Some Kentish Indents III

SOME KENTISH INDENTS, III. By R. H. D'ELBOUX, M.O, M.A., F.S.A. BRIDGE Outside the west door, as part of the paving, is a slab, 35 by 82 in., now very worn and broken. It shows indents, in parts, for a man and wife c. 1450, and a group of daughters. Most of the outline of the male effigy and the area where sons might have been are completely gone. It is unnoticed by Parsons and Cozens, but Hasted (Vol. I l l , 726 n.) gives :—" On the north side of the churchyard, near the porch, is an antient tomb, on which were once the figures of a man and woman, and an inscription in brass, aU long since gone." Hasted differentiates between " tomb " and " gravestone." It would seem, therefore, that this slab, which now hes north and south, was once the top slab of a table tomb, and probably a rare example of an external brass of preformation days, since it is most unlikely that a tomb ejected from the church would be re-erected in the yard. If a genuine external brass, it is the earhest in date so far recorded, and the only pre-ref ormation example in Kent, though three wiUs exist that ask for churchyard brasses, aU of early sixteenth century. At High Halden, the churchyard tomb of Stephen Scott 1601 stiU retains part of its brass (see M.B.S. Trans, for 1948). No doubt the tomb was destroyed and the slab placed where it now is, during the construction of the path from the road to the west door, presumably at the renovations of 1859-60. CHILHAM. Faussett visited this church in 1757. He noted two indents, and a now lost brass ; in the chancel, " Another stone wch has had a Brazen Figure and a Coat upon it which are both gone ; " in the north transept, " Here is another Black stone, with a Brass Figure of a Man in a Priest's habit—But the Plate with ye Inscription is lost." FinaUy, in the nave, " On a loose Brass Plate is this Inscription : " Hie Facet Rob'tus S . . . et . . . Uxor ejus, qui quidem Rob'tus obijt xx° Die Mensia November' A° ani 1425.1 Quorum Animabus ppicietur Deus. Amen." Zechariah Cozens, Margate schoolmaster, and author of A Tour Through the Isle of Thanet, was born at Chilham in 1763. In 1791 he 1 Faussett has a note opposite : " This figure looks like a 4." He evidently copied into his manuscript book from notes taken on the spot. 109 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, III sent to the Topographer a detaUed account of the church and its monuments, these being verified from the parish registers. Of the lost brass, he wrote :—" About the middle of the south transept is a flat stone which had on it a smaU figure in a Monkish habit; and a brass •!/ V< \ > x. \ j **•&*" \ .') i rt } /' I t i 1 0 f / 3 V ,'iV I/ •>,' !•' { * 'l 1- ' \ • { i { \ \ \ V /-Wf^-t h ' jl -. 4 ••5A 1 1? .'•>••' j ;l %:i- 't: ^:'ss^^^^":'^'^^fi^''^ BRIDGE. inscription plate, part of which has been lost many years ; what remains is as f oUows :— " Hie iacet Robtus . . . wood xx° die mes Novebr A0 ani MCC." In 1793 he pubhshed his Tour, which included the Canterbury environs. Monument No. 35 at Chilham is again our lost brass, 110 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, III " apparently of a priest " and an inscription " part of which has been defaced many years ; what remains legible is as foUows : %xt facet Hofitue ^Rinftgufe tt . . . v.^ov, c\m oBttf ?f Me mee Qflovefitf -'~' • i / I f \ t < 1 ji -• '•••s-\-~'-~ -) 1 \ ^ 1 if' —-__—.• .