Suburban Noize Records

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Admin
Suburban Noize Records

Suburban Noize Records

Although not so grand as famous City churches like St. Bartholomew the Great, the tiny church of St. Mary the Virgin is just as historic and ancient. It has been serving the suburban community of Little Ilford for over 900 years. Once part of rural Essex, it is now within Greater London and easy to reach by public transport.

Little Ilford was the name of a manor recorded in Domesday Book in 1066, and was applied to the whole parish although it covers several manors. It was much more sparsely populated than nearby Great Ilford until Victorian times. St. Mary the Virgin was the only church in Little Ilford until 1894. It continued as parish church until 1938, when it became a chapel of neighbouring St. Michael and All Angels. Its churchyard, a tiny patch of greenery amid the urban sprawl, is home to many native English plants.

Connections to Saint Thomas More and Queen Elizabeth I

Notable figures connected with St. Mary the Virgin include a saint’s son-in-law and a Tudor Queen’s favourite. In 1532 Sir Giles Heron, son-in-law to Sir (later Saint) Thomas More, sold the estate to the Crown. It eventually passed to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, then to many other owners. In 1854, most of the land was sold to the City of London Corporation for its new cemetery.