Berkeley Family Monuments
(The following notes about effigies are taken from ‘Effigies of Gloucestershire’ pages 405-424, based on an article in the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Transactions, 1906, by Ida M. Roper.)
THOMAS III, 8TH LORD BERKELEY, 1361, AND WIFE
The tomb is at the south east of the Church nave.
Shown with moustache drooping over the camail, and a restful expression. The hands are in the attitude of prayer.
The effigy of the wife presents the costume of a lady of rank in the middle of the 14th century. The dress consists of the surcote or sideless gown, tight-fitting- to the hips, below which it falls in graceful folds over the feet. It is hollowed out at the sides and bordered with a wide band. Beneath is visible the tight-fitting cote-hardie, low at the neck with long, tight sleeves. From the shoulders hangs a loose mantle to the feet, fastened across the breast by a cordon, passing through large oblong eyelet holes. The ends are looped up and joined together in a tassel in front The head-dress is a peculiar form of the reticulate: the hair is confined in a caul or network of quatrefoils forming a wide pad longer than the face on either side, with a small veil falling over the neck to the shoulders. The feet are in pointed shoes, visible beneath the folds of the surcote, and the hands are in the attitude of prayer.
Figure 2 From B.G.A.S. Transactions xvi (1891-92) Plate xiv
6. The knight's head rests on the Berkeley crest: a mitre charged with the arms; the mitre was first assumed by this lord. It is suggested by Mr. A.E. Ellis that as Harding, the founder of the Berkeley family, married about 1084 a niece of Maurice, afterwards bishop of London, this connexion may be the origin of a mitre as the crest.
The lady's head rests on two small tasselled pillows, the under one set diagonally. The upper one is supported by two winged angels seated, clothed in long robes fastened by a fibula, flowing curly hair and bare feet.
7. The knight's feet rest on a lion couchant, and those of his wife on a greyhound with a plain collar; the head is restored and does not appear to be a form suitable to the body.
8. The effigies on their slabs are placed apart upon a wide table-tomb 3 ft. 8 in. high. Around its upper edge is a handsome frieze of castellated Gothic work, and its sides and ends are divided into four and three square panels by narrow glass strips of deep-blue glass. Each panel contains within a quatrefoil a shield charged with the arms: (gules), a chevron between ten crosses pattée 4.2.1.2.1. (argent), Berkeley.
Coloured glass is an unusual decoration with stonework, but it can be seen on the canopy of the President's in the chapter house at Christchurch monastery, Canterbury, c. 1300, and on the tomb of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, 1296, Westminster abbey.
9. There is no inscription.
Known to be Thomas in, 8th Lord Berkeley, died 27 October 1361, aged 68, and Katherine, his second wife, died 1385.
10. Both figures have been painted a buff colour, and on the mitre under the knight's head there are traces of red colouring.
11. The right spur is broken off, also the lion's tail; the features of the lady are worn and the cordons of the mantle mutilated. The knight's hands, left arm and nose, sword and dagger, have been restored, as well as the lady's hands and the dog's head. On the tomb the frieze is fragile and has been mended in several places. At the last restoration of the church in 1864 all but one of the blue strips were renewed with modern glass, and a handsome iron railing which surrounded the tomb was removed.
12. The tomb is placed under the second arcade on the south side of the nave. Lord and Lady Berkeley were buried 'in a faire monument grated round with iron barrs, under the second Arch before the rode on the south side of the Church'.
13. Illustrated and described: Trans. B.G.A.S. xv 94 (male figure), and xvi, 118 (female figure), xxix, 147 (tomb). Gough, Monuments, i, pl. xliv, 114; Ashdown Brit. Costume, 110 (head-dress).
Figure 3 From ‘Bigland 1’ late C18
Figure 4 From ‘Bigland I’ late C18
14. The effigies are in good condition and well cared for.
15. Thomas in was born in 1293 and succeeded to the title when thirty years old. Before this he was a prisoner at Pevensey castle for some years for injury done to the king's favourites, and on the deposition of Edward II he was released in 1325 and had his estates given back. In 1327 Edward II was entrusted to him and to others as a prisoner at Berkeley castle, and was there murdered on 21 September 1327, in the absence of Lord Berkeley. Although blamed for negligence, no punishment was inflicted, and for about the next 35 years Lord Berkeley was continuously employed by Edward III in all sorts of high offices of State both in warfare and in Council. Altogether he went to the wars on twenty-five different occasions, and was present at both Crécy and Poictiers.
He was one of the great lords of the Berkeley family, and added much to the estates, diligently improving them whilst maintaining an expensive household. He was twice married, and out of eight sons and one daughter by his 1st wife, Margaret, fourth daughter of Roger de Mortimer, Earl of March, only two sons survived him. One of these, John, d. 1426-7, is commemorated on a brass in Mere church, Wilts. The second wife, Katherine, who is buried beside him, was the widow of Sir Peter le Viele, knt., of Charfield, Gloucs., and daughter of Sir John Clevedon, knt., of Aller, Somerset. She survived her husband 24 years, and died in 1385.
DIMINUTIVE FIGURES OF 14TH CENTURY.
The figures are on window sills in the south aisle of the Church
5. (a) This effigy represents a lady dressed in a long, flowing gown, tight-fitting about the body, low at the neck, and with sleeves to the elbows, showing the tight sleeves of the undergarment below. The hair is long and curled into a roll above the ears. The shoes are very pointed, and are visible beneath the folds of the gown. The right hand is on the breast, and the left, hanging down, holds a small object too much mutilated to be identified.
(b) This effigy also represents a lady dressed in a long, flowing surcote or sideless gown, low at the neck and gathered up under the left arm to show the full cote-hardie beneath, with its tight sleeves. The hair, curly and flowing on the shoulders, is confined by a narrow jewelled fillet. Pointed shoes are just visible beneath the cote-hardie. The raised hands held some object, which has been broken away.
(c) This effigy represents a man wearing a full gown to the ankles, low at the neck, with long, full sleeves. The feet are in tight hose with apparently no shoes. The hair is worn short and curly, and encircled by a fillet. The hands are in the attitude of prayer.
Figure 6 & Figure 7 From 'Bigland 1' late C18
6. (a) The head rests on two pillows, the upper one set diagonally.
9. There are no inscriptions, and the figures have not been identified.
The dresses of the three figures correspond with those shown on other English effigies assigned to the latter part of the 14th century.
The idea that these diminutive figures represent children or adults placed over the heart or other portion of a body buried beneath is not likely in this instance. The figures represent a civilian and two ladies placed in the church of a great baron's home. As no traces of their tombs are known we are perhaps justified in regarding them as memorials of honoured retainers or collateral branches of the Berkeley family, who were thus commemorated by diminutive figures such as were erected elsewhere up to the end of the 14th century.