-. CHILHAM, III. < X •'* •*•*• '>__, i' Cozens by his determination, has given us a clue. The south chapel was dedicated to St. Anne : in it Robert Skatergoode deshed to be buried by his wfil, proved in 1476 (WiU P.R.C. 2, 327). It is to be observed that in his MS. history, Cozens ventures nothing concerning the dress of the effigy. Whether he was going by the indent, or the memory of man, there is no telling; U the latter it was possibly a shroud brass, though of early date. There remains the question of whence Cozens obtained the date and the few words of the sinister side of the inscription. Faussett died in 1776 and his manuscript is stiU unpubhshed. Cozens cannot have seen it, or he would have copied accurately.1 He might, however, have been 1 See Robert Pocock, by G. M. Arnold, pp. 116, 117, under entry Wednesday 9th [January, 1822]. "Mr. Coosens of Margate called, and said he had given Mr. Deputy Nichols MSS. enough to form an extra volume to Hasted's Kent, and that he had found out 2,000 mistakes in that work, which he had communicated to the author, but no notice was taken of them, because Mr. H. said if he did it would show his inattention." I l l v - i . . . * i:M < -. •:• ; . ..'• \ '•'"' :.K...*\ .U ty.:\ '•• r.'-'J •:;?•.- v$ }! -,v'••/•/• •..* -: •",.-: p;-/•'•:>••• •#,-/.* :v #v-: • fr..-,.,7 0 I ;.'-;'i.*r,.,:- ;•"• '/'' - .'•"••• •' " • s " ^ i i J '0 _•!-?> .. •'.. ' m;.m. ••,•>•'•' ••>.:.•',• • V," I * . i 'f "••'-(« <. >!;,>[;••,*, ,»<,.,;'...;....-.vv .'iVfii'. '<."••" CHILHAM, H. 112 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, III given a garbled version in answer to a written enquiry—and Faussett was evidently none too sure of the date he had written in his notes. I suggest that this was a brass to Robert Skatergoode of 1475, possibly a shroud. Of indents, Cozens remarks on two plain stones in the chancel " that have had brass plates on them ", and in the north transept, two stones which have had brass inscription plates and effigies, and another for an inscription only. II. Below the steps to the choir, and south of the pulpit is a badly cracked slab 67 by 26 in., having indents for what is apparently a figure 19| in. kneeling to a trinity, 5 by 7 in., with invocatory scroU, If in. and inscription, 2 0 | in. long, and shield 7 by 5 f in., below. The crack in the slab obhterates the sinister outUne of the body, and as far as body line is concerned, there is httle left. It appears unnaturaUy elongated, and it is possible the top outline is the other end of the scroU, set separate from the figure. The base of the effigy rested on a ground, which for about 14| in. from the dexter to sinister, makes the inscription indent appear irregular. Its date is late fifteenth century. III. In the north transept there is stiU a slab, 54 by 24£ in., having an indent of a priest in a cope, 10 in. long, and of an inscription 15 by 1£ in. It is of early sixteenth century, and the figure was turned to the sinister, but there is no saint's indent on the slab. This is possibly Faussett's " Figure of a Man in a Priest's Habit." COBHAM. Three indents remain, of priests, presumably masters or f eUows of the coUege. I. In the north aisle is a demi-effigy, 19 in. long, on an inscription 2£ by 16 in. A shield 4£ by 5 | in. is separate below. The figure's outline shows the contour of either a cope or an almuce, and is similar in style to the brass in the chancel to WiUiam Tannere of 1418. It cannot be a master, since John Gladwyn who was master in 1420, died in 1450 and is also remembered by a brass, unless an unknown came between them. It may weU represent one of the original foundation ; perhaps John Moys or John Thurston, who was ahve in 1422 Arch. Cant., XXVII, (1905), 77). There were Moys at Halstow and Thurstons at Higham, and a local family was more likely to see its member received due commemoration. II. In the south aisle are two slabs contiguous. The more easterly shows a priest in Mass vestments 15J in. long, on an inscription 4 by 18 in. It may be dated to the latter haU of the fifteenth century, and U a master may represent Edward Underwood, who was acting in 1486, and gone by 1492. 113 l i SOME KENTISH INDENTS, III 3 I '«^i .