The Hawkins Monument

( 205 ) THE HAWKINS MONUMENT BY EPIPHANIUS EVESHAM AT BOUGHTON-UNDER-BLEAN. BY StTBGEON-CAPTAIN KENNETH H. JONES, M.B., B.N. So far as is known there are five funerary monuments by Epiphanius Evesham in the County of Kent, of which two are at Hythe and one each at Mersham, Lynsted and Boughton. The first three are simple and rather plain slabs apphed to the church walls ; the last two are elaborate monuments, distinguished by the very high degree of artistic feeling and technical skiU which they display. Epiphanius Evesham differed from his contemporaries by his custom of signing his works, and his handiwork is usuaUy to be identified by the inscription " E. EVESHAM ME FEOIT " or " EVESHAM ME FECIT " at the lower part of the slab or monument in Roman capital letters of from one inch to two and a half inches in height. Evesham did, however, actuaUy sign some of his work in cursive characters, and it is fairly certain that in such cases we have his actual signature, whereas the Roman letters may only serve to designate the studio or firm which turned out the monument as a whole. Only four signatures in cursive characters are so far known, two on metal and two on marble. The two on marble occur on the monument at Boughton at the north-east corner of the nave, in the chapel which was erected to the memory of Sir Thomas Hawkins of Nash Court, near Boughton, who died in AprU, 1616, and to his lady, who died in October, 1617, and who was a daughter of Cyriac Pettit of Colkyns in the same parish. The monument consists of the recumbent figures of Sir Thomas and his lady placed upon an altar tomb. Above them are inscriptions in Latin and in Enghsh, whUst below there are two slabs of alabaster, carved in high-reUef, 206 HAWKINS MONUMENT BY EPIPHANIUS EVESHAM separated by a slab of stone bearing the words " EVESHAM ME FECIT," much defaced. Surmounting the inscriptions are the letters D.O.M., which Evesham was very fond of using, and which occur also at Lynsted. The monument stands east and west, and the carved slab on the west (or dexter) side represents the seven sons of Sir Thomas and Lady Hawkins, whUe that on the east (or sinister) side represents their six daughters. The slabs are described fairly fully by Cousins in his Tour of Thanet, etc. Of the male figures one is shown in fuU face, three in three-quarter face, and two in profile, and one of the figures is represented without weapons, wearing a long robe, and kneeling upon a book on a cushion, and he carries a baU in his hand. It is known that one of the sons of Sir Thomas, named John, was a doctor of medicine, who wrote a good deal on various classical subjects, and it seems probable that the baU-holder represents this son. Another of the sons is also known to have become a Jesuit, and to have relinquished wUe and chUd and office when he joined that Order. He hved near London for many years, in danger of losing Ufe and Uberty, and during that time he wrote largely on classical subjects, finaUy retiring to the continent to die and be buried at Bruges. A hand raised as U in blessing is shown at the back of the group, and this may have been intended for that of the Jesuit, but it is not quite clear to which figure it belongs. One of the sons died in chUdhood, the one shown holding a skuU, and two succeeded in turn to the title and estates. There appears to be on the western edge of the west panel an Itahan greyhound. The inclusion of such natural objects, and the extreme dehcacy of the carving, are distinctive features of Evesham's work. This monument was recognized by the writer as the work of Evesham from the simUarity of the figures on the panels to those at Lynsted, Ulustrated in the article by Mr. Aymer VaUance in Archcsohgia Cantiana, Vol. XLIV. It has, moreover, been noticed both by Parsons, in his Ancient Monument to Sir Thomas Hawkins. Signature of Epiphanius Evesham, from a cast. BOUGHTON-UNDEB-BLEAN CHUBCH. Dexter Slab. Sinister Slab. DETAILS OF HAWKINS MONUMENT, BOUGHTON-UNDEB-BLEAN CHURCH. AT BOUGHTON-UNDER-BLEAN. 207 Funeral Monuments of Kent and Sussex, and by Cousins in his ^owr of Thanet, etc. Parsons gives the inscriptions but makes no mention of Evesham, and Cousins states that " Evesham Fecit " is found on a slab in the front of the monument, but did not apparently notice the " ME," SO presumably it had become much defaced more than a hundred years ago. The better of the two cursive signatures found on the panels was discovered by Mrs. ArundeU EsdaUe. It is directly under the cradle on the female side. The other was found by the writer and may be seen under the feet of the first kneeling son. It is not nearly so weU executed as that under the female figure. Mr. Gerald A. Cooper was of the opinion that these signatures had been cut with a graving tool. The monument has suffered a certain amount of damage in the past, and the noses of some of the male figures on the west panel have been shghtly broken. One has been repaired with putty or some sort of cement, and this appears black in the photograph. The recumbent figures of Sir Thomas and his lady have suffered much more severely at some rather distant date, large pieces of the figures having been knocked away and afterwards repaired, partly by dowehing and partly by cement. According to Hasted, in the year 1715, when anti-Catholic feeling ran very high owing to the rebehion of the Old Pretender, a Protestant mob attacked Nash Court, the owners of which were weh-known recusants, and stole and destroyed much valuable property, including aU the plate. The valuable Ubrary was burned at the Same time, and it is not impossible that the same people damaged the figures in Boughton Church, the more probably because there is a story that at one time the chapel containing the Hawkins monument was furnished with altar and crucifix. The monuments at Boughton and Lynsted present certain points of resemblance which are of interest. The parishes are not far apart, and it is natural enough to suppose that the 208 HAWKINS MONUMENT BY EPIPHANIUS EVESHAM. Hawkins of Boughton and the Ropers of Lynsted were on friendly terms, although recusants were not aUowed to travel more than five mUes from home without special permission. It is probably more than a coincidence that the two famiUes, both being Roman Cathohcs, employed the .same sculptor, and as the monument at Boughton ante-dates that at Lynsted by four years, it is possible that the Hawkins recommended Epiphanius Evesham to the Ropers. Moreover, at both places, the letters D.O.M. (Dominus Omnium Magister), surmount the inscriptions, a thing almost unknown at that time, and this makes it possible that Evesham himseU was of Cathohc or High Church leanings. Again, the panels in both cases are ahke in their perfect carving and in their strongly naturalistic tendency. The upper parts of the two monuments differ from each other in that, at Boughton, the figures are recumbent— " lying on sofas," as Cousins puts it—whUst at Lynsted one is recumbent and the other kneeling, and the latter figures are coloured whUst the former are not. A careful examination of the panels at Lynsted faUed to reveal any signs of cursive signatures such as those found at Boughton. It is a matter for satisfaction that, at both places, these panels which are the outstanding features of both monuments, have been on the whole so weU preserved.