Some Kentish Indents-II

( 54 ) SOME KENTISH INDENTS, II BY R. H. D'ELBOUX, M.C, M.A., E.S.A. CLDOTE AT HOO I. At the westerly end of the north aisle is a weU preserved coffinshaped slab of early fourteenth century date in memory of Jone, wife of John Ram. Its inscription was noted by Thorpe (Registrum Roffense, p. 744), it then being in the nave. It now has two brass stops only left in it, though in Fisher's time more remained, as the accompanying illustration, made from one of his experimental lithographs, shows. To Fisher must be accorded the honour of being one of the pioneers of lithography in England, and Fisher was a Kentish man. Neither Joan, nor John Ram has been identified. Wills show the family at Halstow in the late fifteenth century. Theh arms, sable, 3 rams' heads cabossed argent, horned or, are quartered by Alchorne in the 1619 visitation, brought in by Walsingham, and the Alchorne pedigree, by commencing with a John Lone (given as Loue in the pedigree, erroneously Mr. Griffin considered) who married Margery, heiress of WiUiam Ram, son of Thomas, son of John Ram Knight, takes one chronologicaUy to the period of this tomb. A John Ram occurs in April 1348 in a court roU of the manor of Ambre*, Rochester (Arch. Cant. XXIX, p. 129) and this date, too, fits pleasantly for the period of the inscription. a © .w ®i tonl N » * M \ « mm CLIFF AT HOO, JONE w. OF JOHN RAM. II. Immediately to the south of the altar raUs gate hes a slab, 4 feet 3 inches by 7 feet 10 inches, with a very worn indent of & bracket brass; it shows a demi-effigy of an ecclesiastic beneath a canopy and side shafts; about the stem of the bracket is entwined a scroU; level with the canopy on either side is the indent of what appears to have been a censing angel, and level with the stem on either SOME KENTISH INDENTS, II 55 > *1 :' '.JVC V 'V, "•es I i • ii-?/ *q* T$ \ s^sr tut 1 -M -I f si M L " .&• •) "•"*&» * '- . -^<£ / \ J ' ' * i i i \ .. if ••V. .r'.dr ;;v ., ,$. i> •> | ^-v." •' ' , # '!?"* ^..-r,.-^"' \ % ®f' "•>.' ">v •••? ** ^l''i ' ':M' ""^^ ':'*'< >' -•.\">" "li -"X CLIFF AT HOO, I I . 56 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, II -• •~.Cf3 -•—v.-e.,^ 0 ! ft ft =*-. re* ''X y t* ^*. * ""*••-• JS-%— i ( ^ * y •' in • it ••' i 1 U { I •0 <~ 1- V ] I Vi L I ** IWk v.'*-* - . - . .. CLIFF AT HOO, III, SOME KENTISH DSDENTS, EC 57 side a shield. The lower part of the slab is covered by the altar rails, but projects beyond them into the sanctuary, and on this part is some indication of the stem termination, quite indeterminate. Bracket brasses, as Macklin remarks, are by no means common. Of nineteen hsted by him, three, aU of early fifteenth century date, are in Kent, so that this, though worn, is a noteworthy addition to the County's hst. From the indications remaining it appears to be of the second half of the fourteenth century, and may with confidence be assigned to either of two rectors, Robert de Walton, 1376, whose will specifies that he was to be buried at the choir entrance, or Thomas de Lynton, 1387-8, who wished to be buried in the chancel entrance between the gate and the tomb of Robert Walton, and to have " quemdam marmoreum lapidem honestum supponendum" (See Testamenta Cantiana, p. 12). The scroll is inclined to be a late feature of a bracket brass, and so weighs the balance in favour of Thomas de Lynton, who desired the good and sufficient marble stone, a reference which in most cases included a brass therein. III. At the entrance to the sanctuary is a fairly well preserved slab, 41 by 83 inches, showing the indent of a priest in cope, beneath a canopy with side shafts, and an inscription below. Level with the central finial of the canopy, on either side of the composition, is a shield. At first glance this would appear to be a normal type for the early fifteenth century, but it has one particularly interesting variation. The priest's figure was apparently shown three-quarter face, to judge by the head's outline, the shape of the ahnuce, and the line of the cassock at the base, with his hands in prayer to a saint enshrined in the dexter shaft, at the junction of shaft and canopy. The ingenuity of the lattoner must often have been taxed to provide variations of the fashionable forms of brasses, but nowhere has a saint occurred on a brass in such a position, and in this respect the indent is unique. Its identification is unknown. A previous writer (Arch. Cant. XLI, 85-6) ascribed it to Thomas de Lynton, but that is impossible on stylistic grounds. John Prentys was