The monument of Thomas III, 8th Lord Berkeley, d. 1361, and his second wife, Katherine, d. 1385 is in the nave and Smyth records that ' in the south window over against the said monument are the pictures or monuments of their three sons, who died young'. But this would appear to refer to paintings of them on the glass of the window, and not to these three small effigies, since two of them are undoubtedly dressed as women.
10. The effigies have been covered with many coats of paint, which are now peeling off.
11. The features are worn and the objects held by two of the figures are worn away.
12. Placed on three window-sills on the south side of the church.
13. Illustrated: Gough, Monuments, i, pi. xliv, 114; Bigland, i, 152; Trans. B.G.A.S. xxix, 150, and Archaeologialxxiv, pl. xi.
14. The figures are fairly well preserved.
JAMES I, 11TH LORD BERKELEY, 1463, AND SON.
The tomb is in the opening between the mausoleum and chancel.
1. Military. Two knights in armour, father and son.
2. Recumbent.
3. The tomb and figures are of alabaster, the canopy of freestone.
4. The father life-size, 6 ft. 2 in.; the son smaller, 4 ft.10 in. There are a few other instances known of two men on the same tomb, and it is thought that the difference in age of the father and son is shown by the relative size of the figures.
5. The father wears a complete suit of plate armour with a skirt of chain mail, the escalloped edge of which is visible on the thighs. The body is encased in a breastplate strapped to a backplate, buckled to which by three straps is narrow skirt of taces with four tuilles also buckled. Overall is a tabard with short flap sleeves. This is open at the sides and shown loosely tied on the right with two points and aiglets; it bears the arms of Berkeley: (gules), a chevron between ten crosses pattée 4.2.1.2.1. (argent), embroidered on the front and flaps. The throat is protected by a gorget of plate having a rim of studs; the arms by brassarts and vambraces of plate; and the elbows by heart-shaped coudes, secured by two sets of large arming points passing through eyelet holes and ending in aiglets.
The hands are restored and are shown with gauntlets formed of a broad-pointed plate over the back of the hand, and pointed cuffs. The cuisses are diagonally fluted in the manner usual at the time and are made wider by pieces of plate hinged to the outer edge, of such a width as would just reach to the saddle when the knight was mounted. The cuisses are strapped at the thighs on the inner side, and the hinged portions illustrate how armour was made suitable for riding on horseback, whilst keeping protected any portion of the leg not covered. At the knees genouilleres with heart-shaped and pointed side-pieces and jambs, hinged and strapped on the legs, meet pointed sollerets with ridged articulations. The spurs (broken) are strapped under the foot and buckled across the instep, the straps being decorated with three roses.
A narrow girdle encircles the waist, and from it on the left side hangs straight down a narrow sling decorated with roses, to which is attached a long sword, with depressed cross-hilt fluted pommel and beautifully engraved scabbard On the right side, resting on the slab and not attached, is a square-topped misericorde with fluted pommel. Round the neck is worn a handsome broad Yorkist collar composed alternately of two of the badges of Edward IV: the sun in its splendour and the white rose, while a third, the white lion of March, is added as a swivel pendant. The knight is represented bareheaded with long straight hair to the shoulders, a fashion only just introduced, and the expression suggests a man of strong character. The hands are raised in the attitude of prayer.
A similar collar and pendant is shown on the effigy of Sir Robert Harcourt, k.g., 1471, Stanton Harcourt. pon., and the same style of hair on the effigy of Edward Stafford Earl of Wiltshire, 1499, Lowick, Northants.
The effigy of the son shows him dressed like the father but the arms on the tabard are differenced with a label of three points, the Yorkist collar is smaller, the hair is worn in curls of varying lengths to the shoulders, and the face is youthful. The label must be an error of the carver, because it is known that the eldest son was alive at the time of his father's death.
6. Both heads rest on tilting helms, the visors closed and showing the breathing holes, the ocularium or opening for the purpose of sight and side plates. They are surmounted by the Berkeley Crest: a mitre, and draped by the cointoise with tasselled ends.
7. The heels of both figures rest against a lion couchant and the toes against the tail poised erect.
8. The effigies are placed upon a very high table-tomb, under what is termed a Berkeley arched canopy, and its four sides are adorned with numerous figures.
The side on the north contains a row of four canopied niches with figures about a foot high standing on small pedestals
From the right:
The side on the south is of greater depth, because it reaches to a lower level. Accordingly it is divided into two rows the upper containing seven niches with figures under beautiful ogee-shaped canopies, separated by pinnacles, and the lower seven panels with figures separated by shields within quatrefoils.
Upper row, from the right:
The canopy above the tomb on the north side is divided into twelve tall narrow panels with handsome canopied work. Each contains a bracket, but there are no figures.
Above is a frieze of ducal leaves, alternating large and small, and the arch is cusped and finished with trefoils, and a row of small ball-flowers, with spandrels of foliage. For protection the space below the arch has been shut in by a sheet of glass.
On the south side the canopy has thirteen canopied niches without figures, divided by decorated pinnacles; they direct from the arch, and there are no spandrels or frieze. The vaulting is diamond-shaped, without bosses at intersections.
9.There is no inscription.
Known to be James I, 11th Lord Berkeley, died 1463, aged 69, and James Berkeley, his second son, died July 1452.
10. There is no sign of painting. Smyth states the points of the son's label on the shields were sable, as though tinctured in his time.
11. The misericorde of the larger figure is broken and the spurs are gone. Both pairs of hands and the noses have been restored, as also the swords. Some of the details on the figures on the tomb are broken, and in each case the head of the Holy Child is missing.
12. The tomb is placed under an arch on the south side of the high altar leading into the mortuary chapel which is a foot or so below the level of the chancel. This chapel was built by Lord James.
13. The tomb and effigies illustrated:Gough, Monuments, ii, pl. lxxvii, 201; Trans. B.G.A.S. xv, 99 and described, and xxix, 153.
14. The effigies are in excellent condition, and the figures on the tomb are wonderfully preserved.
15. James i, 11th Lord Berkeley, was nephew of Thomas iv, and succeeded in 1417 to the property, only after much dispute, being then about 23 years old. Till his death in 1463 he was occupied in a continuous series of disputes about the ownership of lands, which kept him in poverty and prevented him entering any military employment. He was thrice married, and by his second wife Isabel, eldest daughter of Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, had four sons and three daughters. He died in November 1463, aged 69 years. James, his second son, was slain in France in July 1452, aged about 20 years and unmarried. His place of burial is unknown.
HENRY I, 17TH LORD BERKELEY, 1613, AND WIFE
The tomb is at the east end of the mausoleum.
