Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for NEWINGTON

NEWINGTON, a quondam village, a parish, and a district, in Surrey. The quondam village stood 1½ mile S of St. Paul's, London; was anciently known as Neweton and Newnton; took afterwards the name of Newington-Butts, from butts for archery-practice in an open fieldadjacent to it; and became completely absorbed by the extension of the metropolis. The parish includes also the quondam hamlet of Walworth; is now, with the exception of some ornamental open spaces, all a part of the metropolis; has very numerous streets, some of themspacious, many will edificed, and most running in straight lines, chiefly at right angles with one another, or with such angular connections as comport well with convenience; includes the great central thoroughfare around the Elephant and Castle inn, at the convergence of the streets from the six principal metropolitan bridges over the Thames, and at the divergence thence of the three great lines of thoroughfare to the S E, the S, and the S W; extends along both sides of the southward main street line to the boundary with Camberwell; forms part of Lambeth borough; has ready access to all the stations of the south-eastward, the southward, and the south-westward railways going from the metropolis; and contains several post-offices, ‡ and several postal pillars, under London S. The Fishmongers' alms-houses, or St. Peter's hospital, founded in 1721 for 42 inmates, formerly stood here; and a stone in the building recorded that part of Cnut's or Canute's trench came hither from thespot where the Surrey docks were cut, and was called the Tygris. St. Katherine's hospital, the Drapers' alms-houses, the Surrey asylum for discharged prisoners, and an old moated parsonage, also were here. The countyjail in Horsemonger-lane, the county sessions-house on the E side of Newington-causeway, the female orphan home in Charlotte-row, and an institution for the reception of females in Gloucester-place are now here; and, at the census of 1861, had respectively 190, 26, and 20 in-mates. An elegant vestry hall was built in 1865-6, at a cost of about £10,000; stands at the corner of a new street and of Walworth road, on the estate of the Fish-mongers' company; has a frontage of 110 feet to the new street, and of 90 feet to the Walworth road; consists of red bricks, with Portland stone dressings, and with polished red granite columns; is roofed with green Westmoreland and grey slates, laid in patterns; and contains, on the first floor, a hall 42 feet by 20, two committee rooms 30 feet by 20, and 20 feet by 19, and an ante-room 19 feet by 12. J. D. Hume, who compiled the new Custom-house code, was a native. Acres, 624. Real property, £107, 300. Pop. in 1851, 64, 816; in 1861, 82, 220. Houses, 12, 740.

The parish originally formed one charge, and was called Newington, St. Mary; but was cut ecclesiastically, in 1826, into the three sections of N., St. Mary, Southwark-Holy Trinity, and Walworth, St. Peter; and is now cut into the five additional sections of N.-All Saints, N., St. Stephen, N., St. Matthew, Walworth, St. John, and Walworth, St. Paul. The living of N., St. Mary is a rectory, and the other livings are p. curacies in the diocese of London. Value of St. Mary, £900; * of All Saints and Holy Trinity, each £300; of St. Peter and St. Paul, each £300; * of St. John, £200; of St. Stephen and St. Matthew, not reported. Patron of St. Mary and All Saints, the Bishop of London; of Holy Trinity and St. Peter, the Rector of Newington, St. Mary; of St. John and St. Paul, the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury; of St. Stephen and St. Matthew, not reported. St. Mary'schurch was rebuilt in 1721, and much enlarged in 1793; is a brick structure, with a low tower; contains a monument by Bacon to the wife of Bishop Horsley, and a monument of Powel the king of the gypsies; and had Bishops Horsley and Stillingfleet as rectors. Holy Trinity church was rebuilt in 1861, at a cost of £5, 250, exclusive of the site; is in the early decorated English style; and consists of nave, aisle, transepts, and chancel, with tower and vestry. St. Peter's church was built in the early part of the present century, by the parliamentary commissioners. All Saints church, in Surrey-square Old Kent-road, was built in 1865, at a cost of about £5, 600, exclusive of the upper part of the tower and of the spire, which were afterwards to be added; is in the decorated English style, of the 14th century; and comprises a nave 82 feet by 30, N and S aisles 15 feet wide, small transepts, and a chancel 30 feet by 22. The non-established places of worship, at the census of 1851, were3 of Independents, with 2, 322 sittings; 7 of Baptists, with 2, 654 s.; 2 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 1, 603 s.; 1 of New Connexion Methodists, with 582 s.; 1 of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion, with 500 s.; 2 undefined, with400 s.; 1 of the Catholic and Apostolic Church, with 400s.; and 1 of Latter Day Saints, with 60 s. Other non-established places of worship have been erected since1851; and the chief of these is the Baptist great building called the Tabernacle, erected in 1861 for Mr. Spurgeon, adorned with a lofty hexastyle Corinthian portico, and containing about 5,000 sittings. The schools, at the census of 1851, were 9 public day schools, with 2, 441scholars; 133 private day schools, with 3,063 s.; 17 Sunday schools, with 3, 596 s.; and 4 evening schools foradults, with 56 s. Three of the public day schools, with1, 431 scholars, were national ones connected with the Church of England; 2, with 78 and 123 s., were connected with the Independents and the Wesleyans; 2, with 100 and 345 s., were national and British, not connected with any denomination; and 2, with 364 s., were subscription schools.

The district is conterminate with the parish; and is divided into the sub-districts of Trinity-Newington, St. Peter-Walworth, and St. Mary-Newington. Trinitysub-d. consists of the original chapelry of Holy Trinity, as constituted in 1826. Acres, 142. Pop. in 1851, 20, 922; in 1861, 22, 675. Houses, 3, 410. St. Peter sub-d. consists of the original chapelry of St. Peter, as constituted in 1826. Acres, 321. Pop. in 1851, 29, 861; in 1861, 44, 463. Houses, 6, 971. St. Mary sub-d. consists of the rest of the parish. Acres, 161. Pop. in 1851, 14,033; in 1861, 15,082. Houses, 2, 355. Poor-rates of the district in 1863, £29, 983. Marriages in 1863, 919; births, 3, 233, of which-127 were illegitimate; deaths, 2, 180, of which 1,009 were at ages under5 years, and 33 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 8, 962; births, 26, 772; deaths, 16, 756. The workhouse is in Walworth; and, at the census of 1861, had 501 inmates.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a quondam village, a parish, and a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Newington Vest/AP/CP       Newington St Mary RegD/PLPar       Surrey AncC
Place names: NEWETON     |     NEWINGTON     |     NEWNTON
Place: Newington

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