Click on the links below to see past brasses of the month:
February 2003 Nicholas Gaynesford, 1498, Carshalton, Surrey
March 2003 George Rede, c. 1492, Fovant, Wiltshire
April 2003 Thomas Stathum, 1470, Morley, Derbyshire
May 2003 Richard Torryngton, c.1380-
June 2003 Adam Ertham, 1382, Arundel, Sussex
July 2003 John Lawe, c.1480, Derby Cathedral, Derbyshire
August 2003 William Frith, 1386, & John Bradwell, Shottesbrook, Berks
September 2003 Sir Richard Fitzlewes, 1528, Ingrave, Essex
October 2003 Joan, Lady Cromwell, 1479, Tattershall, Lincolnshire
November 2003 John Gyger, 1504, Tattershall, Lincolnshire
December 2003 Richard Disney, d. 1578, Norton Disney, Lincolnshire
January 2004 Joan de Cobham, c. 1305-
February 2004 Henry Notingham, c. 1405, Holme-
March 2004 John Wybarne, 1505, Ticehurst, Sussex
April 2004 William Bradschawe, 1537, Wendover, Buckinghamshire
May 2004 Thomas Tompkins, 1629, Llandinabo, Herefordshire
June 2004 William de Wermington, c. 1330, Crowland, Lincolnshire
July 2004 Lucasz de Gorka, 1475, Poznan, Poland
August 2004 Unknown knight, c. 1475, Society of Antiquaries, London
September 2004 Sir Andrew de Herley, 1382, Allensmore, Herefordshire
October 2004 Nicholas Fraunceis, 1526, Combe Florey, Somerset
November 2004 Prior Thomas Nelond, 1432,Cowfold, Sussex
December 2004 Unknown, c. 1500, Cobham, Surrey
January 2005 John Hardman, 1867, St. Mary's Convent, Handsworth
February 2005 Sir John Say, 1473, Broxbourne, Herts
March 2005 Sir Hugh Hastings, 1347, Elsing, Norfolk
April 2005 Sir John Clerk, 1539, Thame, Oxfordshire.
May 2005 Olivier de la Chapelle, 1508, La Chapelle-
June 2005 Katherine Franckleyn, 1552, Sturry, Kent
July 2005 Sir Edward Warner, 1565, Little Plumstead, Norfolk
August 2005 Thomas Tonge, 1472, Beeford, Yorkshire
September 2005 William Wadham, 1411, llminster, Somerset
October 2005 Margaret Chute (d. 1614), Marden, Herefordshire
November 2005 John Strete (d. 1406), Upper Hardres, Kent
December 2005 Edward Grymston, 1478, Thorndon, Suffolk
January 2006 Elizabeth Tempest, 1845, Skipton, Yorkshire
February 2006 Sir Thomas Brudenell, 1586, Deene, Northamptonshire
March 2006 Thomas King, 1523, Rendham, Suffolk
April 2006 Brother Robert Beauner, c. 1450-
May 2006 Lady Anne Danvers, 1539, Dauntsey, Wiltshire
June 2006 Thomas, Lord Berkeley, 1392, Wotton-
July 2006 John Eldred, 1632, Great Saxham,Suffolk
August 2006 Dame Agnes Jordan, 1546, Denham, Buckinghamshire
September 2006 King Eric Menved and Queen Ingeborg, 1319, Ringsted, Denmark
October 2006 Margaret Lambart (d.1608), Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire
November 2006 Archbishop Samuel Harsnett, 1631, Chigwell, Essex
December 2006 John Samwell and wife, c. 1505, Cottisford, Oxfordshire
January 2007 Hugues des Hazards, (1517) bishop of Toul, Blénod-
February 2007 Valentine Edvarod, 1574, St Nicholas at Wade, Kent
March 2007 Edmund Hunt, 1558, Hindolveston, Norfolk
April 2007 Sir Peter Rede, 1568, St Peter, Norwich, Norfolk
May 2007 Sir Adam de Clyfton, Methwold, 1367, Norfolk
June 2007 George Talbot, Fourth Earl of Shrewsbury, 1538, Sheffield, Yorkshire
July 2007 Walter Curson, 1527, and Isabel, his wife, Waterperry, Oxfordshire
August 2007 John Byrkhede, d. 1468, Harrow-
September 2007 Lost brass of a lady, c.1415, Castleacre, Norfolk
October 2007 Christopher Daubeney, 1587, Sharrington, Norfolk
November 2007 Edward Naylor, 1632, Bigby, Lincolnshire
December 2007 William Armorer, 1560, All Hallows-