1. Military. Baron in armour, and Lady.
2. Recumbent.
3. The figures and canopy of alabaster, the tomb of freestone.
4. Life-size, the man 6 ft., and the lady 5 ft. 9 in.
5. The baron is shown encased in a breastplate with tapul, buckled to a backplate, and the shoulders are protected by large cauldrons strapped on the top, and thus showing that the shoulder blades were covered only by the epaulieres. On the arms are hinged brassarts, vambraces, and pointed coudes, secured by hook and staple. To the breastplate are fastened by buckle and strap two tassels of almayne rivets, strapped over bombasted slashed trunk hose, and below, the legs are in ridged half-cuisses, rounded genouilleres decorated with a small rose, and hinged jambs, meeting laminated square-toed sabbatons with rowel spurs fastened to the heels. Round the throat is a gorget of over- lapping plates, and above it a small fluted ruff of three folds, and at the wrists narrow ruffles. The hands are restored, and are represented in gauntlets formed of a broad-pointed plate over the back of the hand. All the armour has an escalloped edge of lining, and is profusely engraved, which gives a very handsome effect. A narrow belt is buckled round the waist, and hooked to it on the left side is the hanger of four wide straps kept in place by a narrow diagonal sling hooked on the right. Fastened to the hanger is a long sword resting on the slab with curved hilt and rounded guard.
The hair is long and curly, the beard small, and the moustache long and drooping. It is stated to be a good portrait of Lord Berkeley.The hands are raised in prayer.
The lady is dressed in the robes of a peeress, such as would be worn on State occasions. She wears a loose gown to the feet, edged with a band of embroidered scroll-work and narrow fringe. The sleeves are gathered full at the shoulders but tight at the wrist, where they end in small ruffles; the bodice is tight-fitting with a stomacher, peaked below the waist and closely buttoned down the centre; it is encircled by a small jewelled belt, the end hanging straight to the knees and ending in a large pendant. Over this Court dress is worn the State mantle, doubled from the neck to the elbow with fur, and the front thrown open to show a lining of the same. It is fastened high in the neck to a jewelled fermail by very long cordons ending in huge tassels.
Above the mantle is a large single-fold ruff, and across the shoulders is worn a massive chain of raised jewelled medallions linked together. The hair is arranged in a mass of small curls on the temples, and confined by a Paris hood with a coronal of twisted design. Over it is placed a small baroness' chaplet-a plain band of gold decorated with roses and 'pearls' or silver balls. It was not till the time of Charles 11 that barons were permitted to wear the present coronet. The feet are in pointed shoes with thick soles, and. the hands are raised in prayer. This also is stated to be a portrait of the Lady Katherine.
6. Under the man's head and shoulders is a large full cushion, decorated with a band of scroll-work and tassels and under the lady's a large tasselled one covered with embroidery. 7. The man's feet rest against the crest: a mitre standing on end charged with the Berkeley arms; from it hang long fringed infulae. The lady's feet rest on a lion couchant. 8. The effigies are placed on a high table-tomb within a semicircular arcade, under a straight cornice supported by two slender Corinthian pillars, the whole surmounted by the coat of arms and crest. At the back of the recess there is an inscription on an oblong tablet within a frame of scroll-work and bosses.
The front of the tomb is divided into four tri-cusped panels containing shields, charged with arms, but without tinctures.
The heraldry is as follows:
On small shields on front of tomb:
9. Inscription on mural tablet:
Here lyeth the Body of Sir Henry Berkeley, Knight
Lord Berkeley, Mowbray, Segrave and BruseLord Lieutenant
Of the County of Glouc., who departed this Life the 26 Day
Of November, in the yeare of our Lord God 1613 being the
Day that he accomplished the Age of Fowerscore Yeares.
He first maryed Katherine, Sister to Thomas Howard Duke
Of Norfolke, by whom he had Yssue Thomas, Mary and
Frances. Thomas beinge a Knight of the Bathe, maried
Elizabeth, only Daughter and Heir unto Sir George
Carey Knight, Lord Hunsdon. Mary, the eldest Daughter,
Was maried unto Sir John Zouche Knight, & Frances
the second Daughter was maried unto Sir George Shirley, Baronet
Hee secondly maried Jane, the Widowe of Sir Roger
Townshend Knight yet lyving by whom he had no Issue.
Henry i, 17th Lord Berkeley, died 26 November 1613, in his 80th year,
Lady Katherine, his first wife, died 7 April 1596, aged 58.
At the time the tomb was erected there were placed close by the kneeling effigies of the three children, a son and two daughters. These may have been on a small mural monument near the head, but all traces of them have disappeared. On a window-sill in the same chapel there is, however, at the present time an unattached diminutive figure of a kneeling woman carved in white alabaster similar to the effigies, and this is likely to be the remains of the figure of one of the daughters.
The existence of the monument to the three children mentioned in a ms written in 1634 (British Museum, Lansdowne, no. 213, pp. 319-348) quoted in Gloucs. N. & Q., 1887, 365.
10. The escutcheon only is painted.
11. Both effigies are chipped in a few places; the belt and hanger are mutilated, also the lady's jewelled belt. The man's hands have been restored.
12. Placed in a recess at the east end of the Berkeley chapel, on the south side of the chancel.
13. Tomb illustrated: Trans. B.G.A.S. xxviii, 8, and xxix, 157; the effigies vol. xv, 100 (male figure) and xvi, 124 (female figure). Tomb described: Bigland, i, 159.
14. The effigies are in very good condition. They are the work of Samuel Baldwin, of Stroud.
15. Henry I, 17th Lord Berkeley, was born in 1534, being the posthumous child of Thomas, 16th Lord Berkeley, and Lady Anne, daughter of Sir John Savage, of Frodsham. He obtained his name from King Henry VIII, his godfather. For the first half of his long life he lived in a very expensive manner, much crippling his fortune, and at all times seems to have taken delight in being at law with his neighbours or rivals. Although he sold a number of the manors belonging to the family, he was successful in recovering Berkeley Castle and the lands of his Barony of Berkeley that had become alienated from his predecessors for 61 years. His first wife, whose effigy rests by the side of his own, was Katherine, third daughter of Henry Howard, styled Earl of Surrey, and son of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. She died in 1596, aged 58, and was buried at St. Michael's, Coventry His second wife, who survived him, was Jane, widow of Sir Roger Townshend, and daughter of Sir Michael Stanhope, of Shelford, Notts.
A LADY OF THE BERKELEY FAMILY, C. 1613
1. Lady.
2. Kneeling, now separated from its monument.
3. White alabaster.
4. Diminutive.
5. The figure wears the dress of the beginning of the 17th century. A full gown over a modified farthingale falls round the feet, the bodice is tight-fitting with a wide pointed stomacher, closely buttoned down the centre, to which is fastened a short, full flounce, falling over the hips. The sleeves are padded at the shoulders and turned back at the wrists with plain cuffs, and about the waist is a narrow girdle of round beads. Over the shoulders is a long mantle falling behind in flat folds, the lower corners, edged with beading, are turned back over the feet to show the plain lining. There are traces of a big ruff with the tying cords and aiglets, but the head has been sawn off. The arms are raised in the attitude of prayer. (Hands broken off).
