Latest news

Church Monuments Society: West Yorkshire Excursion

Our members Patrick Farman and Peter Hacker will be leading an excursion to Methley, Wragby, Darton and Thornhill churches (all normally kept locked) on Saturday 31 July 2010. It will start from Wakefield West Station at 10.30am. Cost £20 to CMS/MBS members, £25 to non-members, including morning coffee and afternoon tea but not lunch. Cheques payable to the ‘Church Monuments Society’ should be sent to Patrick Farman, 4 Hollins Crescent, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG1 2JG.

New Shire book on Brasses

Shire Books has published a new book on monumental brasses.

It has been written on behalf of the MBS by Sally Badham and

is profusely illustrated by photographs taken by Martin Stuchfield

especially for the book, which is of 64 pages and costs just £5.99.

It was launched at this year’s MBS City Churches Day on 25 July.

Nancy Briggs, M.A., F.S.A. (1929-2009)

Nancy Edwards, one of the senior vice-presidents of the Monumental Brass Society, died unexpectedly on Friday 23 January 2009. She will be much missed by members of the society and anyone else who knew her.

Featured website

Every few months, we will be featuring on the Links page a particular site from those links. The one currently featured is the Monumental Brasses Group from the flickr site. Click on Links to discover more.

Theft of a monumental brass

Have you seen this brass?

Stolen from St Benet's church in Cambridge, May 2008

Please contact either the Hon. Conservation Officer

Martin Stuchfield,

Lowe Hill House,

Stratford St. Mary,

Suffolk, CO7 6JX

(tel 01206 337239)

or e-mail

martinstuchfield@btconnect.com

or Crime Stoppers (tel 0800 555111).

Special MBS mousemats

Have you enjoyed visiting our website? Then you might like to buy a special, high-quality mousemat, unique to the MBS, featuring a superb direct colour photograph of a brass (from photos taken by Martin Stuchfield).

There are 10 designs in the initial range, as shown below, although additional designs will be available from time to time at Society meetings.

MM1 Ashford, Kent, unknown priest c.1282 (England’s earliest surviving brass)

MM2 Buslingthorpe, Lincs , Sir Richard de Buslingthorpe, d. c. 1340-4

MM3 Sherborne St. John, Hants, Margaret Brocas, c. 1380

MM4 Ashby St. Ledgers, Northants, John Catesby, 1404/5

MM5 Newland, Gloucestershire, Robert Greyndour, 1443

MM6 Broxbourne, Herts, Elizabeth Say, 1473

MM7 Tattershall, Lincolnshire, Joan, Lady Cromwell, 1490

MM8 Merton, Norfolk, Grace de Grey and daughters, 1495

MM9 Merton, Norfolk, William de Grey, 1495

MM10 Thame, Oxfordshire, Sir John Clerk, 1539

The cost of the mousemats is £4.50 at meetings; or £5 including postage and packing to the UK (for overseas postage please enquire to Suttonbadham@btinternet.com). Please send your order quoting the reference number of your chosen design (with cheque made payable to ‘The Monumental Brass Society’) to: Miss Sally Badham FSA, Dawn Cottage, Purrants Lane, Leafield, Oxfordshire OX29 9PN.

About half the sale price of each mousemat will go to the Conservation Fund., which is used to give grants to churches that are having their brasses conserved – see the Conservation webpage. Why not treat yourself (or give one to a friend) and know you are also helping the preservation of the brasses we all admire!

MM1

MM2

MM3

MM4

MM5

MM6

MM7

MM8

MM9

MM10

Please click here for the order form

New booklet on the care of brasses

Our Conservation Officer, Martin Stuchfield, has produced a downloadable short booklet with guidelines to assist parishes on the care of brasses. It is accessible via the Conservation page or click here.

New index to MBS Bulletin 1-100

To mark the issue of Bulletin 100, William Lack has compiled a complete index to Bulletins 1-100. This index comprises three sections:

1. A topographic list of references and illustrations, with all but the most trivial references to churches which contain, or have contained, brasses, incised slabs and allied monuments. Original references to the name of the person commemorated have been converted into references to the church concerned.

2. A general index which is not intended to be comprehensive but to list major papers, lecture reports, conference reports, etc.

3. An alphabetic index of books and important papers reviewed or described in the Notes on Books and Articles.

The link to the index is on the Publications index page, reached va the navigation bars on the top or side of this webpage.

Gift subscription scheme

Why not give a subscription to the MBS as a gift? It is great value for money.

Click here for further details.

Click here for application form

Thefts of monumental brasses

Have you seen these brasses?

STOLEN

in July 2002

from Lacock, Wilts

RETURNED

(and left in the church)

in October 2004

STOLEN

in July 2002

from Langridge, Somt

STOLEN

in July 2002

from Swainswick, Somt

STOLEN

in August 2002

from Fairford, Glouc

STOLEN

in August 2002

from Beckington, Somt

STOLEN

in May 2004

from Dauntsey, Wilts

In the course a few months in 2002, there was an extremely worrying spate of thefts of monumental brasses, mostly from West Country churches. The pattern of locations targeted and the common modus operandi for removing the brasses suggests that the thefts are probably the work of one person (probably with an accomplice to act as watch-out). A further brass was stolen from the same area in May 2004.

Over two years later, the Lacock figures were returned anonymously, being left in the the church. This may give hope that the other figures stolen at the same time will also be returned anonymously. In the meantime, if anyone sees the other brasses offered for sale, either in the UK or abroad (stolen brasses may pass quickly through a succession of dealers before being offered for open sale), please alert the MBS, who are in touch with the parishes from which these brasses came. Anyone with information regarding these thefts is asked to contact urgently either:

the Hon. Conservation Officer

Martin Stuchfield,

Lowe Hill House,

Stratford St. Mary,

Suffolk, CO7 6JX

(tel 01206 337239)

or e-mail

martinstuchfield@btconnect.com

or Crime Stoppers (tel 0800 555111).

If you have something you would like to contribute to our website e-mail:

jon.bayliss@btinternet.com

Page last updated 28 January 2010

Credits

Another fund-raising venture for the MBS Conservation Fund

Following the success of the range of mousemats featuring photographs of brasses the MBS is also offering a range of high-quality square acrylic coasters by mail order. About half the cost of each item will go to the Conservation Fund. There are currently six designs, although others will be available at meetings. The mail order range comprises:

C1 Ashford, Kent, unknown priest c1282 (our earliest English brass)

C2 Croft, Lincolnshire, unknown knight, c. 1340

C3 Dagenham, Essex, daughters of Sir Thomas Urswick, 1479

C4 Rougham, Norfolk, John & Roger Yelverton, 1505

C5 Narborough, Norfolk, resurrection plate from Sir John Spelman, 1545

C6 St. Laurence, Ipswich, Suffolk, palimpsest reverse MS. I, c. 1550.

The cost of these coasters is £2.50 each. P&P is extra, at 50p for 1, 75p for 2-4 and £1 for 5-6 within the UK. For quotes for larger numbers or for overseas postage please enquire by email to sallybadham@uwclub.net. Please send your order, quoting the reference code and numbers required, (with a cheque made payable to the MBS) to Miss Sally Badham FSA, Dawn Cottage, Purrants Lane, Leafield, Oxon OX29 9PN.