Wanstead 1863 Whites Directory

WANSTEAD is a genteel and picturesque village, pleasantly situated on the west side of the river Roding and within the southern bounds of Epping Forest, about 7 miles E.N.E. of Whitechapel and Shoreditch, and near Snaresbrook and Leytonstone Stations, on theRailway from London to Loughton. Its parish has 2697 inhabitants) and 2004A. OR. 27P. of land. It comprises the delightful village of SNARESBROOK, near a woody part of the forest, about a mile N, of the church, where there is a fine expanse of water, with little islands and beautiful sylvan scenery, near the Eagle Inn, and Snaresbrook Station. The parish also includes New Wanstead, and contains many handsome villas, mostly occupied by gentlemen who have their places of business in London. Wanstead Flats is an open common of about 800 acres, forming part of the level of Epping Forest, where Rifle Volunteers are occasionally reviewed. On the south side of the parish, near Aldersbrook, a Roman tesselated pavement was found in 1735; about 20 feet by 16. The tesserae were of brick and of various sizes and colours, and in the centre was the figure of a man, mounted on a beast. A small brass coin of the Emperor Valens, and a silver coin, were found among the ruins. About 300 yards further to the south, ruins of brick foundations were discovered, with fragments of urns, paterae, Roman coins, and other antiquities. The Earl of Mornington is lord of the manor of Wanstead; but a great part of the soil belongs to George Wm. Wilkinson, Esq., and many smaller free and copyholders. The grant of this manor to Westminster Abbey, was confirmed by Edward the Confessor; but before the end of his reign it was given to St. Paul's, and was afterwards appropriated to the Bishops of London. It subsequently passed to the Heron family; but being forfeited, it was granted by Edward VI. to Lord Rich, who made it his country seat, and is supposed to have rebuilt the manor house, then called Naked Hall House. His son sold it to the Earl of Leicester, who enlarged the mansion, and in 1578 entertained Queen Elizabeth in it for several days. WANSTEAD HOUSE, built by .Earl Tilney, in 1715, was one of the most splendid and extensive mansions in the kingdom, but was entirely taken down in 1823. In the early part of the present century, this mansion was for some time occupied by the Prince de Conde and other members of the Bourbon family, during their exile from France, after the first Revolution in that restless and unhappy country, from which the Bourbons have again been driven.
The CHURCH (Virgin Mary) stands on a commanding eminence in the Park, and was repaired and enlarged in the early part of the last century, principally at the expense of the first Earl Tilney; but being still found Small and incommodious, it was resolved, at the instance of Dr. Glasse, a late rector, to pull it down, and build a new church on a larger scale, nearly adjoining to the old site. The first stone of the present structure was laid on the 13th of July, 1787; and it was finished and consecrated in 1790. The building is of brick, cased with Portland stone, and having a portico of the Doric order. At the west end is a cupola, supported by eight Ionic columns. The interior consists of a chancel, nave, and two aislesseparated by columns of the Corinthian order. In the chancel is a beautiful window of stained glass, representing our Saviour bearing the Cross. In the chancel is a superb monument, with the effigy of the deceased in white marble, to the memory of Sir Josiah Child, Bart., who died in the year 1699. The church is neatly pewed, and has an organ, purchased in 1847, at the cost of £400. The rectory, valued in KB. at £6.13s. 4d., and in 1831 at £680, is in the patronage of the Earl of Mornington, and incumbency of the Rev. W. P. Wigram, M.A., who has a good residence and 83A. of glebe. The tithes were commuted in 1841. The produce of subscriptions at various times towards the erection and maintenance of the organ, and the payment of the organist's salary, was laid out in  the purchase .of stock, now consisting of £700 three-per-cent. Reduced Bank Annuities, and £420 three-and-a-half per cent. Reduced Annuities, Christ Church, built in 1861, is a chapel-of ease for the northern parts of the parish. Wanstead Local Board of Health has effected many improvements in the parish, and J. R. Jennings is its clerk.
The poor parishioners of Wanstead have 20s. a year from Rampson's Charity, and £11. 10s. per annum from the dividends of the following stock:- viz., £100 three-per-cent. Reduced Annuities, purchased with the gift of Earl Tilney; £166.13s. 4d. thvee-per-eent. Consols, purchased with Wm. Plomer's gift; and £37.10s. Bank Stock, given by Mrs. Waldo, in 1803. Twenty poor families have the dividends of £500 three-and-a half per cent. Bank Annuities, left by George Bowles, Esq., in 1817, to be distributed by the owner of Wanstead Grove. He also gave £500  three per cent. Reduced Bank Annuities towards the support of the NATIONAL SCHOOL, which has now £670 of that stock, of which £200 was purchased with the donations of the inhabitants. This school is supported chiefly by subscription, and affords gratuitous education to about 150 children.
The INFANT ORPHAN ASYLUM, in Wanstead parish, is an extensive and elegant building, delightfully situated near the Eagle in Snaresbrook, on the confines of the Epping Forest. The charity was first instituted at Hackney in 1827, and was incorporated in 1843, after the completion of the present asylum, of which the foundation stone was laid by his late lamented Boyal Highness Prince Albert, on the 24th of July, 1841, on which occasion upwards of 400 ladies placed upon the stone, after the ceremony was over, purses of not less than five guineas; thus raising nearly £3000, in addition to other large subscriptions from the gentlemen present. The building presents a long front, with projecting wings, in the Elizabethan style, and is now the asylum of about 600 fatherless children. The object of this valuable charity is to board, clothe, nurse, and educate (in accordance with the principles of the Church of England) poor orphan children, or the children of confirmed lunatics. It is designed more especially for such as are respectably descended; and many orphans of clergymen, of officers in the army and navy, of members of the medical profession, and of merchants (once in affluence), have found refuge within its walls : none, however, are excluded whose parents have maintained themselves by their own industry, independent of parochial aid. Children, are eligible from every part of the empire, and from the earliest period of life. They remain till eight years of age; the Asylum being intended as a nursery for all those institutions where admission is necessarily limited to children of more advanced age such as Christ's Hospital, the London Orphan Asylum, the Clergy Orphan School, the Female Orphan Asylum, &c. Until the establishment of this charity, no asylum existed for infant orphans, and its protection has already been extended to about 1500  children. It is liberally supported by more than 7000 subscribers, residing in all parts of the country, and its annual expenditure is about £7000. Her Majesty is a liberal patroness of (his charity, which has its office at 46, Ludgate hill, London, where Mr. William Henry Green is secretary.
The MERCHANT SEAMEN'S ORPHAN ASYLUM at Snaresbrook, was built in 1861-2, in lieu of the old one, at Bow, which was founded in 1827. The new asylum is a large and handsome building, with room for about 150 orphans. At New Wanstead are 24 Almshouses for poor Weavers of
London and their wives or widows.