-rJ:i I) c COBHAM, III. / r I. — *—-•»-* 1 { \ n W.OJOTI » / COBHAM, I. i t i&tt COBHAM, II. 114 .':• 'i SOME KENTISH INDENTS, III III. The other of the south aisle is also of a priest in mass vestments, 19 in. long, on an inscription 4 by 17J in. It is of early sixteenth century date, and U a master, would fit the dates of John Baker (or Barker), acting in 1502 and 1505, but gone by c. 1512. IV. Gough (II, 51), writing of brasses mentioned by Thorpe that he could not find, remarks: " Gladwin and Sprotte have no memorial . . . unless one be the brass bust of a priest in a rich cope without a label, thrown out for Lord Darnley ; or the priest on a cross . . . now in the north aisle ; or a bust, label, and shield gone in the south aisle." The itahcs are mine. This indent no longer remains. The reference to Lord Darnley is explained by an earher passage concerned with the brass of Rauf de Cobham, which " was removed for the late Lord Darnley [he died 31 July, 1781] who is himseU to be removed whenever his costly mausoleum shall be completed in his park there under the direction of Mr. Wyatt." V. Thorpe (Reg. Roff. 768) describes a lost brass. " On brass plates fixed in a gravestone are these arms, viz. On a chevron between three trefoils, as many annulets, with this inscription, " ' Hie jacet Johannes Claveryngge, quondam filius Rogeri Claveryngge, civis et pannarij de civitate London. " ' Orate pro anhnabus predicti Johannis Claveryngge, Juhane & Alyce uxorum ejus, & fihorum eorum ; et predicti Rogeri Claveryngge, et Johanne uxoris ejus, patris & matris predicti Johannis Claveryngge, fratrum & sororum suorum, & fihorum eorum, ac eciam Anne Westeby et Matilde matris ejus, & nostrorum progenitorum; et Johannis de Brende woode, Thome Legge, & Simonis filij ejus, & pro anhnabus omnium benefactorum vivorum, et omnium fidehum defunctorum. Quorum animabus propicietur Deus. Amen.' " [Here lies John Clavering, once son of Roger Clavering citizen and draper of the city of London. Pray for the souls of the aforesaid John Clavering, Juhane and Alice his wives, and theh chfidren; and of the aforesaid Roger Clavering, and Joan his wUe, father and mother of the aforesaid John Clavering, his brothers and sisters, and their children, and also Anne Westeby and Maud her mother, and our off-spring ; and of John de Brendewood, Thomas Legge and Simon, his son, and for the souls of aU hving benefactors, and of aU the faithful defunct. On whose souls God be mercUul. Amen.] The wffl of John Claveryng (P.C.C. 18 Marche) of St. Christopher, London, and Cobham, Kent, was proved in 1408. Thorpe places the two inscriptions between the brasses of Gery and Reynald de Cobham, in the north aisle, which was the Lady Chapel. The larger inscription would seem to be a commemorative hst of benefactors to the chapel, or possibly of a confraternity of Our Lady. The CoUegiate 115 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, III buildings were not commenced before 1370, so these benefactors were concerned with the Lady Chapel not long after, and many represent the parish's contribution towards the general rebuilding of the period. The arms described by Thorpe I have nowhere found ascribed to Clavering. Thorpe describes what is visible, but rarely concerns himseU with what is missing, and it is likely that this was on the sinister and represented one of the wives. WiUiam HesiU, auditor and later baron of the exchequer, who died in 1425 and whose brass was once at Northfleet (see Arch. Cant., XXXV, (1917), 50) bore argent, a chevron sable between three trefoils slipt vert, and in view of the fact that Leake, Garter King of Arms, who visited Cobham in 1729 did not note any annulets, an attribution to HesiU seems feasible. There were, however, Rowes of Rowe's Place at Eccles on the Medway in the time of Edward III and the coat of Rowe, argent on a chevron azure between three trefoils slipt per pale gules and vert, three bezants, though an EUzabethan exemphfication, was certainly older, possibly simpler, and cannot be overlooked. / *£«*•*- "-- • "-*n.™«* 3 m i i Stwawmi I xHm*m**att* •VM ' JWJIgf HOO ST. WERBURGH. CHANCEL. N. SIDE OUTSIDE RATLS. 116 g -.y.......-^rr.yT-.—.