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the history of Leyton and Leytonstone
from . dot to … dots – with plenty of spaces
The east end of the parish church of St Mary’s is thought to have had in the earlier 17th century not an altar but a monument to Michael and Elizabeth Hicks of Ruckholt Manor. William Ryder of Leyton Grange manor paid for an extension of the chancel just before he died in 1611 1 , and a large memorial was erected to Ryder (later buried in the wall) 1. In 1638, when King Charles I and William Laud Archbishop of Canterbury were trying to reduce Puritan influence, Leyton’s churchwardens were ordered to place a communion table at the upper end of the chancel, with railings and kneeling places around it 2.
The Church
1540 - 1642, The Dissolution of the Monasteries to the Civil War
2 VCH