Rector of Chff 1413-1445, and might be a claimant, but 1445 seems on the late side for the date of the indent. His predecessor, Nicholas de Ryssheton, 1403- 1413, agrees best with the style of the slab. He also was Canon of Sarum and does not specificaUy mention burial at Chff, but his bequests to the repah of the chancel and rectory, and to various images, infer residence and a lively interest in the place, so that this slab might weU be his. He mentions (Test. Cant. p. 12) his bequests are given " because the church was dedicated to the Holy Cross " ; this suggests a particular devotion to the Holy Cross. The church is, in fact, dedicated to St. Helen who discovered it and the saint in the side shaft was possibly her image. 58 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, II IV. At the east end of the nave, between the north aisle and the body, is an indent to a male civilian of c. 1440, so worn that reproduction would be wasted effort. It has previously been reported as a figure of a priest. V. In Archceologia Cantiana, Vol. XI, p. 154 is reported a now invisible indent, covered between the years 1869-1876, of a " smaU halflength brass of an ecclesiastic under the tUes in the middle of the chancel between the choh seats. It was so shattered that it was left as it was, and the levelling for the tUes just aUowed them to cover it . . . " Tastes change, and in these days encaustic tiles are not considered essential for chancel paving. Even the ubiquitous coco-nut matting is being discarded for harbouring dust when church cleaning is a weekly problem. But restoration at Cliffe was on the whole kindly to the slabs, so one must conclude this demi-effigy was indeed " shattered ". COOLING. In the centre of the nave hes a weU preserved indent on a slab 25 by 60 inches, of a sixteenth century civilian with three wives and a separate inscription below. Above the head of the male is the indent of a curious badge, so far unidentified. It is not the shape of any known badge of the Browne family. It may mark the grave of Richard Browne who, in his will (Rochester Wills, Vol. 8, f. 261) of 12th December, 1530, deshed to be buried in " y6 mydyU Alley " and bequeathed a cow for burial fee. In his wiU mention is made of only two wives, Agnes and Alicia, but the wording leaves it uncertain if there were not two named Agnes, and the date of the indent agrees with the date of his death. His wUl is summarized as follows :— Forgotten tithes 12d; Roodlight 12d; S4 James' hght 2d ; Our Lady hght 2d ; Richard Vnygthall, godson 4d ; S* Andrew's, Rochester 4d ; remainder to Agnes his wife, after payment of debts, burial, and month's mind: she executor with John Braybroke, John Love of Cowlyng and Thomas my son: witnesses Thomas BaUarde, George Bonham, James Jacob and Thomas MarchaU. WiU: tenement and lands to Agnes for hfe, she to do reparations as tenant; then to Thomas, my son and his heirs; if he die within age or without heirs then the house and lands to be administered by the executors and churchwardens, never sold, & the rents devoted to my soul and those of my wives Agnes and Ahcia, and my children's souls. STBOOD. There was, in the old parish church of Strood, certainly up to c. 1800, and probably until its destruction in 1812, a slab 7 feet by SOME KENTISH INDENTS, H 59 COOLING ? RICHARD BROWNE. 60 SOME KENTISH LNDENTS, II 2 feet 6 inches, whereon were the brasses of Thomas Glover and his three wives, an inscription recording his death in 1444, and indents for corner shields, the bottom sinister alone remaining. The demolition of the old church, to make way for the present erection, started in the nave, from which aU monuments were moved to the chancel, which was boarded up, whUst the parishioners used Frindesbury. When the chancel was puUed down, the monuments were placed in the tower, and fovmd an eventual resting place, together with innumerable barrow loads of rubble, beneath the present nave floor on the completion of the new buUding. The late Mr. Henry Smetham in part penetrated this accumulation, which apparently was dumped upon the floor level of the old church, but neither he nor more recent seekers found this lost slab, which nevertheless may stiU be there amongst uninvestigated rubble. LuckUy, Thomas Fisher had made a scale drawing of it, here reproduced. In style it was like dozens of others of its period, the only point worthy of comment being the variety of treatment of the wives' head coverings. AU the heads were evidently worn, and the faces partly redrawn by