-> ys T' « • -•-.•j'lwst n ® sr j? <» & M v *r*J *> cA, / 4 / 9 ^1 ' • f ^ • s < n si 9 © .^t^nTssPfTi T£4 «5 •--3 9 9 SUTTON VALENCE. I. SOME KENTISH INDENTS, ni Hoo ST. WERBURGH. I. On the north side of the chancel, outside the communion raUs, is an early sixteenth century indent in unusuaUy good condition. It consists of a civilian and two wives, all 20 in. long, upon an inscription 7 by 18| in., with two groups of children curiously placed at either end of the inscription, and partly under the mother, that on the dexter being 5£ by 4 in., and the sinister, 5£ by 4 | in. The general outUnes of the figures are out of the normal, and the brass may weU have been of Kentish provenance,' rather than the product of the London school of lattoners. II. Thorpe (Reg. Roff. 741) noted in the north aisle on a brass plate, plate, the foUowing inscription, " Of yo charite pray for the soule of Wm. Alton, and Gelyane his wife, and aU his wives soules, his childrens soules, and aU christyn souU Bnu have mcl." " On this last are remaining the effigies of 15 chUdren, those of the man and his four wives being lost." The wiU of WiUiam Alton, of Frindesbury and Hoo St. Werburgh, is dated 1535.1 There is no trace of this slab now in the north aisle. SUTTON VALENCE I. The Church was restored in 1823 and, save for the tower, demohshed in 1828. It was, however, visited by Fisher, who drew it from the north-west, and recorded four coffin slabs. Doubtless he also drew the brasses, but his records of them are unknown. Amongst the coffin slabs is an indent in the chancel, here reproduced, of a floriated cross based on a beast of some sort, with a marginal lombardio inscription :— + BOTE : Q I [Fisher gives q = js# : 3 i p q = qiT: JK6RCPC: The miscarved stops of CESTE EGLISE at first make curious reading. Fisher was not the man to err in such a copy ; one may infer they were so in the original. Rauf de Sutton was appointed rector by the then Lord of the manor, Aymer de Valence, in 1319. In 1326 his successor was appointed, so the brass must have been of about the second date. II. In the tower floor, are four indents, aU of smaU size, and aU showing outUne suggestive of local (i.e. Kentish) workmanship. In three the figures are aslant, as, for comparison that of Katherine 1 Rochester Wills, Ix, 195 ab. 117 " SOME KENTISH INDENTS, in yO \ ^^•^es* n ) • -*.—»•*..•*.«*—«M£M£Sar.4jP?»^*., SUTTON VALENCE, KENT, H. ****"0.'^i i *» •^•*»— A ) \ttMmn-j&,**'~ /••- ? V* -- ,«,»»--•,,•/. SUTTON VALENCE, KENT, III. SUTTON VALENCE, KENT, IV. 118 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, in Lambe of Leeds, 1513, or the indent of 1485 at Aldington, both of which are illustrated in volume two of Belcher. They range in date from c. 1480 to c. 1525, and are an interesting group of " smaU fry," the brasses of which may likely enough have emanated from the same workshop. At the east end of the tower, on a slab 38 by 79 in. are the indents of a civfiian 15 in. long, a wife, 12| in., sons, 6 in., daughters, 6J in., aU on mounds, upon ah inscription 4£ by 19 in. The male effigy slants to the dexter; a daughter had the butterfly head dress. Its date is c. 1480. III. In line westwards of II, is a slab 28 by 61 in. with an indent of a female, 10J in. long with pedimental head dress, on an inscription 2 | by 13 J in. This figure slants to sinister, though the line of the drapery at the base, to some extent, rectifies the angle. Its date is early sixteenth century. W. Westwards, and to the north of IH, is a slab 24 by 59 in., having an indent of what would seem to be a male figure 9£ in. long, on an inscription 2\ by lOf in. The outUne of the head is indeterminate, the figure only slightly to sinister in its angle, but the outhne is certainly local. It is the latest in date, of the group, and may be placed at c. 1525. SUTTON VALENCE, KENT, V. V. This slab hes to the north of III, and is placed with the head of the indent to the