Vestry effect what would today usually be called a parochial church council, but was also responsible for all the secular parish business now dealt with by civil bodies, such as parish councils. Eventually, the vestry assumed a variety of tasks. It became responsible for appointing parish officials, such as the parish clerk, overseers of the poor, sextons and scavengers, constables and nightwatchmen. At the high point of their powers, just prior to removal of Poor Law responsibilities in 1834, the vestries spent not far short of one-fifth of the budget of the national government itself. More than 15,600 ecclesiastical parish vestries
Vestry House Museum Vestry House Museum Vestry House Museum is a history museum in Walthamstow, focusing on the heritage of the local area. The collection includes various artifacts dating from the Victorian Era to the 20th Century including numerous archived documents and photographs. Vestry House was originally built as a workhouse and was later used as a police station and also as private housing (amongst the exhibits is a replica police cell demonstrating one of the building's previous uses). The building became a museum in 1931. On permanent display in the museum is the Bremer Car, the first British motor car with an