6.
7. The figure is kneeling on a cushion with cording.
8. This solitary figure belonged probably to a monument of which no traces now exist.
9. There is no inscription. It is probable that the figure represents either Mary or Frances Berkeley, daughters of Henry, Lord Berkeley, and Lady Katherine, his wife. It is known from a ms. written in 1634 that the figures of these two ladies with their brother were erected kneeling by their parents' tomb, and additional identification is obtained from the larger figures, being portraitures in white alabaster.
10. There is no sign of painting.
11. The head and left side have been sawn off, and a portion of the drapery on the right. Both hands are gone.
12. Placed temporarily on the sill of the southwest window of the Berkeley chapel, which is on the south side of the chancel.
13. Illustrated: Trans. B.G.A.S. xxix, 157.
14. The remnant of this finely sculptured figure is well cared for.
15. The inscription on the tomb of Lord Berkeley shows into what families his two daughters married.
RANDAL THOMAS MOBRAY, 8TH EARL OF BERKELEY (D. 1942) AND HIS WIFE
The tablet can be seen through the west window of the burial chapel.
Tablet by Sir Ninian Comper with heraldry flanked by figures of St. George and St. Francis.
The heraldry is the coat of arms of the 8th Earl. The Countess was buried in the 1970s.
(The following two inscriptions are taken from Bigland; a translation would be welcome.)
CHARLES, 2ND EARL OF BERKELEY (1689-1710)
The following inscription is by Dean Swift
on a marble tablet
Arms; Berkeley, as before described; impaling, Topaz fretty Ruby, a Canton Ermine, for noel H. S. E
Carolus Comes de Berkeley, Vicecomes Dursley,
Baro Berkeley, de Berkeley Cast. Mowbray, Segrave,
Et Bruce, è Nobiliffimo ordine Batnei Eques,
Vir ad genus quod fpectat & Proavos ufquequaque Nobilis,
Et longo, fi quis alius Procerum ftemmate editus;
Muniis ctiam tam illuftri ftirpi dignis infignitus.
Siquidem à Gullielmo 111° ad ordines fœderati Belgii
Ablegatus & Plenipotentiarius Extraordinarius
Rebus, non Britanniæ tantùm, fed totius fere Europæ
(Tunc temporis præfertim arduis) per annos V. incubuit,
Quam felici diligentià, fide quam intemeratâ,
Ex illo difcas, Lector, quod, fuperftitc Patre,
In Magnatum ordinem adfcifci meruerit.
Fuit a fancttoribus confiliis & Regi Guliel & annæ. Reginæ,
E Proregibus Hiberniæ fecundus,
Comitatuum Civitatumque Gloceft. &: Brift. Dominus Locumtenens,
Surriæ & Gloceft Cuftos Rot. Urbis Gloceft. magnus
Senefcallus, Arcis fancti de Briavell Caftellanus,
Guardianus Foreftæ de Dean.
Denique ad Turcarum primùm deinde ad Roman. Imperatorem
Cum Legatus Extraordinarius defignatus effet,
Quo minus has etiam ornaret provincias
Obftitit adverfa corporis valetudo.
Sed reftat adhuc, præ quo fordefcunt cætera,
Honos verus, ftabilis, et vel morti cedere nefcius,
Quòd ventatem Evangelicam feriò amplexus;
Erga Deum plus, erga pauperes munificus,
Adversùs omnes æquus &: benevolus,
In Chrifto jam placidè obdormit
cum eodem olim regnaturus unà.
Natus VIII° April. MDCXLIX. denatus
XXIV° Septem. MDCCX ætat. fuæ LXII.
ELIZABETH LADY BERKELEY (d. 1635)
on a plain tablet:2
To the perpetual Memory of the most
vertuous and prudent Lady, Elizabeth
Lady Berkeley, the Widdowe of Sir Thomas
Berkeley, Knight, Sonne and Heire of Henry
Lord Berkeley, George Lord Berkeley, her
only Sonne, hath in this Chapple of his
Ancestors, in a dutiful Acknowledgement
of her pious Life and Death, consecrated
this Inscnption for a Memorial of her
vertue: who leaft this Life at her Houfe
at Cranford, in the County ot Middlesex,
the 25th Day of April, Anno Domini
I635,
where, according to the Direction of her
Will, she lieth buried.
IN THE MAIN CHURCH BUILDING THERE ARE MONUMENTS TO MEMBERS OF THE BERKELEY FAMILY:
Three stained glass windows:
THOMAS III, 8TH LORD BERKELEY, 1361, AND WIFE
The tomb is at the south east of the Church nave.
- 1. Military. Knight in armour, and Lady.
2. Recumbent.
3. Alabaster.
4. Life-size; the man 6 ft. 2 in., and the lady 5 ft. 8 in.
5. The knight wears a hauberk reaching to the middle of the thighs with long sleeves, and gussets of mail at the armpits and under the elbows. Over it is a slightly shorter jupon, tight-fitting, and embroidered in front with the Berkeley Arms: (gules), a chevron between ten crosses pattée4.2.1.2.1., (argent), a similar chevron being partly visible at the back. A pointed bascinet has a small camail chain attached by a cord running through staples on the bascinet and the plate edging of the camail. The shoulders are further protected by epaulières of two plates; the arms by brassarts and vambraces of cuir bouilli, with folded guards for the elbows. The hands are restored, and are represented with gauntlets formed of a broad plate to the knuckles. The legs are cased in cuisses and jambs of cuir bouilli, the latter being laced up tightly on the inner side. The genouillères are of plate, very convex and rounded, and feet have articulated sollerets of plate with rowel spurs strapped under the foot and buckled across the instep. A bawdric, handsomely jewelled in quatrefoils, encircles the hips, and is buckled and knotted on the right side; to it is fastened a misericorde with fluted pommel and plain cross-hilt. On the left side hangs a long sword with cross-hilt and pommel of very handsome decorative Gothic work.
Shown with moustache drooping over the camail, and a restful expression. The hands are in the attitude of prayer.
The effigy of the wife presents the costume of a lady of rank in the middle of the 14th century. The dress consists of the surcote or sideless gown, tight-fitting- to the hips, below which it falls in graceful folds over the feet. It is hollowed out at the sides and bordered with a wide band. Beneath is visible the tight-fitting cote-hardie, low at the neck with long, tight sleeves. From the shoulders hangs a loose mantle to the feet, fastened across the breast by a cordon, passing through large oblong eyelet holes. The ends are looped up and joined together in a tassel in front The head-dress is a peculiar form of the reticulate: the hair is confined in a caul or network of quatrefoils forming a wide pad longer than the face on either side, with a small veil falling over the neck to the shoulders. The feet are in pointed shoes, visible beneath the folds of the surcote, and the hands are in the attitude of prayer.
