Parish of St John the Evangelist, Stanmore , Church of England

In 1841 the parish of Great Stanmore was 1,441 acres in size, bounded to the north by Bushey Heath, to the east by the border of Hertfordshire, and to the south and west by Harrow.

A parish clerk was appointed from 1508 while churchwardens were first mentioned in 1580. The Vestry met on average 3 or 4 times a year, usually in the Queen's Head public house but subsequently at the church, workhouse or schoolroom. Parish officials appointed by the Vestry included overseers of the poor, surveyors of highways, a beadle, organist and sexton. The Vestry regulated the parish charities and provided poor relief in the provision of money, clothes, food and coal, management of two parish houses and the workhouse, and the provision of a medical officer and free vaccinations. The Vestry also appointed night watchmen and purchased fire-engines.

The advowson of the parish church was held by the abbot of Saint Albans in 1119. After the Reformation it passed to the owners of the manor until 1742 when the advowson was left to trustees and thus separated from the manor. Glebe lands attached to the living measured 32 acres in 1680, but this was steadily reduced, measuring 2 acres in 1940.

From around 1300 until 1632 the parish church stood on what became the corner of Old Church Lane and Wolverton Road. In 1632 a new church was constructed and dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist. This church became too small and its ruins stand in the churchyard of its replacement, built in 1849.

Source of information: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 102-107. Available online.