Place Name
Edward Stillingfleet (April 17, 1635 – March 27, 1699) was a dean of St Paul’s Cathedral from 1677 until 1689. He was an outstanding preacher and known as “the beauty of holiness” for his good looks in the pulpit. Born at Cranborne, Dorset, at the age of 13 he went to St John’s College, Cambridge After graduating in 1652 he became vicar of Sutton, Bedfordshire, before moving to London as vicar at St Andrew, Holborn. He preached at St Margaret, Westminster on October 10, 1666, the “day of humiliation and fasting” after the Great Fire of London, with such an attendance that there was standing room only. Samuel Pepys recorded that he could not get in to hear the sermon, so headed off to the pub for a meal of herrings. Stillingfleet then held many preferments, including a Royal Chaplaincy, and the Deanery of St Paul’s, the latter role involved him in work connected with the building of the new cathedral. He became Bishop of Worcester in 1689. He was a frequent speaker in the House of Lords, and had considerable influence as a churchman. Like many of the streets around Barnes after a former Dean of St Paul’s Cathedrals, who have been lords of the manor in Barnes since Saxon times when it was given to them by King Athelstan, the grandson of Alfred the Great. Athelstan became the first monarch to make London the seat of Government and his work included restoring St Paul’s Cathedral to its former state after nearly 300 years of neglect. Profits from the manor went to pay for the upkeep of the building and the clergy. The road was only build around 1927 until then it had been part of Lonsdale Farm.
