Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MORTLAKE

MORTLAKE, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Richmond district, Surrey. The Village stands on the river Thames at the boundary with Middlesex, adjacent to the Windsor branch of the Southwestern railway, 2 miles ENE of Richmond; contained a house, taken down in 1858, which belonged to Lord Henry Cromwell; and has a station on the railway, and a post office‡ under London SW.—The parish contains also the hamlet of East Sheen. Acres, 1,168. Real property, £25,720. Pop. in 1851,3,110; in 1861,3,778. Houses, 652. The manor belonged, from before the Norman conquest, to the see of Cauterbury; and was resigned to the Crown by Cranmer. The Archbishops had a residence here; Anselm once kept Whitsuntide at it; and Simon de Meopham retired to it, after being excommunicated by the Pope. Several elegant seats are on the banks of the river. Cromwell House was the residence of Protector Cromwell; passed to E. Colston, Esq., the distinguished benefactor of Bristol; was rebuilt, in the form of a handsome red brick mansion, in the Tudor style; and is now the seat of J. Wigan, Esq. Dr. John Dee, a famous philosopher and astrologer in the time of Elizabeth, lived in a. house to the W of the church; and was frequently visited there by the queen. A manufactory of fine tapestry was established on the site of Dr. Dee's laboratory, in 1619, by Sir Francis Crane; was patronised by James I. and Charles I.; copied five of Raphael's cartoons, sent for the purpose by Charles I.; enjoyed assistance from Vandyck and Rubens; was intended by Charles II. to be assisted also, in a large way, by Verrio; but, soon after Verrio's arrival, was discontinued. Malting and brewing are now largely carried on. A weir was on the river here at Domesday. The living is a p. curacy, united with the chapelry of East Sheen, in the diocese of London. Valne, £180. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The parochial church was rebuilt in 1543, enlarged in 1725, and again enlarged in 1840; has a tower; and contains a font of the time of Henry VI., given by Archbishop Bourchier, a good altarpiece by Gerard Seghers, a tablet to Sir Philip Francis, the reputed author of the "Letters of Junius,'' a white marble sarcophagus of the first Lord Sidmouth, a rich monument to the Hon. Charles Coventry, who died in 1699, and the graves of Dr. Dee and Sir John Barnard. The churchyard con tains the grave of John Partridge, the astrologer and almanac-maker, who became physician to Charles Il., and the grave of John Barber, alderman of London, who erected the monument to Butler in Westminster abbey. A new cemetery was opened in 1859. A church was built at East Sheen in 1864, and is a handsome edifice. There are chapels for Independents and Roman Catholics; national, British, industrial, infant, and Roman Catholic schools; three suites of alms houses; and charities, inclusive of school and alms houses' endowments, £177. -The sub-district contains also the parish of Barnes. Acres, 2,219. Pop. in 1851,4,989; in 1861,6,137 Houses, 1,066.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Mortlake CP/Ch       Mortlake SubD       Richmond RegD/PLU       Surrey AncC
Place: Mortlake

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