Fisher. His sketch of the whole slab, which, according to the wUl, cost £4 6s. 8d., shows the brass shield blank. Thorpe, however, in noting the brass (Registrum Roffense, p. 736) also noted the shield, which bore " A pah of shears between two gloves erected ". The inscription reads :— %ii, Jfacent ^flomaa &iouv < FOOT lmuT\iptf*jta"y SCAU 1_ _l I FOOT THOMAS GLOVER AND WIVES, 1444; ONCE AT STROOD. From a drawing by T. Fisher. SOME KENTISH INDENTS, EC 61 to John, son of WUham Gerard, my godson 6/8 ; to each of any godsons 6/8 ; to the re-glazing of half a window in the nave of Rochester Cathedral, 30/- ; to the friars of Aylesford, for 100 masses 6/8 ; to *he brothers & sisters of Northgate at Canterbury 3/4 ; to the brothers t sisters of Harbledown 3/4; to the brothers & sisters of St. Bartholomews by Rochester 12d.; to six spitaUs between London and Canterbury, 6d. each ; to John Drayton & Agnes his sister, my blood relations 6/8d. each; to Robert Glover of Sittingbourne & his four sisters 6/8 each; to Robert Glover my best gown, hood, belt and bcselard ; to John Drayton a gown or hood value 10/- ; to Joan my wife aU possessions in Strood, £20 to be paid immediately on my death, the contents of the house, aU money save as specified above, 5 quarters of barley & 5 of hops; to his executors Edmund Chertesey, esq., Dom. WiUiam Saunders, vicar of Frindesbury, Simon Boydon, and Thomas Gybbes, 20/- each. Witnesses Dom. John Ybry, chaplain, Master WiUiam Petyr Registrar of Rochester, John Cheseman & others. Item I leave for a marble stone to be placed over my grave £4-6-8 John BeweU, John Nothe, Thomas Cowper & others. TENTEEDEN. All old slabs, save one, have been placed under the Tower with an overflow into the Nave aUey. There are two in the tower which have traces of brass ; both have white marble inlaid where one expects a brass inscription ; one stiU has above two brass shields of Austen, and Austen impaling Hales, but the other, seemingly contemporary, has indents only for two shields, 5 by 6 inches. There is in the nave aUey a slab 36 by 80 inches, which has an indent for an inscription 22 by 4 inches, containing no less than eight plug holes in four pairs. The indent is very worn, and may also have held marble. On the north side of the altar in the sanctuary is a slab 75 by 34 inches containing the indent of an inscription 3 by 20 inches, with a shrouded figure's indent 18| inches long immediately upon it. The outline suggests a date of the latter half of the fifteenth century, and Mr. A. H. Taylor, Canterbury, to whom I am indebted for drawing my attention to the slab, is of opinion that it is probably the gravestone of John Moeer (More) vicar of Tenterden, admitted vicar 4th Oct., 1479 on the death of WUham Pope at the presentation of St. Augustine's Canterbury, who died in 1489. His wUl (P.C.C. 20 MiUes) is an interesting document, although unfortunately it gives no details for his burial other than in the chancel, and has been dealt with in some detail in a paper read before the Bibliographical Society by H. R. Plomer in 1903. After bequests for the repah of the chancel and nave of Tenterden, to the Carmelite friars of Losenham, & the house of Modenden, to the 62 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, H / m \ TENTERDEN ? JOHN MOEER (MORE). SOME KENTISH INDENTS, II 63 confraternity of Our Lady in Tenterden church, to the Friars minor of Winchelsea, and to SmaUhythe chapel, he disposes of the contents in detail of his valuable library to various clergy of his acquaintance, leaving two, Master Richard Wilsford and Moysey Pett, his executors. In view of the particular interest of this wUl to both Kentish men and men of Kent, it would seem advisable to print Mr. Plomer's comments on it in fuU, whether or no this shroud indent does in fact belong to John More. "John Moeer is not to be found in the hst of vicars of Tenterden church given by Hasted, nor did that antiquary, nor his great successor Streatfeild, know anything about him. John Moeer left a Gradual to the use of the parish church, and also directed that his copy of the ' PupUla Oculi', as weU as the Gloss upon the Evangelists, should be chained in the eastern part of the choh. To Eton CoUege he left a copy of the Epistles of Augustine and several other books. To Christ Church, Canterbury, he left the ' Introits' of Dionysius, a concordance of the Bible, and other books, whUe the sister monastery of St. Augustine was to have a work by Nicholas de Lyra. To Magdalene CoUege, Oxford, he left his copy of