The institution of vicarages is very old, going back to the early Middle Ages, when the English Bishops decided that each parish should have a parish priest, known by his Latin title ‘Vicarius’. The vicar would be given a house, known as the vicarage.
In Mediaeval times, the vicarages were not much bigger than the ordinary peasant houses, but this changed when the Church of England allowed the vicars or priests the right to own land. From this point, their status grew as the Glebe, as the land was known, became an important additional source of income by the 18th century.
The oldest parish in Richmond, St. Mary Magdalene, is celebrating its 800th anniversary this year. Its vicarage was between what is now Paradise Road and Lower George Street, though its earliest reference in the Manor Court Rolls was only in 1503. It continued as the vicarage until the mid 17th century when, surprisingly, from then on vicars had to find their own accommodation.
However, in 1815 the parish had a new vicarage, when the Hon. Catherine Leslie gave them a house, which she owned. In 1838 the size of Richmond parish was reduced and a new parish, St. John the Divine, was created because of the growing population, with a vicarage in 173 Kew Road.
In 1852 the Richmond parish built a large Italianate mansion on Richmond Green as the vicarage, called Glebe House, reflecting Richmond’s growing wealth. Another new church, St. Matthias on Richmond Hill, was built in 1858, but the priests-in-charge never had a dedicated vicarage.
After the last war, the vicar of St. Mary Magdalen found the Glebe House too large and moved to Ormond House in Cambrian Road and now a team ministry has been set up based at Ormond House covering the churches of St. Mary Magdalene, St. Matthias and St. John the Divine, The Glebe House has been demolished and although 173 Kew Road still exists, it is no longer used as a vicarage.
In Kew, the earliest church was St. Anne’s, consecrated in 1714. Originally the vicarage was on the south side of Kew Green but, in 1897, the vicarage was moved to its present address, 278 Kew Road. With the coming of the railways to Kew, a new church, St. Luke’s was built in 1888 with a large vicarage next door, though it is no longer the vicarage today. St. Philip and All Saints (the Barn Church) was built in 1929 with the vicarage next door. While this has now been converted into the church hall, the vicar still lives close by.
John Moses
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