Battersea (St. Mary)
The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £13. 15. 2½.; net income, £982; patron and impropriator, Earl Spencer. The church, which was handsomely rebuilt of brick, in 1777, has a tower surmounted by a small spire, and, standing on the margin of the river, forms an interesting object viewed from the water. The window over the altar is decorated with portraits of Henry VII., his grandmother Margaret Beauchamp, and Queen Elizabeth, in stained glass; and there are some interesting sepulchral monuments, among which are, one by Roubilliac to the memory of Viscount Bolingbroke and his lady, and one to the memory of Edward Winter, an officer in the service of the East India Company, on which is recorded an account of his having, singly and unarmed, killed a tiger, and on foot defeated sixty Moors on horseback. Collins, author of the Peerage and Baronetage of England; his grandson, David Collins, Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, and author of a History of the English Settlement there; and William Curtis, a distinguished botanical writer, were buried here. St. George's chapel, in Battersea Fields, a neat building in the later style of English architecture, was erected in 1829, partly by a subscription of £2277 among the parishioners, partly by a rate amounting to £1327, and partly by a grant from the Parliamentary Commissioners; the minister is appointed by the vicar, and derives his stipend from a subscription fund of £1450, and from the pew-rents. In the hamlet of Penge is a small chapel capable of accommodating about 200 persons, built by subscription, in 1838. Christ Church, Battersea Fields, was commenced in May, 1847, the foundation-stone being laid by the Hon. Mr. Eden, late incumbent of the parish, recently appointed to the bishopric of Sodor and Man: the cost of the church is estimated at £7000. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans. A school for the instruction of twenty boys, to which a national school has been united, was founded and endowed by Sir Walter St. John, in 1700, and has an endowment of £85 per annum. Sir Walter and Lady St. John left £300, directing the interest to be applied in apprenticing boys or girls; and there are several other charitable bequests, the principal of which is one by John Parvin, who left £2000 four per cent. bank annuities. Here is a very important training college for masters of national schools. The workhouse for the union, pleasantly situated on St. John's Hill, in the parish, was built in 1838, at an expense of about £16,000.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.