Unknown civilian, Newark (c.1540).
CIVILIAN UNKNOWN. (circa 1540.)
CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE, NEWARK-ON-TRENT.
This brass is on the floor of the north transept of Newark Parish Church, and commemorates some unknown gentleman of about 1540 A.D.
Over the long gown is a collar and frontlet of fur reaching to the hem. Under the gown the wearer would be clad in a tunic, the tight sleeves of which can be seen. Hose and wide shoes complete his outer garments.
In accordance with the custom prevailing at the time, his face is cleanly shaven and his hair allowed to grow long. The shield below the figure may or may not relate to the figure above it, and nothing is known as to the arms on it, which consist of three tiaras, two and one, emitting rays.
The figure is 185/8in. in height.
Anne Ballard, Radcliffe-on-Trent (1626).
ANNE BALLARD. 1626.
CHURCH OF ST. MARY, RADCLIFFE-ON-TRENT.
The brass in memory of Anne Ballard, who died in 1626, is in an oak frame, and hangs in the choir aisle of St. Mary’s Church, Radcliffe-on-Trent. It is the latest brass in the county.
The lady stands at a reading desk covered with a cloth with fringed ends. On the desk is an open book. In her hand she apparently holds a pomander. On her head is a variety of the Paris head-dress, from which is suspended a long veil or bonne grace. The ruff, though now disappearing, is still worn in this case. From the shoulders a long, sleeveless mantle is suspended.
The shields bear the arms of the husband and the lady.
A family named Ballard resided at Wymeswold, but why this brass hangs in the church at Radcliffe-on-Trent has not been discovered. The brass is 26½in. by 21½in.
INSCRIPTION.
“Neere to this place lyeth interred ye
Body of Anne Ballard ye wife of Will
iam Ballard of Wimeswold in ye county
of Leicester Esqr by whom he had issue
six sonnes viz. George Adrian Myles
Daniell Bowet & Gabriell who havinge
lived in good reporte to ye age of fowre
score & three yeares deseassed this life
the 9th day of December Anno Dni 1626
Aske how shee liu’d & thou shalt know her ende
Shee dyed a Saint to God to poore a Freinde.”
Priest, Stanford-on-Soar (c.1400).
PRIEST IN EUCHARISTIC VESTMENTS (circa 1400).
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST, STANFORD-ON-SOAR.
This mutilated brass of a priest in eucharistic vestments is to be found in the chancel of the Church of St. John Baptist, Stanford-on-Soar, and was probably laid down about the year 1400. It commemorates, no doubt, the parish priest, and is the earlier by over a century of the two ecclesiastical brasses in the county.
The priest is shewn with the amice, alb, maniple, stole, and chasuble, and he holds a round chalice in his hands. The cingulum or girdle which confined the alb is hidden by the chasuble.
The apparels on the alb consist of a square only. There are no orphreys on the chasuble.
The ends of the stole and maniple are broadened, which help to fix the date of the figure.
There has been an inscription, but it has been removed, and only the matrix remains.
The figure is 33in. in height.
Reynolde Peckham and wife, Ossington (1551).
REYNOLDE PECKHAM AND WIFE. 1551.
CHURCH OF HOLY ROOD, OSSINGTON.
The figures of Reynolde Peckham and his wife are on a marble tomb in the chancel of the Church of the Holy Rood, Ossington.
The male figure is 24¼in. in length. Peckham wears his hair short, but has a beard, and his head rests on his helmet. His pauldrons are shewn with a pass guard on the right shoulder. The rest of his armour includes coutes, and small tuiles over a skirt of mail. He wears his sword on the left, and his misericorde on the right. His cuirass is protected by demi-placcates, and has the projecting tapul. Cuisses, genouillieres, and jambes cover his thighs, knees, and shins. On his feet are sabbatons, with apparently a gusset in the instep. He is represented standing on a greyhound couchant. There is much shading.
The lady wears the Paris head-dress with a flowing veil. Her long walking gown is turned back at the neck to shew the partlet, and a pomander hangs from her waist. The tight sleeves of her dress are of embroidered material. The figure is 23½ft. in height.
The shields on the side of the tomb are those of the Cranmer, Peckham, and Burgoyn families. Why Peck-ham was buried at Ossington is not known, as he belonged to a family living at Wrotham, in Kent, where four brasses exist to their memory.
The inscription is taken from the Book of Job, chapter xix., verses 25.27, but has been broken up and improperly joined together.
INSCRIPTION.
“of your charite py for ze sowlle of Reynolde Peckhm of Wrothm / in the countie of Kente Esquyer whiche decessyd the XXI day of / July in the yere of or lorde god mcccccli whose sowlle god perdon.”
“. . . Ryse from the yerthe and shall be cladde a gayne wy . . . and in my owne flesshe I shall se God . . . whome . . . my selfe shall se and myne eyes.”
Unknown lady and knight, Darlton (c.1510).
KNIGHT AND LADY UNKNOWN (circa 1510).
CHURCH OF ST. GILES, DARLTON.
These two indifferent brasses date from about 1510, and are to be found in the Church of St. Giles, Darlton. There is no inscription in existence now, and the names of the two persons represented have not been discovered.
A narrow mail collar defends the knight’s throat. The pauldrons on the armour are much smaller than those worn by Richard Willoughby, while the passe garde on the left shoulder is higher, so as to protect the neck from a sweeping sword stroke. The tuiles are small, and worn at the sides as well as in front. There is a deep skirt of mail. The sword is worn behind the body and not in front, as in the earlier examples. The misericorde is apparently rather large. The genouilliêres have plates below. On the feet are clumsy sabbatons, with rowels attached.
The lady wears the kennel head-dress made of velvet, supported by wires at the back, and with long streamers behind, falling to her elbows. The gown is cut square at the neck, and the cuffs are trimmed with fur. An ornamental girdle encircles her waist, from which is apparently suspended a pomander.
Both figures stand on grassy ground, and are 28in. in height.