A Brief History of St Peter & St Paul's Church Grays.
How old is the church? How long have there been Christians in Grays?
Pretty certainly the local people were Christians in Roman times, 1,700 years ago, but later Saxon immigrants were pagans and a Christian community may not have been re-established until well into the 7th century.
The first firm evidence comes in 1040 A.D. when a Priest, Wulfstan the Wild One, inherited the Manor of Thurrock, and then in 1086, a Chaplain, Godwin of Thurrock witnessed a grant at South Ockendon.
There is no evidence of a Saxon church either in documents or in the existing structure, although an earlier building may have been demolished. The earliest architectual style identified in the present structure and in old drawings is Norman, and it has been concluded that the present building dates from a few years either side of 1,100 and was built by the Peverels, who were the Lords of the Manor.
We know that the church existed before 1160, for it was given to the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem by William de Ferrers sometime between 1152 and 1159. William de Ferrers had come into possession of the Church and Manor by marrying Margaret the daughter of William Peverel and grand-daughter of the first Norman Lord of the Manor. William de Ferrers not only gave away the Church but also sold the Manor possibly at about the same time Isaac, son of Josce the Rabbi, showing concern for both his spiritual and earthly needs.
The Manor came into the hands of the King probably on Isaac's death. This may have been a method of collecting death duties from those who were not the King's subjects whereby their lands were confiscated and then sold back to the heir at a substantial discount. It was Isaac's heir who sold Thurrock Manor to Henry de Grey in 1195. So started the long association of the de Grey family with the area, which was to give its name to Grays Thurrock.
Returning to the story of the building, the oldest part consists of the present chancel and the part of the nave to a point a few feet west of the old south door. The south chapel is entered through an arch which is dated to 1280-90 and this has caused some authorities to date the chapel's construction to that time. However at least two 19th century drawings show early Norman round headed windows in its east and west walls and it is more likely that the arch was introduced in order to improve the access to the chapel and that the chapel dates from the original construction of the church, or even before, for it was the memorial chapel. The tower was added at about 1230.
No additions took place whilst the church was in the care of the Knights Hospitallers, nor were they needed since the town was growing only slowly. In fact much of the income from the Parish went specifically to support the priory in Clerkenwell.
For 300 years after the Order was suppressed in 1540, the repair of the church was the main concern. The tower needed urgent repair in 1685, and the top part was taken down and rebuilt in 1722 and again in 1770 and it was rotten and unsafe in 1846.
We now come to the two major reconstructions. In the early 19th centruy the population of the small market town of Grays was growing with the growth of industry and the church had to provide more accommodation. In 1846 the nave and and top part of the tower were rebuilt and a gallery was added and the whole building was re-roofed. This was not big enough and in 1867 the nave and the north aisle was added. It is supposed with reasonable certainty that the intention at the time was to add a south aisle when the population growth required it. However the need was resolved by building new churches, All Saints in Williams Street (Now belongs to Thurrock Christian Fellowship), designated in 1886 and later, St John's in College Road, now in Victoria Avenue.
Apart from the addition of the north vestry in the 1930's there have been no extensions of the building since. There have been several re-orderings internally including opening up the chapel under the tower and the installation of the bells. Most recently a major re-ordering was completed in 2008 and the south chapel was restored in 2013.
The church is open on some Saturday mornings for those who wish to have a look inside.
“If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first atchurchmicro@gmail.com so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication. There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list”
Cache placed in the church grounds with the kind permission of Grays Thurrock Team Ministry.