January 2008 A Lady, probably Agnes de Bradeston, c1370, Winterbourne, Gloucestershire
February 2008 John Strensall, 1408, Boston, Lincolshire
March 2008 Ann Fitch, 1593, Little Canfield, Essex
April 2008 Jeha(n) Buccilier and his wife, Police, 1494, Toul,
France
May 2008 William de Grey [1495] and his wives Mary and
Grace, Merton, Norfolk
June 2008 John Stonor, 1512, Wraysbury,
Buckinghamshire
July 2008 Thomas Cod, 1465, St Margaret at Antioch,
Rochester, Kent
August 2008 John Bartelot, d. 1428/9, and wife Joan
de Stopham, Stopham, Sussex
September 2008 Edmund Clere, d. 1488, and wife Elizabeth, Stokesby, Norfolk
October 2008 Reginald Spycer, 1442, and wives, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
November 2008 Ann Tyrell, 1638, Stowmarket, Suffolk
December 2008 Margaret Bacon, 1626/7, Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire
January 2009 Unknown civilian, c 1520, Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire
February 2009 John Alnwyk, 1460, Surlingham, Norfolk
March 2009 Lady Sydney Wynne, Llanrwst, Denbighshire
April 2009 Gotthard and Margaretha von Höveln, 1571, Marienkirche, Lübeck
May 2009 Dorothie Brewster, 1613, Willingale Doe, Essex
June 2009 Sir John de Wyngefeld, 1389, Letheringham, Suffolk
July 2009 Gabriel Pluyette, 1634, Roissy-
August 2009 Incised slabs to lepers, Dijon, France
September 2009 Lost Brass: Ralph de Hengham, St Paul’s Cathedral, London
October 2009 Reginald de Assche, Ash-
November 2009 John Repps, 1561, & wives Margaret & Thomasene, West Walton, Norfolk
December 2009 Francis Saunders, 1585, & wives Elizabeth, Eleanor and Frances, Welford, Northamptonshire
January 2010 Inscription on font to Sir Ralph Pudsay, his third wife
Edwina & his son William, Bolton-
February 2010 John Kyngeston, 1514, and wife Susan, Childrey, Berkshire
March 2010 Anne Bedingfield, 1641, Darsham, Suffolk
April 2010 Ambroise de Villiers, 1503, formerly in the abbey of
Notre-
May 2010 Christopher Playters, 1547 (C17 engraving), Sotterley, Suffolk
June 2010 Nicholas Toke, 1680, and his three daughters, Great Chart, Kent
July 2010 Duchess Zedena, 1510, Meissen cathedral, Saxony, Germany
August 2010 Anne Butts, 1609, Redgrave, Suffolk
September 2010 Thomas Shernborne, 1458/9, and wife Jamon, Shernborne, Norfolk
October 2010 Margery or Anne Clopton, 1420, Long Melford, Suffolk
November 2010 Dirick Lode, 1507, St John’s church, Cēsis, Latvia
December 2010 William & Margaret Stapilton, c. 1440, Helhoughton, Norfolk
January 2011 Brass lease, 1568, St Mary’s Hall, Coventry
February 2011 Agnes & Jane Hopper, 1625, St Cross, Oxford
March 2011 Ralph Blenerhaysett, 1475, Frenze, Norfolk
April 2011 Arthur Dericote, 1562, and four wives, Mary, Emma, Margaret and Joan, Hackney, Middlesex
May 2011 Geoffrey Boleyn, 1440, and wife Alice, Salle, Norfolk
June 2011 Bishop Johann II von Schleinitz, Zeitz, Germany
July 2011 Catherine Verney, 1657, Compton Verney, Warwickshire
August 2011 Thomas Cawarden, 1592/3, and wife, Mavesyn Ridware, Staffordshire
September 2011 Joost van Amstel van Mijnden, 1554, Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, Netherlands
October 2011 Susanna Gartside, 1668, Rochdale, Lancashire
November 2011 Sir William Burgate, 1409, Burgate, Suffolk
December 2011 Stillborn son of Elector Johann Georg I, 1608, Freiberg Cathedral, Germany
January 2012 Thomas Tyard, 1505/6, & Philip Tenison, 1660/1, Bawburgh, Norfolk
Brass of the Month
Come back next month to see another Brass of the Month.
