Nicholas de Heddeshore (1291) and Richard de Barton (1301)
How far back can we trace the names of the priests who served St Nicholas Church in Sutton? We know that a church existed here long before 1291, but it is in that year that we find the earliest named rector in the surviving records: Nicholas de Heddeshore.
Thanks to the medieval registers of the Bishops of Winchester, we can establish the precise dates on which Nicholas and his successor, Richard de Barton, were appointed. Remarkably, the original Latin accounts of both appointments have survived.
Nicholas de Heddeshore — 23 October 1291
Nicholas was instituted as Rector of Sutton on 23 October 1291, during the reign of King Edward I.
His appointment is recorded in the register of John de Pontoise, Bishop of Winchester (1282–1304).
The original Latin reads:
INSTITUCIO NICHOLAI DE EDDESHORE AD ECCLESIAM DE SUTTON.
Item memorandum quod x. Kalendas Novembris. Anno domini supradicto loco proxime supradicto admissus fuit Nicholaus de Heddeshore ad ecclesiam de Sutton, et Rector institutus ad presentacionem Abbatis et Conventus de Certeseya et habuit literam ... Archidiacono Surreye directam in communi forma ad inducendum eum etc.
English translation:
Institution of Nicholas de Eddeshore to the Church of Sutton.
Likewise, a memorandum that on the tenth day before the Kalends of November, in the aforesaid year of the Lord and at the place immediately aforementioned, Nicholas de Heddeshore was admitted to the church of Sutton and instituted as Rector upon the presentation of the Abbot and Convent of Chertsey. He received a letter addressed to the Archdeacon of Surrey, in the customary form, for his induction.
The date uses the Roman method of counting backwards from the beginning of the following month. The tenth day before 1 November, counting inclusively, is 23 October.
The document also tells us that Chertsey Abbey held the right to present the rector of Sutton. The bishop formally instituted Nicholas, while the Archdeacon of Surrey was instructed to arrange his induction into the parish.
We know very little about Nicholas himself, but his name has not been forgotten. Heddeshore House in St Nicholas Way, Sutton, was deliberately named in honour of this earliest recorded priest of Sutton.
Richard de Barton — 26 September 1301
Almost ten years later, the same bishop's register records the appointment of Nicholas's successor, Richard de Barton.
The Latin record reads:
ADMISSIO AD ECCLESIAM DE SUTTON JUXTA KERSAULTON.
J. [etc.] dilecto filio Ricardo de Barton Acolito salutem [etc.]. Ad ecclesiam de Sutton juxta Kersaulton nostre diocesis vacantem ad quam per Religiosos viros ... Abbatem et Conventum de Certeseye presentatus existis te admittimus et Rectorem instituimus in eadem. In cujus etc. Data apud Suwerk vj. Kalendas Octobris. Anno supradicto. Item sub eadem data directa fuit littera domino Archidiacono Surreye ad inducendum dictum Ricardum in corporalem possessionem ecclesie supradicte.
English translation:
Admission to the Church of Sutton near Carshalton.
John [Bishop of Winchester], to his beloved son Richard de Barton, acolyte, greeting.
We admit you to the church of Sutton near Carshalton, in our diocese, which is vacant and to which you have been presented by the religious men, the Abbot and Convent of Chertsey, and we institute you as Rector of the same.
Given at Southwark on the sixth day before the Kalends of October, in the year aforesaid.
Likewise, on the same date, a letter was sent to the Archdeacon of Surrey to induct the said Richard into bodily possession of the aforesaid church.
The sixth day before 1 October, counting inclusively, is 26 September 1301.
There are several interesting details here. Sutton is described as Sutton juxta Kersaulton — Sutton near Carshalton — showing how the settlement was identified at the time.
Richard is also described as an acolyte, a clerical rank below that of priest. This suggests that he had not yet received priestly ordination when he was appointed rector.
The document states that the church was vacant but does not explain why Nicholas's incumbency had ended. We cannot say whether he had died, resigned or moved to another appointment.
Where do these records come from?
Both entries survive in the episcopal register of John de Pontoise, Bishop of Winchester, who held office from 1282 until 1304.
The register was transcribed and edited by Cecil Deedes and published as:
Registrum Johannis de Pontissara, Episcopi Wyntoniensis, A.D. MCCLXXXII–MCCCIV, Canterbury and York Society, volumes 19 and 30 (1915–1924).
The first volume is available to read online through the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/canterburyyork19unknuoft
These are not simply dates repeated in later histories. They come from contemporary ecclesiastical records documenting the formal appointment of the rectors.
More than 700 years of recorded ministry
The records establish two important dates in the history of St Nicholas:
We should remember that Nicholas was the first rector whose name appears in our surviving list, not necessarily the first priest ever to serve Sutton. The medieval church and its ministry almost certainly have a much longer history.
Nevertheless, these two documents mark the beginning of an identifiable succession of clergy stretching from medieval Sutton to the parish church we know today.
And perhaps the most remarkable thing is that, more than seven centuries later, Nicholas de Heddeshore's name still forms part of Sutton's local heritage.
