Shrewsbury Abbey - iv)
Oct. 21st, 2011 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesSome burial monuments now, a subject matter which seems strangely appropriate at the moment...
Now, I don't really have that much information relating to many of these monuments, though it seems they were late arrivals att Shrewsbury Abbey, having been moved there from some of the town's smaller churches as they fell into disuse in the late eighteenth century (or fell down full stop, in some cases...).
The information held in Shrewsbury Abbey: The Parish Church of the Holy Cross by the Rev Dr Robin MacKenzie yields some insight into these monuments. I'm assuming that these figures are what MacKenzie describes as 'Two, very similar, fourteenth century figures, possibly the same man as soldier and priest':-
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These were originally housed at Old St Alkmund's Church, and I'd be more inclined to suggest that they were carved by the same hand, rather than representing the same individual in two different guises. Each has the obligatory lion which serves as a handy foot-stool:-
This chap is more difficult to interpret. MacKenzie refers to the thirteenth-century figure of a judge in the reign of Edward I. While the figure below is quite consistent with a thirteenth-century date, he looks much more like a soldier to me. Though I suppose your legal figures at this time - the Sheriffs, Justiciars, whatever - are going to be members of the knightly class, so perhaps this description is appropriate. However, I'd have been more inclined to describe him as a knight. Once again, I'm throwing this one open to the floor for further discussion:-
If this chap is indeed the thirteenth century 'judge', then he's a refugee from Old St. Chad's, a church to which I'll be returning in due course...
Lastly, I thought I'd feature Richard Onslow and his wife (identity unknown, unfortunately). Onslow died in 1571, after serving as Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I:-
Again, this monument has been relocated from Old St Chad's...
And that's it for this evening, because it's been a bit mad today, and indeed this week.
Now, I don't really have that much information relating to many of these monuments, though it seems they were late arrivals att Shrewsbury Abbey, having been moved there from some of the town's smaller churches as they fell into disuse in the late eighteenth century (or fell down full stop, in some cases...).
The information held in Shrewsbury Abbey: The Parish Church of the Holy Cross by the Rev Dr Robin MacKenzie yields some insight into these monuments. I'm assuming that these figures are what MacKenzie describes as 'Two, very similar, fourteenth century figures, possibly the same man as soldier and priest':-
I
These were originally housed at Old St Alkmund's Church, and I'd be more inclined to suggest that they were carved by the same hand, rather than representing the same individual in two different guises. Each has the obligatory lion which serves as a handy foot-stool:-
This chap is more difficult to interpret. MacKenzie refers to the thirteenth-century figure of a judge in the reign of Edward I. While the figure below is quite consistent with a thirteenth-century date, he looks much more like a soldier to me. Though I suppose your legal figures at this time - the Sheriffs, Justiciars, whatever - are going to be members of the knightly class, so perhaps this description is appropriate. However, I'd have been more inclined to describe him as a knight. Once again, I'm throwing this one open to the floor for further discussion:-
If this chap is indeed the thirteenth century 'judge', then he's a refugee from Old St. Chad's, a church to which I'll be returning in due course...
Lastly, I thought I'd feature Richard Onslow and his wife (identity unknown, unfortunately). Onslow died in 1571, after serving as Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I:-
Again, this monument has been relocated from Old St Chad's...
And that's it for this evening, because it's been a bit mad today, and indeed this week.
