EdwardCaswall


Edward Caswall: Famous hymnwriter born in Yateley

Contributed by Valerie Kerslake for St Peter's Church Millennium Festival, 2000

 

The hymn-writer Edward Caswall was a son of the Revd Robert Clarke Caswall, vicar of Yateley -- or more precisely, perpetual curate of Yateley and Sandhurst. Edward was born in 1814 at Yateley Vicarage which at that time was in Vicarage Road. The building was greatly extended and later on divided, but part of the original facade can still be seen on the part of house larger house which is now called West Glebe. A hundred years ago the vicarage was described by a later vicar, the Revd C. D. Stooks:

 

The nucleus was built by the Revd R. C. Caswall, Vicar of Yateley from 1804-14. He was a man of private means himself, but thought it was the duty of the Clergyman of a small country Parish to live in a house not too dissimilar from the houses of his poorer parishioners. He therefore built himself what was practically not much more than a cottage, containing two small sitting rooms, a kitchen and four small bedrooms, including servant's room. Mr Hancock and Mr Hammond who followed appear to have been content with this accommodation but Mr Lewin, who was the next Incumbent, built on two servantsā€˜ bedrooms and a scullery. In 1875-6 Mr Sumner added a bow to one of the sitting rooms, and built on a large dining room, with bedroom and dressing room over it, on the east side of the house.

Mr Stooks, with fifteen children, extended it still further.

 

Glebe House

An older house on the site had been purchased by Revd Caswall and the new house was built by Mr Caswall for himself and his successors; the poky little parsonage that used to stand south-west of the church was not popular with incumbents. The new site, later known as Glebe House, included a large garden and about four acres of glebe land to provide pasture for the vicar's personal benefit. After he left the Vicarage Revd Caswall presented it to the Trustees of Queen Anne's Bounty (a fund to help poor clergy).

 

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