JB
During the Saxon period the church in
In Roman and Celtic times the church consisted of a bishop and his immediate entourage, usually known as his 'family' who ministered to a congregation of believers who were almost exclusively town dwellers. They would tend to meet at the house of a rich patron and only rarely would they have a specialised building set aside for worship. An example of such a building was discovered during excavations at nearby Silchester. Many communities survived the Saxon migrations and formed their own 'town equivalents' in a monastic setting.
Augustine and his contemporaries established similar
communities although usually based upon the Court of the several kings. The English dioceses in consequence were very
large and based upon the kingdom rather than the town, as for example was the
case in
These new urban communities gradually evolved into the Minsters and Collegiate Churches and formed the 'Public' church. The Collegiate Churches, many of which were destined to become the cathedrals of later ages served the urban areas and the Minsters provided a home for priests who served the rural communities around the towns, although for major festivals and ceremonies the rural folk were expected to attend the town's collegiate church.
In
Points at which rural worship was conducted were usually at the top of a hill or mound and marked by a cross either of stone or wood and often elaborately carved. They often coincided in location with the site of standing stones believed to have been associated with ancient religious ceremonies.
From the late seventh century however a new pattern began to emerge. Nobles built themselves private chapels and engaged their own chaplains who usually ministered to the nobles' servants as well. This practice spread gradually to the lesser nobles and the owners of estates who would often provide a small building for the use of their villagers, usually on the same site as the standing crosses. The process accelerated when ownership of such a church along with four hides of land became recognised as a qualification for an advance up the social scale from Ceorl to Thegn.
By the mid-eighth century these estate churches were
widespread and by the time of the Conquest virtually every village and hamlet
had its church. It is reported that the
Most villages had churches by the time of the Conquest and many were recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086. None were recorded for Purley but this is more likely to indicate that the glebe lands were either still owned by the proprietor, and hence included in his return or that there were no glebe lands; rather than implying that there was no church.
Purley's earliest known incumbent John was termed a vicar in 1248 and had control of meadow land but in 1332 Walter Fachel was referred to as Rector. However all his successors up to the time of Henry VIII were vicars and the living did not become a rectory again until the appointment of Richard Gatskyll by Queen Mary.
From the very earliest days of the church each Christian had imposed upon him a moral obligation to give one tenth of his possessions to the work of God. However it was left more or less to each individual to decide for himself how to allocate it. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the seventh century, advised that it must go to pilgrims, the poor and the church and no where else.
For payments to the church three types of payment predominated; Plough Alms, Soul Scot and Church Scot.
Plough Alms was a simple tax of one penny to be paid at Easter time for each Plough team owned.
Soul Scot, which is the forerunner of the modern burial fee was a claim by the priest upon the deceased's possessions. It
usually was the second best beast or object, the best having gone to the lord of the manor.
Church Scot was a customary present in kind which could vary from a few eggs to a waggon full of grain.
Church Scot gradually came to be replaced by tithes based upon income and to become compulsory rather than voluntary. It was made payable by law in the reign of King Edmund (939-946) and it soon became obvious that much clearer rules had to be enforced. Parishes had to agree firm boundaries with their neighbours and King Edgar decreed that two thirds should go to the ancient Minster and one third to the local Church, but this was often complicated by considerations as to where burials and baptisms were conducted.
When Lanfranc became Archbishop of Canterbury after the conquest, he set about ensuring that the church got its hands on all the revenues and decided for itself how it should be apportioned. He had to compromise however and only the third or lesser tithes were tied down as the income of the local church for the incumbent to decide how it should be spent.
The value of tithes was considerable. Consider for example what one tenth of the
income of all the present residents of Purley would amount to! The Lords of the Manor were very reluctant to
see this income go out of their control and wherever possible severed the link
with the Minster and substituted a token pension. In Purley's case this amounted to 2s per
annum and was paid to the Minster Church of St Mary le Butts in
The income of a parish priest was provided for mainly by a portion of land made available to him by the proprietor which he could farm. This land, known as Glebe land gradually came to be owned rather than rented. It was the rental value of this land which was used to determine the 'value' of the living. This was supplemented by the fees he was allowed to charge and the customary dues from parishioners.
A person who had full control over all the income of a parish church was known as the rector, whether or not the income included all the tithes or only part of them. Rectors were usually priests although in many cases the village lord himself assumed the title and would often take minor orders in the church.
Where the rector was not a priest or did not live in the parish then the patron had to find a vicar who would perform the pastoral and priestly duties and in return receive a part, usually only a small part, of the income. At first this was a very insecure post but the Council of Avranches in 1172 stipulated that while the owner of a church retained the right to present a candidate, once inducted whether as vicar or rector he was guaranteed the benefice for life and could be deprived only by the bishop under exceptional circumstances.
It is likely we will never know when Purley acquired
its first church buildings and its own
parish priest. It seems to have been
well before the founding of Reading Abbey in 1121 as one of the Abbey's
founding revenues was the pension of 2s pa paid previously to St Mary le Butts.
It was ordered to be paid to the Abbot of Reading by Henry I in 1125 when the
church at Purley was described as 'ancient'.
However around 1150 Bishop Jocelyn of
The Advowson, or right to Patronage was believed to have been held by the lords of the manor of Purley Magna until the mid 14th century.
In 1291 all churches were assessed for what was known as Pope
Nicholas' Taxation, the purpose of which was to raise money to boost the eighth
crusade which was failing. At this
assessment the
This assessment was used for many centuries as the basis for
a variety of taxes and patrons took great care to ensure that any new buildings
were classified as lay and hence not subject to a revised assessment. It would have been used as the basis of a
levy of a farthing in the pound to support a teacher of Hebrew at
The advowson had fallen into the hands of the
The
Henry VII raised considerable sums of money through both
Parliament and the Convocation of Canterbury, mainly to finance his wars with
In 1534 King Henry VIII ordered a valuation of the assets of all religious houses and churches and the results were recorded in the 'Valor Ecclesiasticus' In it the living of Purley is recorded as being worth £12-17-3 and paying pensions of two shillings to the Abbot of Reading and twenty shillings to the Prior of the College of St. Edmund.
In 1539 the college was surrendered to King Henry VIII and on the death of Provost John Gough in 1543 the office was given to William St Barbe, a layman of the King's privy chamber. Dissolution came in June 1546 when the Mayor of Salisbury and others took formal possession of the College and all its assets for the use of the King.
Two months later William St Barbe purchased the College for £400 including the patronage of Purley which he held until his death, whereupon it reverted to the Crown. Queen Mary in 1554 was the first monarch to exercise her patronage. It was transferred to the Lord Chancellor's department in 1822 for convenience, where it remains today.
JB – 25/3/2008