LITTLE STANMORE

LITTLE STANMORE, (or Stanmore Parva) a parish in the hundred of Gore, county Middlesex, 1 mile S.E. of Great Stanmore, and half a mile N.W. of Edgware.

At the time of the Domesday survey it was held by Roger de Rames, or Reymes, and came with Great Stanmore to Smithfield Priory. At the Dissolution it was given by the name of Canons to the Losses, whose old seat has been converted into the "Chandos Arms" inn. It afterwards became the property of, the Lakes, and subsequently of Brydges, Duke of Chandos, whose building taste has been immortalised by Pope. The mansion of Canons, in this parish, which cost the Duke of Chandos £250,000, was taken down in 1747, was rebuilt by the Hallets, occupied by Kelly the owner of Eclipse, who is buried in the park, and now belongs to the Marquis of Abercorn. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of London, value £405. The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, was rebuilt in 1715, principally at the cost of the then Duke of Chandos, to whom it is also indebted for its interior decorations. The ceiling and walls were painted by Laguerre, and on either side of the altar are pictures of the Nativity and a dead Christ by Belluchi. On the N. side of the chancel is the family vault of Brydges, Duke of Chandos, with a monument to James, the first duke; and in the church-yard is the tomb of Coventry, author of "Pompey the Little," who figures in Madame D'Arblay's Memoirs. At the opening of the church, in 1720, Handel's "Esther," which is said to have been written especially for the occasion, was performed for the first time. The parochial charities produce about £111 per annum, of which £90 belong to Lake's school and almshouses, the latter being for seven poor persons. [Not named on all 2003 street maps, Church site is Whitchurch Lane.]

[Description(s) from "The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland" (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]
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