Figure 2 From B.G.A.S. Transactions xvi (1891-92) Plate xiv
6. The knight's head rests on the Berkeley crest: a mitre charged with the arms; the mitre was first assumed by this lord. It is suggested by Mr. A.E. Ellis that as Harding, the founder of the Berkeley family, married about 1084 a niece of Maurice, afterwards bishop of London, this connexion may be the origin of a mitre as the crest.
The lady's head rests on two small tasselled pillows, the under one set diagonally. The upper one is supported by two winged angels seated, clothed in long robes fastened by a fibula, flowing curly hair and bare feet.
7. The knight's feet rest on a lion couchant, and those of his wife on a greyhound with a plain collar; the head is restored and does not appear to be a form suitable to the body.
8. The effigies on their slabs are placed apart upon a wide table-tomb 3 ft. 8 in. high. Around its upper edge is a handsome frieze of castellated Gothic work, and its sides and ends are divided into four and three square panels by narrow glass strips of deep-blue glass. Each panel contains within a quatrefoil a shield charged with the arms: (gules), a chevron between ten crosses pattée 4.2.1.2.1. (argent), Berkeley.
Coloured glass is an unusual decoration with stonework, but it can be seen on the canopy of the President's in the chapter house at Christchurch monastery, Canterbury, c. 1300, and on the tomb of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, 1296, Westminster abbey.
9. There is no inscription.
Known to be Thomas in, 8th Lord Berkeley, died 27 October 1361, aged 68, and Katherine, his second wife, died 1385.
10. Both figures have been painted a buff colour, and on the mitre under the knight's head there are traces of red colouring.
11. The right spur is broken off, also the lion's tail; the features of the lady are worn and the cordons of the mantle mutilated. The knight's hands, left arm and nose, sword and dagger, have been restored, as well as the lady's hands and the dog's head. On the tomb the frieze is fragile and has been mended in several places. At the last restoration of the church in 1864 all but one of the blue strips were renewed with modern glass, and a handsome iron railing which surrounded the tomb was removed.
12. The tomb is placed under the second arcade on the south side of the nave. Lord and Lady Berkeley were buried 'in a faire monument grated round with iron barrs, under the second Arch before the rode on the south side of the Church'.
13. Illustrated and described: Trans. B.G.A.S. xv 94 (male figure), and xvi, 118 (female figure), xxix, 147 (tomb). Gough, Monuments, i, pl. xliv, 114; Ashdown Brit. Costume, 110 (head-dress).
Figure 3 From ‘Bigland 1’ late C18
Figure 4 From ‘Bigland I’ late C18
14. The effigies are in good condition and well cared for.
15. Thomas in was born in 1293 and succeeded to the title when thirty years old. Before this he was a prisoner at Pevensey castle for some years for injury done to the king's favourites, and on the deposition of Edward II he was released in 1325 and had his estates given back. In 1327 Edward II was entrusted to him and to others as a prisoner at Berkeley castle, and was there murdered on 21 September 1327, in the absence of Lord Berkeley. Although blamed for negligence, no punishment was inflicted, and for about the next 35 years Lord Berkeley was continuously employed by Edward III in all sorts of high offices of State both in warfare and in Council. Altogether he went to the wars on twenty-five different occasions, and was present at both Crécy and Poictiers.
He was one of the great lords of the Berkeley family, and added much to the estates, diligently improving them whilst maintaining an expensive household. He was twice married, and out of eight sons and one daughter by his 1st wife, Margaret, fourth daughter of Roger de Mortimer, Earl of March, only two sons survived him. One of these, John, d. 1426-7, is commemorated on a brass in Mere church, Wilts. The second wife, Katherine, who is buried beside him, was the widow of Sir Peter le Viele, knt., of Charfield, Gloucs., and daughter of Sir John Clevedon, knt., of Aller, Somerset. She survived her husband 24 years, and died in 1385.
DIMINUTIVE FIGURES OF 14TH CENTURY.
The figures are on window sills in the south aisle of the Church
- 1. Two Ladies and a Civilian.
2. Recumbent.
3. Stone.
4. Diminutive: (a) 2 ft. 9 in.; (b) 3 ft. 1 in.; (c) 2 ft. 4 in.
5. (a) This effigy represents a lady dressed in a long, flowing gown, tight-fitting about the body, low at the neck, and with sleeves to the elbows, showing the tight sleeves of the undergarment below. The hair is long and curled into a roll above the ears. The shoes are very pointed, and are visible beneath the folds of the gown. The right hand is on the breast, and the left, hanging down, holds a small object too much mutilated to be identified.
(b) This effigy also represents a lady dressed in a long, flowing surcote or sideless gown, low at the neck and gathered up under the left arm to show the full cote-hardie beneath, with its tight sleeves. The hair, curly and flowing on the shoulders, is confined by a narrow jewelled fillet. Pointed shoes are just visible beneath the cote-hardie. The raised hands held some object, which has been broken away.
(c) This effigy represents a man wearing a full gown to the ankles, low at the neck, with long, full sleeves. The feet are in tight hose with apparently no shoes. The hair is worn short and curly, and encircled by a fillet. The hands are in the attitude of prayer.
Figure 6 & Figure 7 From 'Bigland 1' late C18
6. (a) The head rests on two pillows, the upper one set diagonally.
- (b) On a square pillow.
(c) On a small, square pillow.
- (b) On a hound with flap-ears, the head turned outwards.
(c) On a dog (headless) lying stretched at full length.
9. There are no inscriptions, and the figures have not been identified.
The dresses of the three figures correspond with those shown on other English effigies assigned to the latter part of the 14th century.
The idea that these diminutive figures represent children or adults placed over the heart or other portion of a body buried beneath is not likely in this instance. The figures represent a civilian and two ladies placed in the church of a great baron's home. As no traces of their tombs are known we are perhaps justified in regarding them as memorials of honoured retainers or collateral branches of the Berkeley family, who were thus commemorated by diminutive figures such as were erected elsewhere up to the end of the 14th century.
The monument of Thomas III, 8th Lord Berkeley, d. 1361, and his second wife, Katherine, d. 1385 is in the nave and Smyth records that ' in the south window over against the said monument are the pictures or monuments of their three sons, who died young'. But this would appear to refer to paintings of them on the glass of the window, and not to these three small effigies, since two of them are undoubtedly dressed as women.
10. The effigies have been covered with many coats of paint, which are now peeling off.
11. The features are worn and the objects held by two of the figures are worn away.
12. Placed on three window-sills on the south side of the church.
13. Illustrated: Gough, Monuments, i, pi. xliv, 114; Bigland, i, 152; Trans. B.G.A.S. xxix, 150, and Archaeologialxxiv, pl. xi.
14. The figures are fairly well preserved.
JAMES I, 11TH LORD BERKELEY, 1463, AND SON.
The tomb is in the opening between the mausoleum and chancel.