the writings of Alexander Neckham. To Canterbury HaU, in the same university, a copy of Petrus Lombardus, the Master of Sentences. To the CoUege of Wye, in Kent, the commentary of Thomas Dockying upon Deuteronomy and the Apocalypse. To the CoUege at Ashford, in Kent, glosses upon the book of Genesis, the writings of Jeremiah, the proverbs of Solomon, and the books of Isaiah and Daniel, a copy of St. Augustine upon John, and of Isidore. To Sh John Gilford, knight, no doubt a member of the GuUdford family,1 who hved close by, he left a book of divers chronicles and histories. Lastly, to the rectors of aU the neighbouring churches he bequeathed a book of some sort, and as showing the extent of the reading of this country priest, we notice among them the writings of the venerable Bede, TuUy's ' Offices ', the ' iEneid' of VirgU, and an iEsop. But what is still more interesting, we find among the legatees of John Moeer, the famous Greek scholar Thomas ' Lynaker', who is described as studying at Florence. The bequest to him included a sum of £10, which was left in the hands of the prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, and the foUowing books:—A printed edition of Petrus Lombardus; Thucydides' ' History of the Peloponysian War', printed; Cicero's ' Nova Rhetorica ', written on parchment, and two Greek books, one printed, and the other written on parchment. I think this wUl is worth a httle further consideration. Who was 1 Sir John Guldefbrd, of Halden in Rolvenden, Comptroller of the Household to Edward IV : backed the Welshman against Richard H I : in his wiU, 20 March 1492-3, desired to be buried in Tenterden church before the image of St. Mildred " where the resurrection of our Lord is made ", and asked for " a plain stone and noe tombe ". 64 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, II this John Moeer or More ? Linacre was, as we know, in after hfe, a close friend of Sh Thomas More, whose father was Sir John More, a judge, said to have been a son of John More, bencher of Lincoln's Inn. Is it possible to connect the vicar of Tenterden with the family Sh Thomas More ? There was a family of this name settled at Biddenden in Kent, and I believe that the vicar of Tenterden was a member of i t ; and he may have been at some time a teacher in the Cathedral School at Canterbury at which Linacre was a pupil. At any rate, this wiU seems to confirm what has hitherto been only surmise, that Thomas Linacre was a Kentish man." The reference above to the Pupilla Oculi has its interesting counterpart on the brass to Master John Morden alias Andrew, 1410, at Emberton, Bucks, described by G. Eland, Esq., F.S.A., with the help of the late Dr. Montagu James (Records of Bucks, Vol. XII, 365-67). It consists of a figure in mass vestments, with a scroU issuing from the hands, and an inscription stating that he gave to Emberton church a portos (or breviary), a missal, an ordinal (sometimes caUed a pie), a manual and processional in craticula ferri, and a pars oculi ; to Olney a catholicon (a latin grammar and dictionary compUed by John de Balbis), the Golden Legends (of the Saints, also caUed a passional; written by Jacopo de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, who died in 1298), a portos in craticula ferri; to Hullemorton a simihar portos. Dr. James translated in craticula ferri as in or on an iron grUle, such as the hon desk attached to a piUar on the west side of the opening from HaU to the bay window at Eton, and observed that, in this inscription only reference books were designated as so kept. The Pars Oculi was the usual title of the three books by W. de Pagula, vicar of Winkfield, co. Bucks, who died c.1350. Under the main title of Oculus Sacerdoti, it was divided into dexter, sinistra, and cihum pars oculi. From these, Johannes de Burgo adapted a book caUed Pupilla Oculi, a copy of which was bequeathed by John More of Tenterden. John Myre's Duties of a Parish Priest is some of this book in Enghsh verse. The book begins with the Seven Sacraments, and is concerned with sins, absolution, penitence, and punishments of an archidiaconal nature. It remains to thank Mr. Eland for permission to make free use of his article. Mr. Taylor has drawn my attention to an error of omission on my part, for which I apologize to the Society. The brass to Lidia Chut of Bethersden, reported by me in Vol. LIX, p. 105, as a lost brass, was placed in 1897 in Bethersden church, and is, at the date of writing, mural in the north chapel, but requires a ladder to reach it.