St John the Baptist, Wonersh
Church History - The Protestant Reformation Years
1536 - 1755
This account of the history
of our church acknowledges and has drawn heavily upon information provided in
the following:-
Wonersh History Society
Parishes:
Wonersh - British History Online –
History of the Church by Revd A L
Brown.
The History of Antiquities of the
John Aubrey visited Wonersh circa
1690. Notes later published in “History of England” 1708.
Click to return to Church History Overview.
The Incumbents of this
Parish during this period (see also CCEd
clergy database) are recorded as
being-:
1536 John Fyrbe Under Patronage of
Sir John Baldwyn, Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas.
1554-56 John Charnock
1557-65
John Holt
1565-85
Joseph
Kytchen
1585-95
Thomas
Taunton
1595-1614
John
Sandforde
1614-29
John Streat
1629-46
Stephen
Geree,MA
Register 1642-64 lost Civil War period
C1660-71 William Gale
1684-1718
Thomas
Bannaster,BA
1718-55 William
Bannaster,MA Also Vicar Holy
Trinity & St Mary’s
Following the Dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1536/7 the King’s Commissioners seized for the Crown the assets of the Hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate, including the great (rectorial) tithes and patronage of Wonersh. The King then bestowed these to a lay person of his choosing, not necessarily connected with the parish. Patronage rested in 1536 with the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Sir John Baldwin, and some 20 years later were in the hands of Alice Polstead (widow). The great (rectorial) tithes passed into the hands of the Duncombe family. In Wonersh these two properties then passed for two centuries (until 1765) through two distinct lines of succession.
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This was generally as the church looked at the beginning if the 16th century, much the same as shown in this 18th c painting For much of the 16th
Century during the reigns of Henry VIII (1509-1547), Edward VI (1547-1553), Mary
(1553-1558) and Elizabeth (1558-1603) the course of the Protestant
Reformation took place. The
various Injunctions of Thomas
Cromwell as “Vicar-General” would have affected many aspects of church
life including loss of any income associated with the chantry where masses
for the dead would have been said. There was an end to Wonersh Register starts in March 1539 providing a valuable source of information about our history. |
During the reign
of Edward VI Injunctions were issued ordering the destruction of all images, the
removal of altars (to be replaced by movable tables) and the confiscation of
anything the church contained beyond what was necessary for the conduct of
services in accordance with the Prayer Book of 1552;
(The First English Prayer Book published in 1549, and Cranmer’s revision
1552). The church inventory from 1552 is
still extant which includes the earliest record of three bells, plus a sacring or sanctus bell in the tower.
These were no doubt confiscated by the Crown at this time, except for one bell
for future use. Wonersh also lost the
The church in this Elizabethan time would have looked bare, stripped of most ornament. The oak screen in the chancel & south chapel arches remained even after the rood & rood loft were removed. The chancel would have contained nothing but a reading pew and communion table standing uncovered with ends facing east/west, with no altar rails. The pulpit was probably midway on the north wall of the nave. The seating would be wooden benches without backs, similar to those that exist at Dunsfold. There may have existed by this time a superior pew for the Lord of the Manor. There may have been the remains of ancient frescos, but these may have been whitewashed over with text from scripture painted. There may have been a Decalogue on the east wall of the chancel and the Royal Arms in some conspicuous position. No cross or symbol was permitted.
There is an
early 16th century altar tomb now in the north chapel which
originally was positioned in the north east corner of the Tangley (south)
chapel. It was moved from its original
position in 1901 to under the arch adjacent to the chancel, and again into the
base of the tower in 1988. The tomb is of
At the west end of the nave is a wall tablet which was originally in the Tangley Chapel; it is possible that this was the monument of John Caryll (d1612) of Great Tangley, the monument now stripped of its’ brass plate.
By the end of
the 16th century the church was not under the authority of
In 1638-39 the Register shows nearly four times the average number of burials which indicates an outbreak of the plague.
From 1639 parliament struggled with King Charles, and the English Civil wars ending in an victory for the Parliamentarians. Oliver Cromwell took control 1653-58. Life in Wonersh did not escape the turmoil of this period; the Wonersh Register became blank in November 1640 for some 30 years. Bishops were deprived of their authority, use of the prayer book prohibited and the CofE officially suppressed. There were times when the church was closed.
It was not until
1660 with the restoration of Charles II that some normality returned to life in
A small school was established in 1683 when the executors of Henry Chennell used his bequest of 1671 to set up a Trust and appoint Samuel Wickens, Clerk in Holy Orders, to be the first headmaster. This was followed by a further bequest by the Richard Gwynne Lord of the Manor in 1701 of a further annuity for children to be taught by the same schoolmaster. His 17th C raised tomb is in the south corner of the south chapel. At the visitation of the Bishop of Winchester Dr Richard Willis circa 1725 there were 700 children in the parish with just 20 at the school; at this time the curate John Godfrey was teaching reading with 4 also being taught to write. There were apparently 2 or 3 other small schools in the parish run by “poor women” who taught reading and needlework. He was succeeded as headmaster in 1725 by Cornelius Jeal, and in 1777 by T Davies (also a curate at Wonersh).
About 1690 the church was visited by John Aubrey who described the church as “large and handsome” as recorded in the later publications. He also records that “Wonersh has been a village of great note for its Clothing Manufacture, but has been in its waining condition above three score years.”
For nearly two
hundred years since the reformation Wonersh had just one bell, however in 1727 the tower was supplied with a
new peal of five bells. The tenor bore the
inscription “Messieures John Carringham Henry Denyer James Weale Mark Frost
Churchwardens. Richard Phelps made me 1727”.
The other four simply had “R Phelps fecit 1727”. A treble bell was added to these by the 2nd
Lord Grantley and bore the inscription “Thomas Mears of
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In 1751 the
old four sided shingled spire was taken down and replaced by the present
battlemented top storey, which bears a worn (names
partly assumed “H.glet”)
inscription on the east wall (above the clock) “Gabriel …and, Abraham Higlet, Churchwardens 1751”. This was no doubt to strengthen the belfry
for the new ring of bells. It may be
coincidence that the vicar at this time was William Bannaster who was also
vicar of Holy Trinity
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Shortly before the alterations that took place in 1793/4, Owen Manning (vicar of Godalming) visited Wonersh church and carefully recorded the visit in the reference document “The History of Antiquities in Surrey” published by William Bray c1811. He records the church as it was at the end of this period. Manning’s visit did not record any dilapidation however Bray’s text makes reference to the subsequent rebuilding.
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It was common practice of the Reformation period to have texts written upon plain walls and during the 1901 restoration traces of two texts were discovered on the nave north wall: neither text was in a condition that could be preserved. The earlier text was partly hidden by the gallery. The other text was Micah Ch 6 verse8 “What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God”.
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