1. Military. Two knights in armour, father and son.
2. Recumbent.
3. The tomb and figures are of alabaster, the canopy of freestone.
4. The father life-size, 6 ft. 2 in.; the son smaller, 4 ft.10 in. There are a few other instances known of two men on the same tomb, and it is thought that the difference in age of the father and son is shown by the relative size of the figures.
5. The father wears a complete suit of plate armour with a skirt of chain mail, the escalloped edge of which is visible on the thighs. The body is encased in a breastplate strapped to a backplate, buckled to which by three straps is narrow skirt of taces with four tuilles also buckled. Overall is a tabard with short flap sleeves. This is open at the sides and shown loosely tied on the right with two points and aiglets; it bears the arms of Berkeley: (gules), a chevron between ten crosses pattée 4.2.1.2.1. (argent), embroidered on the front and flaps. The throat is protected by a gorget of plate having a rim of studs; the arms by brassarts and vambraces of plate; and the elbows by heart-shaped coudes, secured by two sets of large arming points passing through eyelet holes and ending in aiglets.
The hands are restored and are shown with gauntlets formed of a broad-pointed plate over the back of the hand, and pointed cuffs. The cuisses are diagonally fluted in the manner usual at the time and are made wider by pieces of plate hinged to the outer edge, of such a width as would just reach to the saddle when the knight was mounted. The cuisses are strapped at the thighs on the inner side, and the hinged portions illustrate how armour was made suitable for riding on horseback, whilst keeping protected any portion of the leg not covered. At the knees genouilleres with heart-shaped and pointed side-pieces and jambs, hinged and strapped on the legs, meet pointed sollerets with ridged articulations. The spurs (broken) are strapped under the foot and buckled across the instep, the straps being decorated with three roses.
A narrow girdle encircles the waist, and from it on the left side hangs straight down a narrow sling decorated with roses, to which is attached a long sword, with depressed cross-hilt fluted pommel and beautifully engraved scabbard On the right side, resting on the slab and not attached, is a square-topped misericorde with fluted pommel. Round the neck is worn a handsome broad Yorkist collar composed alternately of two of the badges of Edward IV: the sun in its splendour and the white rose, while a third, the white lion of March, is added as a swivel pendant. The knight is represented bareheaded with long straight hair to the shoulders, a fashion only just introduced, and the expression suggests a man of strong character. The hands are raised in the attitude of prayer.
A similar collar and pendant is shown on the effigy of Sir Robert Harcourt, k.g., 1471, Stanton Harcourt. pon., and the same style of hair on the effigy of Edward Stafford Earl of Wiltshire, 1499, Lowick, Northants.
The effigy of the son shows him dressed like the father but the arms on the tabard are differenced with a label of three points, the Yorkist collar is smaller, the hair is worn in curls of varying lengths to the shoulders, and the face is youthful. The label must be an error of the carver, because it is known that the eldest son was alive at the time of his father's death.
6. Both heads rest on tilting helms, the visors closed and showing the breathing holes, the ocularium or opening for the purpose of sight and side plates. They are surmounted by the Berkeley Crest: a mitre, and draped by the cointoise with tasselled ends.
7. The heels of both figures rest against a lion couchant and the toes against the tail poised erect.
8. The effigies are placed upon a very high table-tomb, under what is termed a Berkeley arched canopy, and its four sides are adorned with numerous figures.
The side on the north contains a row of four canopied niches with figures about a foot high standing on small pedestals
From the right:
- (1) A saint in flowing gown and mantle, with long curly hair and turban, holding in her left hand a martyr's palm branch, in her right an object (unidentified).
(2) St. Paul in flowing garments, long hair and short beard, holding a long staff in the right hand and a strapped book in the left.
(3) St. Mark similarly dressed with a winged lion standing at his feet. The hands broken off.
(4) A bishop in plain mitre, amice, dalmatic and chasuble, holding a pastoral staff in his left hand.
The side on the south is of greater depth, because it reaches to a lower level. Accordingly it is divided into two rows the upper containing seven niches with figures under beautiful ogee-shaped canopies, separated by pinnacles, and the lower seven panels with figures separated by shields within quatrefoils.
Upper row, from the right:
- (1) The Virgin Mary enthroned and crowned in flowing robes and long hair, holding the Holy Child (head gone) on her right knee.
(2) Angle in alb and falling hood, holding a shield charged with the Berkeley arms.
(3) A saint in gown, kirtle and lone hair, holding a palm leaf in her left hand and a book with a bird (headless) perched on it in her right. This might be St Anne.
(4) St. James the Less in mitre, dalmatic and chasuble, with a large tasselled purse slung over the left shoulder, holding a club (mutilated) in the left hand, and a strapped book in the right.
(5) Similar to no. 2.
(6) St. George in full plate armour, with a huge cross-hilt sword in his belt and a dagger, standing on the dragon and striking it with a long battleaxe, held by both hands diagonally from left to right.
- (1) St. Christopher with the Holy Child (head gone) oh his left shoulder, and a tree trunk in his right hand for a staff.
(2) A shield with the Berkeley arms pendent from a four-leaved flower.
(3) A bishop in mitre, dalmatic and chasuble, holding a pastoral staff and a book (mutilated).
(4) St. Peter in flowing garments, holding the keys in his hand and a strapped book in his right.
(5) Similar to no. 2.
(6) St. John the Baptist in flowing garments, holding the Holy Lamb (headless) within the left arm.
(7) Similar to nos. 2 and 5.
The canopy above the tomb on the north side is divided into twelve tall narrow panels with handsome canopied work. Each contains a bracket, but there are no figures.
Above is a frieze of ducal leaves, alternating large and small, and the arch is cusped and finished with trefoils, and a row of small ball-flowers, with spandrels of foliage. For protection the space below the arch has been shut in by a sheet of glass.
On the south side the canopy has thirteen canopied niches without figures, divided by decorated pinnacles; they direct from the arch, and there are no spandrels or frieze. The vaulting is diamond-shaped, without bosses at intersections.
9.There is no inscription.
Known to be James I, 11th Lord Berkeley, died 1463, aged 69, and James Berkeley, his second son, died July 1452.
10. There is no sign of painting. Smyth states the points of the son's label on the shields were sable, as though tinctured in his time.
11. The misericorde of the larger figure is broken and the spurs are gone. Both pairs of hands and the noses have been restored, as also the swords. Some of the details on the figures on the tomb are broken, and in each case the head of the Holy Child is missing.
12. The tomb is placed under an arch on the south side of the high altar leading into the mortuary chapel which is a foot or so below the level of the chancel. This chapel was built by Lord James.
13. The tomb and effigies illustrated:Gough, Monuments, ii, pl. lxxvii, 201; Trans. B.G.A.S. xv, 99 and described, and xxix, 153.
