This mace was carried by one of the Parish Beadles. Before 1829, there was no Metropolitan Police. Constables and beadles appointed by the Vestry were responsible for keeping order in the parish. Beadles of the day were a mix of a security guard and a verger. They kept order in and around the church and churchyard. The imposing beadle’s stick was a badge of authority, and was occasionally wielded as a weapon.
The Parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields
As the parish church, St Martin-in-the-Fields once played a central role in local administration, with responsibilities that included law and order, sanitation, poor relief, and education.
The parish once stretched as far as Knightsbridge. As London expanded, new churches were built and corresponding parishes were carved out. Some street lamps in the parish still bear the badge of St Martin and the Beggar.
The church ran an almshouse, a library, a workhouse on the site now occupied by the National Portrait Gallery, and at one time, even a bathhouse. It also founded nine schools, including Central St Martins in 1854.
The Parish Vestry was the equivalent of today’s local council. St Martin’s was one of the few parishes to have a closed vestry. From 1662 to 1830, its 49 members, including the vicar, formed a self-selecting body. A 1715 enquiry into closed vestries found St Martin’s account books in a questionable state, with expenses such as white wine listed as communion wine. In the 1830s, after protests by parishioners, the vestry door was broken down and the arrangement was declared illegal.
Vestries were officially abolished in 1894, when the civil and ecclesiastical functions of the church were formally separated.