south. The male figure 10^ in. long is on an inscription 2 by 13^ in. and has a pronounced slant to the sinister. Its period is the first decade of the sixteenth century. WEST WICKHAM I. In the north ohapel is a slab, 36 by 96 in., bearing indents for a lombardio inscription, and, within it, for a floriated cross based on an 119 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, IH indeterminate beast, and a shield on either side of the top finial. In style it must have been similar to the weU known brass of c. 1330 at Chinnor, Oxon, where the head of an ecclesiastic is upon the centre of a cross of four floriations ; from behind the bottom set of leaves descends the stem, here with three sets of side floriations. The whole slab is now very worn and not worth reproduction. Of the inscription a G and an I are stiU visible on the top fine, and a T and a D on the sinister. AU other letters have either enthely perished, or need an eye of faith to identify them. Yet in 1889 George Clinch (Antiquarian Jottings, p. 162) gave J. G. WaUer's reading as foUows :x " She : Wauter : de : Hontingfeld : Chivaler : gist: icy : Deu : de : sa : alme : eyt: merci: " Walter de Huntingfield apparently bought the manor and advowson of West Wickham in 1321, though aheady there, for in 1317-18 he obtained the right of free warren, and of imparking, as weU as a market and annual fair. He was ahve in 1325,2 but twenty years later a Sir John Huntingfield pays aid for the Knighting of the Black Prince. The brass, then, can be dated 1325-1345. The Dering roU gives the arms of his father, Sh Piers, who died in 1313, as quarterly or and gules, a label of five, sable. II. Outside the south door, and to the south of the entrance are two fragments of another Lombardic inscription, both showing corners of the slab. The larger gives 12 in. one way and 23 in. the other. The words are separated by a single stop. The 12 inch line reads S-ET- and three uncertain letters : the longer side is gone save for an uncertain letter before IT AU the other fragment shows is VIV. III. In 1886 Clinch described in Arch. Cant., XVI, the indent of an inscription and a smaU-sized demi-effigy of a priest, also outside the south door, which he dated at about the middle or latter haU of the fifteenth century. Three years later (Antiquarian Jottings, 162) he wrote " The matrix has suffered considerably from exposure to the weather, and it is now very difficult to make out much of the former shape of the brass from the marks which remain upon the stone." In 1948 it was not discernible. Since writing this, I have inspected WaUer's notebooks at the Society of Antiquaries. His entries for West Wickham are dated September 6th, 1837. Of I, he writes " the whole is so worn that but a few letters can with difficulty be perceived." He proceeds, however, to give the inscription in faintly pencfiled lombardics without capitals, with the few letters he had been able to read in heavy pencilling, viz. The TE of Wauter, the 1 I give it as printed. Lombardics do not differentiate between capitals and small letters. 2 Arch. Cant., XV (1883), 294. 120 SOME KENTISH INDENTS, III LD of Honteingfeld (his spelling), and the C, and ALER of Chivaler. The attribution of the slab, therefore, to a Huntingfield, whilst plausible, must remain conjectural. It was then, as now, in the North Chapel. Of H, he writes " Figure of a priest, engraved in stone. All is worn away but a few lines of the vestments. The inscription runs round in Lombardio characters. The lower end of the slab is concealed under the raised steps of the Communion." Besides this, he gives in Lombardics " . . . ORD : QUO RECTOR : HUIVS : ECCLES : QI: OBHT. SEXTO. DIE. M . . ." with the remark " suppUed by A. Weales, August 7/75, fragments now in tower. The underlined parts gone." Walter de Cestreford was parson, 1327-1343 (Fielding's Records of Rochester, 359) and this may weU have been his monument. 121