February 2012 – Thomas and Elizabeth Drake, c. 1520, Forncett St Peter, Norfolk
The positioning of the shield, upside down in relation to the half effigies, indicates
that it was meant to be viewed from the top (effigial) end of the slab. The heads
of the half effigies would have been at the west end of the slab, as was normal for
monuments to lay people. The inscriptions were also meant to be read from the top
end and so would have also been upside down compared with the effigies. Just enough
remains legible to confirm this. The slab is chamfered on two sides. The indication
is that the tomb was likely to have been against the north side of the church and
inaccessible from its east end, suggesting that it abutted an east wall, either of
the chancel or north aisle. As the most prestigious monument in the church, it would
be unsurprising to find it in such a prestigious place as the north-
Greenhill dated the slab to around 1520, others to 1485. Who is correct? The form of the tomb chest, with shields in cusped lozenges set in square cusped panels, is one that was obviously current from the early 1480s to the 1530s to judge from other alabaster tombs. However, there were two slightly different forms of these panels used in that period, one succeeding the other in the early years of the sixteenth century. The Forncett panels are of the later type. At each of the three corners of the tomb chest is a spiral colonette. These are a purely sixteenth century feature of alabaster tombs. The best parallel to the Forncett monument is the tomb of Sir Simon Digby, died 1519/20, at Coleshill in Warwickshire. It has both the same type of panel and the angle colonettes. Supporting the date assigned to the slab by Greenhill are a couple of references to Thomas and Elizabeth Drake in the Buxton papers in Cambridge University Library. On 24 May 1509 a lease of land in Forncett and Wacton was granted to a number of people including Elizabeth Elys, widow, described as the future wife of Thomas Drake of Forncett, for the life of Elizabeth. On 24 August 1517, Thomas Drake of Forncett was one of the recipients of a gift of land in Tibenham and Gissing.
Copyright: Jon Bayliss
Alabaster tombs dating from before the Reformation are a rarity in East Anglia, as are alabaster incised slabs. The two are found in combination at Forncett St Peter in Norfolk, where the incised half effigies of Thomas Drake and his wife Elizabeth lie atop an alabaster tomb.
The identities of Thomas and his wife are known from Weever's Ancient Funerall Monuments (1631), which records two inscriptions:
Orate pro animabus Thome Drake et Elisabethe uxor eius
[Pray for the souls of Thomas Drake and Elizabeth his wife]
All Christian people that walk by thys tomb erly or late
Of your charity say a pater noster for the soul of Tho. Drake
There are six lines of inscription erased from the slab, each of the lines above being split in two. The 'O' of Orate can still be plainly seen as can parts of other words. The erasures were probably made around April or May 1644, when a man named Gilley is recorded visiting other churches in the area and ordering removal of superstitious inscriptions in line with the Parliamentary Ordinance of 28 August 1643. In December of that year, the earl of Manchester issued a warrant to William Dowsing to carry out this sort of work throughout the counties of the Eastern Association, which also enabled Dowsing to appoint deputies to do likewise. It is likely that his deputy in the hundred of Blackbourn in Suffolk and in the southern part of Norfolk was Clement Gilley of Troston, Suffolk, whose iconoclasm included the defacing of inscriptions on bells. Dowsing himself and his other deputies generally ignored bell inscriptions. The bells of Wacton and Tharston, parishes adjoining Forncett St Peter were damaged in this way and an attempt was made at Forncett St Peter to obliterate a similar inscription above the porch of of the church. Gilley's name is recorded in churchwardens' accounts covering this area of Norfolk in 1644 as 'Mr Gillie' at Banham before 21 April, 'Captaine Gilley' at Bressingham on 7 May, 'Captine Gille' at East Harling on 9 May and he was probably the unnamed captain present at Ashwellthorpe on 16 May 1644. In contrast to the scoring out of one line of a brass inscription at Ashwellthorpe, every word on the Drake monument at Forncett has been removed, including those round the shield on the lower half of the slab, which Weever did not record. This suggests that the man who erased the inscription was illiterate. Either he was asked to do this work in advance of Gilley's visit or orders were left by Gilley to remove the offending words. Also erased was the charge on the shield itself, raising the possibility that it was religious rather than the wyvern of the Drake family or that the man who did it was leaving nothing to chance, recognising only the effigies as inoffensive.
Strangely the two brass inscriptions remaining in the church each have an offending phrase left in place. They are interesting because they were obviously both cut at the same time, later than the dates on them, 1484 and 1535. They are London made, unusual for their nominal dates in inland areas of Norfolk, and are set in Purbeck marble. One, to Thomas Baxter, died 1535, who married Margaret, daughter of William Drake, has an inscription and a shield cut into the stone itself: THOMAS BAXTER 1535. The date appears to be in the same script as that on the brass. The name is in perfectly normal Roman capitals, not normally found on monuments in the mid 1530s. The other, to Richard Baxter, whose wife was called Isabel, has a shield cut into the stone in the same position as Thomas Baxter's and has traces of lettering above it, of which the E of Baxter can be made out. Each brass is cut on thin plate, typical of brasses much later in the sixteenth century, when the metal was being manufactured rather than imported. It is possible that they replaced earlier brasses with the same inscriptions. Despite his preoccupation with removing offending inscriptions on bells, Gilley does not appear to have been quite as interested in censoring memorial brasses in the same way and they were not drawn to the attention of the man who mutilated the Drake tomb.
References
F A Greenhill, Incised Effigial Slabs (1976), 2 vols
T Cooper, ed, The Journal of William Dowsing (2001), especially chapter 8, J Blatchly, ‘In search of bells: identifying iconoclasm in Norfolk, 1644’