The patronage of the church was in the hands of: The family of de Waltham, 1285; the Abbey and Convent of St. Mary Graces; the Crown; George Bingley and others; Lady Slaney, 1802, who bequeathed it to the Grocers Company.
Houseling people in 1548 were 424.
The church contained a beautiful east window of pointed glass presented by the Company of Grocers.
Chantries were founded here by: William de Grenestede, to which John de Paxton, priest, was admitted November 27, 1362; William Palmer, whose endowment fetched £3 : 6 : 8 in 1548.
This church contained monuments to: John Gostin, a benefactor to the parish; Sir Richard Yate, Knight Ambassador for Henry VIII.; William Frith, painter; and Ralf Hanson, a benefactor of the church.
Some of the donors of charitable gifts were: John Gostin, of 800 bushels of coal; Mary Baynham, of £5 : 4s.; Thomas Bulley, Esq., of £15 for the minister and poor; William Winter, of £30 for the education of six boys. Six boys were taught to read and write, and, when qualified, put out as apprentices, with each of whom was given £10, in accordance with the will of William Winter.
Hart Street, Crutched Friars, Seething Lane.—These streets may all be taken together. The most remarkable historical association of the streets is the Crutched Friars’ House, on the site of which was afterwards erected the Navy Office. The square court of the office, which had one entrance in Crutched Friars and another in Seething Lane, was originally the cloister garth of the convent. The Navy Office has been removed, but the square remains, and one may still see the lions that were placed at the principal entrance. Pepys lived for nine years in Seething Lane so as to be near his office. Sir Francis Walsingham lived and died in this street, and here the Earl of Essex had his town house.
WHITTINGTON’S HOUSE, CRUTCHED FRIARS, 1796
The monastery of the Crutched or Crossed Friars was founded in 1298. The symbol was a cross worn upon their habit; this cross was made of red cloth. Henry VIII. granted their house to Sir Thomas Wyatt, who built a new mansion on part of the site.