Streatham's early history- Middle Ages
For most villagers, the Norman Conquest did not transform everyday life overnight. The fields still had to be worked and dues still had to be paid. Its most significant local effect was the redistribution of land, as William the Conqueror transferred former Saxon estates to his Norman followers.
Before the Conquest, Streatham was held by Harding under King Edward. After 1066, William granted Streatham and Tooting to his cousin, Richard of Tonbridge. Richard later gave both estates to the Benedictine Abbey of St Mary of Bec in Normandy, displacing the monks of Chertsey. The Domesday Survey also records a chapel at Streatham, valued at 8 shillings and served by the monks of Bec.
It is not known whether the monks rebuilt the earlier Saxon chapel, but the church soon acquired a clear identity. It was dedicated to St Leonard, the patron saint of Bec, endowed with tithes in Norman times, and recognised as a parish church by 1291.
The parish, probably late Saxon in origin, was substantial. Extending over about 2,500 acres, it included Balham, Tooting Bec, South Streatham and Streatham. In time, these areas formed the medieval manors of Tooting Bec, Leigham Court, Balham and South Streatham, the last of which was part of Vauxhall Manor.
The histories of these manors are complex, but their broad outlines are important, for they shaped the development of Streatham over many centuries.
Tooting and Streatham were later combined as Tooting Bec Manor. Its ownership passed through a notable succession of hands: the Abbot of Bec, Merton Priory, Henry VI, Eton College, Edward IV and All Hallows Barking. In 1548 it was sold to the Duke of Northumberland and then to Robert Packenham. Sir Giles Howland bought it in 1599, and it eventually passed to the Dukes of Bedford, who remained lords of the manor into the 19th century.
Leigham Court Manor had a similarly long history. Granted to Bermondsey Abbey in 1152, it remained there until the Dissolution. It then passed through several owners, including Henry Dawes, John Southcott, Sir Matthew Carew, John Howland, the Duke of St Albans and Lord Thurlow. After Thurlow’s death in 1806, the estate was sold in parts. Beriah Drew later bought 233 acres and, in 1839, laid out Leigham Court Road through the estate.
Balham’s history was quieter, though not without interest. At Domesday, Geoffrey Orlatiel held it without authority. In 1103 it was given to Bermondsey Abbey and was administered with Leigham until the Reformation. It later passed to Thomas Cromwell, the Crown, John Symonds and, in 1701, the Du Cane family, who retained it until the manor was dissolved in the following century.
Lower Streatham, part of Vauxhall Manor, also passed through several hands. It moved from Baldwin, Earl of Devon, to Edward I and later to other owners, including the Du Cane family and Crooke, Ellison and Bates. Centred near Greyhound Lane, it later included Bridge House Farm by the Graveney River and Streatham Farm by Green Lane, which formed part of the Coulthurst estate in the late 19th century.
By the late 19th century, the old manorial order was in rapid decline. Estates were divided for development, while former commons were preserved as public open spaces, including Tooting Bec Common in 1873 and Streatham Common in 1884.
New local authorities gradually assumed many powers once exercised by manors and church vestries. By the turn of the century, the manors had largely disappeared. One final link endured until 1966, when the right to appoint the priest of St Leonard’s passed from the Dukes of Bedford to the Bishop of Southwark.
The surviving evidence for medieval Streatham is limited, but it offers valuable glimpses of local life. Most of it comes from church and manor records, which suggest a hard and often short existence, still closely tied to the patterns of earlier centuries.
One indication of the village’s prosperity was the rebuilding of St Leonard’s Church in the mid-14th century. The work was led by Sir John Ward, a companion of the Black Prince. His effigy, made around 1370, remains in the present church, while the tower is the only surviving part of his building.
Medieval Streatham seldom attracted the attention of chroniclers, but the few recorded incidents are revealing.
In 1258, the Abbot of Bec, then lord of the manor, erected gallows in response to local lawlessness. More than a century later, in 1394, John Brabourne was taken from sanctuary in St Leonard’s and imprisoned at Guildford. King Richard II ordered his release and required those responsible to perform public penance for three Sundays.
Parish life provided some support in a difficult age. Records mention gifts to St Leonard’s for the altar, the poor, road repairs, the missal and church lighting. They also preserve a less edifying detail: the theft of candlesticks, vestments and other church goods.