14. The effigies are in excellent condition, and the figures on the tomb are wonderfully preserved.
15. James i, 11th Lord Berkeley, was nephew of Thomas iv, and succeeded in 1417 to the property, only after much dispute, being then about 23 years old. Till his death in 1463 he was occupied in a continuous series of disputes about the ownership of lands, which kept him in poverty and prevented him entering any military employment. He was thrice married, and by his second wife Isabel, eldest daughter of Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, had four sons and three daughters. He died in November 1463, aged 69 years. James, his second son, was slain in France in July 1452, aged about 20 years and unmarried. His place of burial is unknown.
HENRY I, 17TH LORD BERKELEY, 1613, AND WIFE
The tomb is at the east end of the mausoleum.
1. Military. Baron in armour, and Lady.
2. Recumbent.
3. The figures and canopy of alabaster, the tomb of freestone.
4. Life-size, the man 6 ft., and the lady 5 ft. 9 in.
5. The baron is shown encased in a breastplate with tapul, buckled to a backplate, and the shoulders are protected by large cauldrons strapped on the top, and thus showing that the shoulder blades were covered only by the epaulieres. On the arms are hinged brassarts, vambraces, and pointed coudes, secured by hook and staple. To the breastplate are fastened by buckle and strap two tassels of almayne rivets, strapped over bombasted slashed trunk hose, and below, the legs are in ridged half-cuisses, rounded genouilleres decorated with a small rose, and hinged jambs, meeting laminated square-toed sabbatons with rowel spurs fastened to the heels. Round the throat is a gorget of over- lapping plates, and above it a small fluted ruff of three folds, and at the wrists narrow ruffles. The hands are restored, and are represented in gauntlets formed of a broad-pointed plate over the back of the hand. All the armour has an escalloped edge of lining, and is profusely engraved, which gives a very handsome effect. A narrow belt is buckled round the waist, and hooked to it on the left side is the hanger of four wide straps kept in place by a narrow diagonal sling hooked on the right. Fastened to the hanger is a long sword resting on the slab with curved hilt and rounded guard.
The hair is long and curly, the beard small, and the moustache long and drooping. It is stated to be a good portrait of Lord Berkeley.The hands are raised in prayer.
The lady is dressed in the robes of a peeress, such as would be worn on State occasions. She wears a loose gown to the feet, edged with a band of embroidered scroll-work and narrow fringe. The sleeves are gathered full at the shoulders but tight at the wrist, where they end in small ruffles; the bodice is tight-fitting with a stomacher, peaked below the waist and closely buttoned down the centre; it is encircled by a small jewelled belt, the end hanging straight to the knees and ending in a large pendant. Over this Court dress is worn the State mantle, doubled from the neck to the elbow with fur, and the front thrown open to show a lining of the same. It is fastened high in the neck to a jewelled fermail by very long cordons ending in huge tassels.
Above the mantle is a large single-fold ruff, and across the shoulders is worn a massive chain of raised jewelled medallions linked together. The hair is arranged in a mass of small curls on the temples, and confined by a Paris hood with a coronal of twisted design. Over it is placed a small baroness' chaplet-a plain band of gold decorated with roses and 'pearls' or silver balls. It was not till the time of Charles 11 that barons were permitted to wear the present coronet. The feet are in pointed shoes with thick soles, and. the hands are raised in prayer. This also is stated to be a portrait of the Lady Katherine.
6. Under the man's head and shoulders is a large full cushion, decorated with a band of scroll-work and tassels and under the lady's a large tasselled one covered with embroidery. 7. The man's feet rest against the crest: a mitre standing on end charged with the Berkeley arms; from it hang long fringed infulae. The lady's feet rest on a lion couchant. 8. The effigies are placed on a high table-tomb within a semicircular arcade, under a straight cornice supported by two slender Corinthian pillars, the whole surmounted by the coat of arms and crest. At the back of the recess there is an inscription on an oblong tablet within a frame of scroll-work and bosses.
The front of the tomb is divided into four tri-cusped panels containing shields, charged with arms, but without tinctures.
The heraldry is as follows:
On small shields on front of tomb:
- 1. (Gules), a chevron between ten crosses pattée, 4.2.1.2.1 (argent), Berkeley.
2. (Gules) a bend between six crosses crosslet fitchy, 2.1.1.2 (argent), Howard.
3. (Gules), a lion rampant (argent), Mowbray.
4. (Sable), a lion rampant (argent) ducally crowned (or), Segrave.
- (1) Berkeley.
(2) Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or, a label of as many points argent, Brotherton.
(3) Mowbray.
(4) Azure, semée of crosses crosslet, a lion rampant or, Breans of Gower.
(5) Segrave.
(6) Quarterly or and gules, a bend of the second, Beauchamp, Baron of Bedford.
(7) Barry of six or and gules, Fitzalleyn.
(8) Gules, a lion rampant or, Fitzalan.
(9) Azure, three garbs or, Blundeville.
(10) Chequy or and azure, Warren.
(11) Gules, an inescutcheon of Ancient France within an orle of lions of England. Should be, azure, semée fleurs-de-lys or, on a bordure gules eight lions of England, Plantagenet.
(12) Or, a bend lozengy gules, Pinckney.
9. Inscription on mural tablet:
Here lyeth the Body of Sir Henry Berkeley, Knight
Lord Berkeley, Mowbray, Segrave and BruseLord Lieutenant
Of the County of Glouc., who departed this Life the 26 Day
Of November, in the yeare of our Lord God 1613 being the
Day that he accomplished the Age of Fowerscore Yeares.
He first maryed Katherine, Sister to Thomas Howard Duke
Of Norfolke, by whom he had Yssue Thomas, Mary and
Frances. Thomas beinge a Knight of the Bathe, maried
Elizabeth, only Daughter and Heir unto Sir George
Carey Knight, Lord Hunsdon. Mary, the eldest Daughter,
Was maried unto Sir John Zouche Knight, & Frances
the second Daughter was maried unto Sir George Shirley, Baronet
Hee secondly maried Jane, the Widowe of Sir Roger
Townshend Knight yet lyving by whom he had no Issue.
Henry i, 17th Lord Berkeley, died 26 November 1613, in his 80th year,
Lady Katherine, his first wife, died 7 April 1596, aged 58.
At the time the tomb was erected there were placed close by the kneeling effigies of the three children, a son and two daughters. These may have been on a small mural monument near the head, but all traces of them have disappeared. On a window-sill in the same chapel there is, however, at the present time an unattached diminutive figure of a kneeling woman carved in white alabaster similar to the effigies, and this is likely to be the remains of the figure of one of the daughters.
The existence of the monument to the three children mentioned in a ms written in 1634 (British Museum, Lansdowne, no. 213, pp. 319-348) quoted in Gloucs. N. & Q., 1887, 365.
10. The escutcheon only is painted.
11. Both effigies are chipped in a few places; the belt and hanger are mutilated, also the lady's jewelled belt. The man's hands have been restored.
