August 2007: John Byrkhede, d. 1468, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex
August's brass of the month is, although damaged, of great interest.
Fig. 1 John Byrkhede, d. 1468 (rubbing prior to the loss of the top L. shield)
Headless and lacking parts of its canopy and inscription, as well as all but one
of its shields, the brass of John Byrkhede at St. Mary, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex,
is not immediately attractive. However, an investigation of the life of the person
commemorated adds considerable interest to the brass. In his will, made on 24 July
1467 and proved on 5 October 1468, Byrkhede requested to be buried in the chancel,
and his brass still lies there, in its original stone, though usually covered by
a carpet. He appointed as his executors his cousin Hugh Ives and his nephew Gilbert
Hert, and as overseers Thomas Wynterborne, who was one of the first Fellows of All
Souls, Oxford, and Thomas Rygby, gentleman. It was one of these, most probably Wynterborne,
who commissioned the brass, which is a product of the ‘Sub-B’ London workshop, and
who composed the inscription in rhyming hexameters. This records that pitiless Atropos
slew Byrkhede on the feast of St. Cuthburga (31 August) 1468. Wynterborne and Byrkhede
worked together as officials in the administration of Cardinal Bourchier and in 1471,
the year he was elected dean of St. Paul’s, Winterborne also became rector of Harrow.
Byrkhede, like many other canons, is depicted in processional vestments. The fashion
for this mode of representation seems to have been set by the canons of St. Paul’s
Cathedral, London. Dugdale illustrates several brasses of c. 1400 which show inhabited
orphreys. Of surviving brasses, the earliest are William Ermyn at Castle Ashby, Northants.,
and John Sleford, at Balsham, Cambs. Nearer in date to the Byrkhede brass are John
Blodwell at Balsham, a London B product, and Henry Sever, at Merton College, from
the London D workshop. Byrkhede’s cope depicts saints who were evidently selected
for their particular connection with his life, although sometimes the connection
is now obscure. The saints shown are, on the left, from top to bottom, the Blessed
Virgin Mary, Peter, John the Evangelist, Richard and Paula, and on the right, John
the Baptist, Anne, Laurence, Nicholas and Bridget of Sweden.
Byrkhede’s surname suggests an origin in the north-west of England and the bequest
of vestments and money towards the purchase of an antiphoner to the parish church
of Wigan may indicate his birthplace. His shield, three garbs set in a lead field,
which still survives in the bottom right corner, resembles the arms of the Earls
of Chester (Argent three garbs or). Throughout his career he was dependent on the
patronage of the Archbishops of Canterbury. The arms of two of them, Thomas Arundel
(d. 1414) and Henry Chichele (d. 1443), were formerly at the upper corners of the
brass. It is probable that it was Arundel who ordained him or at least appointed
him to his first living, the rectory of Patching. Patching, though in West Sussex,
is a peculiar of the archdiocese of Canterbury. St. Richard of Chichester probably
owes his presence on the brass to Byrkhede’s time in Sussex. In 1416 he vacated Patching
on becoming rector of Hollingbourne in Kent. Then, in 1419, he vacated Hollingbourne
on becoming a canon and prebend of Cobham. Shortly afterwards he became rector of
Blackawton, Devon, which he exchanged in September 1422 for the rectory of Hawkhurst,
Kent, which he retained until his death. In his will he left 26s. 8d. to be distributed
amongst the poor parishioners of Hawkhurst, and St. Laurence, the patron of Hawkhurst
church, was included among the saints on the cope. From 1428 until his death Byrkhede
was canon of Wells and prebendary of Timberscombe, but neither St. Andrew, the patron
of Wells Cathedral, nor St. Petroc, the patron of Timberscombe, features on the brass.
The inscription states that Byrkhede’s ‘charity, gravity, fidelity and prudent manners
made him honourable in the estimation of the chief prelates of the kingdom’. He was
seneschal of Archbishop Chichele and assisted him in the foundation of All Souls
College. Chichele made him one of the executors of his will and for his services
he was made a member of the confraternity of All Souls in 1465. It was Chichele who
rewarded him with the rich living of Harrow. As rector of Harrow, Byrkhede undertook
a major rebuilding, providing the church with its distinctive spire and a fine wooden
roof.
At the head of the orphreys are the Blessed Virgin, the patron of Harrow church,
and Byrkhede’s name-saint, St. John the Baptist. A curious feature of the image of
the Baptist, often found in manuscript illuminations, is the head still attached
to his camel-skin robe. SS. Peter and Anne, the next pair of saints, are so widely
venerated that it is difficult to place any particular interpretation on their presence.
The same can be said of St. John the Evangelist, in the third row, and St. Nicholas,
in the fourth. The rare image of St. Paula, at bottom left, may reflect Byrkhede’s
interest in biblical studies. He bequeathed a Bible to Master Thomas Roo and a volume
of St. Jerome’s commentaries to his chaplain James Birkhed (presumably a relative).
At the bottom of the cope are two uncommon female saints. St. Paula was a Roman widow
who moved to Bethlehem and supported St. Jerome in his biblical studies, symbolised
by the book that she holds. Balancing her is another holy widow, St. Bridget, the
founder of the order of the Most Holy Saviour (the Bridgettines). She is shown receiving
her Revelations, her face upturned to the divine light and her hands in the orans
pose of adoration. The upturned gaze is commonplace in the iconography of St. Bridget,
though she is usually shown writing. Byrkhede made no bequest to Syon, the one English
Bridgettine house, but left money to two other monasteries renowned for their piety,
the Charterhouses of London and Sheen.
Fig. 2 Blessed Virgin and St. John Baptist. Note the rose en soleil on the morse,
possibly a Marian symbol as well as a Yorkist badge in this context.
Fig. 3 St. John Baptist
Fig. 4 St. Nicholas
Fig. 5 St. Richard
Fig. 6 St. Anne teaching the
Blessed Virgin to read
Fig. 7 St. Paula
Fig. 8 St. Bridget
Above the canopy are two missing scrolls. One of these still survived in 1786, when
it was recorded by Gough as reading: ‘Jhu blessyd mitt thu be’. The occurrence of
vernacular pious interjections at this date is not uncommon. A secular inscription
in English is recorded in the will. Byrkhede bequeathed to his cousin and executor
Hugh Ives a standing cup of silver with a cover, inscribed with the reason or motto:
‘Al my pleser’. Master Wynterborne was given another silver standing cup with a cover,
pounced and gilt on the outside, with a finial in the form of a flower. Thomas Rygby,
the other overseer, received a third silver standing cup, pounced and parcel gilt,
with a finial in the form of an eagle. These are all gone, melted down long ago,
but the brass remains as a testimony of the life of John Byrkhede.
Bibliography:
J.G. Nichols, ‘The Brass of John Birkhede at Harrow’, Transactions of the London
and Middlesex Archaeological Society, I (1860), pp. 276-284.
H.K. Cameron, ‘The Brasses of Middlesex. Part 14’, Transactions of the London and
Middlesex Archaeological Society, New Series, XXIV (1973), pp. 165-168.
Byrkhede’s will is PRO, PROB 11/5 (Godyn), ff. 190v-191v.
Copyright: Nicholas Rogers
