John Camden and Thomas Rhodes, all of the same place Esquires, and John Lumisden of the same, Surgeon, (being five of the Trustees appointed for carrying into execution an Act of Parliament made and passed in the fourteenth year of the Reign of his present Majesty King George the Third, Intituled an Act for Re-building the Parish Church of Battersea, in the County of Surrey, and for enlarging the Church Yard of the said Parish Church) of the one part, and William Dent of Battersea in the County of Surrey, Esquire, on the other part, Witnesseth that for and in consideration of the sum of Thirty-one Pounds Ten Shillings already paid and advanced by the said William Dent to the Treasurer appointed for the purposes of the said Act of Parliament, and also for and in consideration of the Yearly Rent and Covenants hereinafter reserved and contained, they the said John Gardenor, Allyn Simmons Smith, John Camden, Thomas Rhodes, and John Lumisden, in persuance and in Execution of the powers and Authorities vested in them in and by the said Act of Parliament, have Leased, Lett and Demised, and by these presents, do Lease, Lett and Demise unto the said William Dent, his Executors, Administrators and Assigns, All that Pew situate and being in the Gallery on the North side of the said Church of Battersea, (No. 62), with the appertenances. To have and to hold the said Pew, with the appertenances unto the said William Dent, his Executors, Administrators and Assigns, from the Feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel, which was in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy Seven, for and during, and unto the full end and Term of Ninety Nine Years thence next ensuing and fully to be complete and ended, Yealding and paying therefore Yearly and every Year during the said Term, unto such person or persons, who for the time being shall be lawfully appointed to collect or receive the same Rent or sum of Two Shillings and Sixpence of lawful money of Great Britain, on the Feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel, in every year. And the said William Dent for himself, his Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, doth Covenant and Agree to and with the said before named Trustees, their Heirs and Assigns, That he the said William Dent his Executors, Administrators and Assigns, shall and will well and truly pay or cause to be paid the Rent hereby reserved and made payable according to the reservation aforesaid, And also at his and their own proper Costs and Charge, well and sufficiently repair the said Pew so Leased to him, during all the said Term of Ninety Nine Years, Provided always that if the said Yearly Rent hereby reserved, or any part thereof shall be behind and unpaid by the space of Three Calendar Months next over or after the said Feast day of payment, whereon the same ought to be paid as aforesaid (being Lawfully demanded) then and in such case the Demise or Lease hereby made shall cease, determine, and be utterly void to all intents and purposes whatsoever. In witness whereof the said parties to these presents have hereunder interchangeably set their hands and seals, the day and Year first above Written.
Sealed and Delivered without stamps, according to the Act of Parliament above in the presence of:
Wm. HOLT,
ROBT. CORAM.J. GARDNOR,
ALLYN SIMMONS SMITH,
JOHN CAMDEN,
T. RHODES,
JOHN LUMISDEN.
The window over the Communion table at the east end of the church is decorated with portraits of Henry 7th, his grandmother Margaret Beauchamp and Queen Elizabeth in stained glass which was carefully preserved from the former church, and executed at the expense of the St. Johns.[1] The following will explain why the three portraits were placed at the end of the Church. "The first, that of Margaret Beauchamp, ancestor (by her first husband, Sir Oliver St. John) of the St. Johns, and (by her second husband, John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset) grandmother to Henry VII.; the second, the portrait of that Monarch; and the third, that of Queen Elizabeth, which is placed here because her grandfather, Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, (father of Queen Ann Boleyn), was great-grandfather of Anne, the daughter of Sir Thomas Leighton, and wife of Sir John St. John, the first baronet of the family."—Oulton.
[1] Here also in two circular windows pierced for additional light are figures of the Holy Lamb and Dove of Modern Execution.
The east window consists of painted glass, over the portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Henry VII. are the Royal Arms in the central compartment, and on each side, the arms and quarterings of the St. Johns. The portraits are likewise surrounded with borders containing the arms of the families allied to them by marriage. At the top is a white rose inclosed in a red, under the Crown. St. John bears Arg. or a chief Gu. 2 Mullets or; and Quarters: 1 Arg. A bend Arg. Cotised between 6 Martlets or, for Delaberes. 2 Arg. a fesse between 6 Cinquefoils Gu. for Unfreville. 3 Erm. on a fesse Az 3 Crosses Moline or. 4 Gu. a fesse between 6 Martlets or for Beauchamp. 5 Arg. a fesse Sa between 3 Crescents Gu. for Patishall. 6 Paly of 6 Arg. and Az on a bend Gu. 3 Eagles displayed or for Grandison. 7 Az 2 bars Gemelles, and in Chief a lion passant for Tregoze. 8 Arg. a fesse Gu between 2 Mullets of 6 points Sali for Ewyas. 9 A Saltire Engrailed Sa. On a Chief of the Second 2 Mullets of the first, for Iwarby or Ewarby. 10 or, 3 lions passant in Pale Sa. for Carew. 11 Az 3 Battleaxes Arg. 12 Sa. 2 bars Arg. in Chief, 3 plates for Hungerford. 13 per Pale indented Gu. and Vert over all a Chevron or. 14 Arg. 3 Toads Sa for Botreux. 15 Paly wavy or and Gu. All these are quarters on one shield with a Viscount Coronet; the 11 first are quartered by St. John, Baronet.
The epitaph written by Lord Bolingbroke on his wife reads as follows: "In the same vault are interred the remains of Mary Clara des Champs de Marcelly, Marchioness of Villette and Viscountess Bolingbroke, born of noble family, bred in the Court of Lewes 14th. She reflected a lustre on the former by the superior accomplishment of her mind. She was an ornament to the latter by the amiable dignity and grace of her behaviour. She lived the honour of her own sex, the delight and admiration of ours. She died an object of imitation to both with all the firmness that reason, with all the resignation that religion can inspire, aged 74 the 18th of March, 1750."