12. Placed in a recess at the east end of the Berkeley chapel, on the south side of the chancel.
13. Tomb illustrated: Trans. B.G.A.S. xxviii, 8, and xxix, 157; the effigies vol. xv, 100 (male figure) and xvi, 124 (female figure). Tomb described: Bigland, i, 159.
14. The effigies are in very good condition. They are the work of Samuel Baldwin, of Stroud.
15. Henry I, 17th Lord Berkeley, was born in 1534, being the posthumous child of Thomas, 16th Lord Berkeley, and Lady Anne, daughter of Sir John Savage, of Frodsham. He obtained his name from King Henry VIII, his godfather. For the first half of his long life he lived in a very expensive manner, much crippling his fortune, and at all times seems to have taken delight in being at law with his neighbours or rivals. Although he sold a number of the manors belonging to the family, he was successful in recovering Berkeley Castle and the lands of his Barony of Berkeley that had become alienated from his predecessors for 61 years. His first wife, whose effigy rests by the side of his own, was Katherine, third daughter of Henry Howard, styled Earl of Surrey, and son of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. She died in 1596, aged 58, and was buried at St. Michael's, Coventry His second wife, who survived him, was Jane, widow of Sir Roger Townshend, and daughter of Sir Michael Stanhope, of Shelford, Notts.
A LADY OF THE BERKELEY FAMILY, C. 1613
1. Lady.
2. Kneeling, now separated from its monument.
3. White alabaster.
4. Diminutive.
5. The figure wears the dress of the beginning of the 17th century. A full gown over a modified farthingale falls round the feet, the bodice is tight-fitting with a wide pointed stomacher, closely buttoned down the centre, to which is fastened a short, full flounce, falling over the hips. The sleeves are padded at the shoulders and turned back at the wrists with plain cuffs, and about the waist is a narrow girdle of round beads. Over the shoulders is a long mantle falling behind in flat folds, the lower corners, edged with beading, are turned back over the feet to show the plain lining. There are traces of a big ruff with the tying cords and aiglets, but the head has been sawn off. The arms are raised in the attitude of prayer. (Hands broken off).
6.
7. The figure is kneeling on a cushion with cording.
8. This solitary figure belonged probably to a monument of which no traces now exist.
9. There is no inscription. It is probable that the figure represents either Mary or Frances Berkeley, daughters of Henry, Lord Berkeley, and Lady Katherine, his wife. It is known from a ms. written in 1634 that the figures of these two ladies with their brother were erected kneeling by their parents' tomb, and additional identification is obtained from the larger figures, being portraitures in white alabaster.
10. There is no sign of painting.
11. The head and left side have been sawn off, and a portion of the drapery on the right. Both hands are gone.
12. Placed temporarily on the sill of the southwest window of the Berkeley chapel, which is on the south side of the chancel.
13. Illustrated: Trans. B.G.A.S. xxix, 157.
14. The remnant of this finely sculptured figure is well cared for.
15. The inscription on the tomb of Lord Berkeley shows into what families his two daughters married.
RANDAL THOMAS MOBRAY, 8TH EARL OF BERKELEY (D. 1942) AND HIS WIFE
The tablet can be seen through the west window of the burial chapel.
Tablet by Sir Ninian Comper with heraldry flanked by figures of St. George and St. Francis.
The heraldry is the coat of arms of the 8th Earl. The Countess was buried in the 1970s.
(The following two inscriptions are taken from Bigland; a translation would be welcome.)
CHARLES, 2ND EARL OF BERKELEY (1689-1710)
The following inscription is by Dean Swift
on a marble tablet
Arms; Berkeley, as before described; impaling, Topaz fretty Ruby, a Canton Ermine, for noel H. S. E
Carolus Comes de Berkeley, Vicecomes Dursley,
Baro Berkeley, de Berkeley Cast. Mowbray, Segrave,
Et Bruce, è Nobiliffimo ordine Batnei Eques,
Vir ad genus quod fpectat & Proavos ufquequaque Nobilis,
Et longo, fi quis alius Procerum ftemmate editus;
Muniis ctiam tam illuftri ftirpi dignis infignitus.
Siquidem à Gullielmo 111° ad ordines fœderati Belgii
Ablegatus & Plenipotentiarius Extraordinarius
Rebus, non Britanniæ tantùm, fed totius fere Europæ
(Tunc temporis præfertim arduis) per annos V. incubuit,
Quam felici diligentià, fide quam intemeratâ,
Ex illo difcas, Lector, quod, fuperftitc Patre,
In Magnatum ordinem adfcifci meruerit.
Fuit a fancttoribus confiliis & Regi Guliel & annæ. Reginæ,
E Proregibus Hiberniæ fecundus,
Comitatuum Civitatumque Gloceft. &: Brift. Dominus Locumtenens,
Surriæ & Gloceft Cuftos Rot. Urbis Gloceft. magnus
Senefcallus, Arcis fancti de Briavell Caftellanus,
Guardianus Foreftæ de Dean.
Denique ad Turcarum primùm deinde ad Roman. Imperatorem
Cum Legatus Extraordinarius defignatus effet,
Quo minus has etiam ornaret provincias
Obftitit adverfa corporis valetudo.
Sed reftat adhuc, præ quo fordefcunt cætera,
Honos verus, ftabilis, et vel morti cedere nefcius,
Quòd ventatem Evangelicam feriò amplexus;
Erga Deum plus, erga pauperes munificus,
Adversùs omnes æquus &: benevolus,
In Chrifto jam placidè obdormit
cum eodem olim regnaturus unà.
Natus VIII° April. MDCXLIX. denatus
XXIV° Septem. MDCCX ætat. fuæ LXII.
ELIZABETH LADY BERKELEY (d. 1635)
on a plain tablet:2
To the perpetual Memory of the most
vertuous and prudent Lady, Elizabeth
Lady Berkeley, the Widdowe of Sir Thomas
Berkeley, Knight, Sonne and Heire of Henry
Lord Berkeley, George Lord Berkeley, her
only Sonne, hath in this Chapple of his
Ancestors, in a dutiful Acknowledgement
of her pious Life and Death, consecrated
this Inscnption for a Memorial of her
vertue: who leaft this Life at her Houfe
at Cranford, in the County ot Middlesex,
the 25th Day of April, Anno Domini
I635,
where, according to the Direction of her
Will, she lieth buried.
IN THE MAIN CHURCH BUILDING THERE ARE MONUMENTS TO MEMBERS OF THE BERKELEY FAMILY:
Three stained glass windows:
- Window in the chancel by the screen
Memorial to Maurice Frederick Fitzhardinge Berkeley, 1st Baron Fitzhardinge.
South aisle, East window
Memorial to Francis William, Second Baron Fitzhardinge, and Georgina his wife.
West window
Memorial to Francis William Fitzhardinge Berkeley, 2nd Baron Fitzhardinge.
- A monument to Charles Paget, 3rd Baron Fitzhardinge.
- Jeremias Hopton.