Brass of the Month

May 2008: William de Grey [1495] and his wives Mary and Grace, Merton, Norfolk

May's contribution is a brass that set an interesting precedent. Anyone reading this who is not a member of the MBS may not be aware of the excitement generated by a metal-detector find in the fields a short distance from Merton church in Norfolk a couple of years ago. Part of one of the scrolls that had been missing from a brass in the church for hundreds of years was unearthed and has now been set back into its indent. It was the first time that a find recorded under the Portable Antiquities Scheme had been linked to an existing brass. This was all reported in the society's Bulletin 103 in September 2006. The brass commemorates William de Grey, whose death on 10th or 12th of February 1494/5 is recorded in various inquisitions post mortem, and his wives Mary and Grace.


The de Grey family arrived in England with William the Conqueror. Various branches of the family achieved prominence and are represented on brasses at different places in England and Ireland. Sir Thomas de Grey married the eldest daughter and coheir of Fulk Baynard of Merton in the first half of the fourteenth century and so Merton came into the possession of the de Greys, who still retain it. The surviving de Grey brasses at Merton begin with William, who died in 1474, the father of the subject of this brass, another William. Although all the inscription has been lost, the brass retains not only three shields, representing the arms of William and his two wives, but also the figure of William himself, resplendent in his heraldic tabard, so there is no doubt of the identities of the figures. All of them are kneeling at prayer but William and his second wife hold their hands apart in the 'orans' position, as do some of the children, while his first wife and the rest of the children hold their hands together more conventionally. His first wife was Mary, daughter of Sir Henry Bedingfield, an East Anglian family represented on many brasses, while his second, Grace, daughter of Thomas Teye, was the widow of Francis Hetht, subject of a brass at Feltwell St Mary in Norfolk, who died in 1479 . She survived William.
	The brass is one of the best products of the Norwich 3 workshop that has been associated with the glazier William Heyward. Those who actually made brasses were called marblers as their main products were the marble stones into which brasses were set. Some late medieval tax records for Norwich have recently been published and reveal that there were three people in the 1489 assessment called 'Marbeler'. Marion Marbeler (probably the 'moder marbeler' referred to in Heyward's will) was surely Marion, widow of Thomas Sheef, the marbler believed to be responsible for the Norwich 1 style, while Richard Marbeler was no doubt Richard Fox, presumed author of the Norwich 2 style, probably initially in association with Marion Sheef. But who was Robert Marbeler? Was he the man who actually made the Norwich 3 brasses, perhaps relying on William Heyward for the designs?
The nature of the losses from the brass, namely the prayer scrolls, the image at the top centre of the brass and the inscription formerly below the figures, which would probably have started with an imprecation to pray for the souls of the deceased, strongly suggest selective destruction for religious reasons, most probably during the Civil War period. This view is reinforced by the finding of the fragment of prayer scroll that fits the indent above Grace's figure, as it suggests that the motive for removing it was not to make money by reusing the metal. One can imagine that Merton, with its extensive complement of brasses belonging to the recusant de Grey family, would have been a natural target for someone like Captain Gilley, who implemented the Parliamentary Ordinance against superstitious images and inscriptions in other parts of south Norfolk in 1644. A further fragment of this brass, also found close by at a later date, is soon to be put back.
	Two mouse mats showing the figures of William and Grace from this brass are currently available on this site. Profits from their sale will go to the society's conservation fund.
Copyright: Jon Bayliss

Come back next month to see another featured brass!

Click on the heading 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.1380-90, Gt. Berkhamsted, Herts
    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. 1305-10, Cobham, Kent
   February 2004      Henry Notingham, c. 1405, Holme-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
    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-Rainsouin
    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. 1450-60, St Alban's Cathedral, Hertfordshire
    May 2006                Lady Anne Danvers, 1539, Dauntsey, Wiltshire
    June 2006                Thomas, Lord Berkeley, 1392, Wotton-under-edge, Gloucestershire
    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-lès-Toul
    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-on-the-Hill, Middlesex
    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-by-the-Tower, London
    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

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