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  • The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine
  • Aug. 13, 1864
  • Page 3
  • CURIOUS SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS IN WARWICKSHIRE, OF THE 13TH AND 14TH CENTURIES.
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, Aug. 13, 1864: Page 3

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    Article RANDOM REMARKS OF A ROUGH ASHLER. ← Page 3 of 3
    Article CURIOUS SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS IN WARWICKSHIRE, OF THE 13TH AND 14TH CENTURIES. Page 1 of 2 →
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Random Remarks Of A Rough Ashler.

sionally be found after a good dinner ) might do far more mischief than the example of one hundred good and true men would lead to benefit . —ED . F . M . and M . M . l

Curious Sepulchral Monuments In Warwickshire, Of The 13th And 14th Centuries.

CURIOUS SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS IN WARWICKSHIRE , OF THE 13 TH AND 14 TH CENTURIES .

By ME . BLOXAM . The most ancient of the sepulchral monuments in this county is undoubtedly that huge and unlettered monolith at Long Compton , called the King Stone , standing near the circle called the Rollright Stones , which , together with a cromlech in its vicinity , stand in the neighbouring county of Oxford . This is is the maenhir of the earliest

type of sepulchral monuments of the ancient British period , and in accordance with that memorial noticed in Holy Writ as placed over the grave of Rachel . We have no Roman , no inscribed British-Roman , and no Anglo-Saxon monument at present -visible in this county . The earliest monumental records we have in our

churches are of the early | part of the thirteenth century . Of this period is the sculptured and recumbent , though much mutilated , effigy of a knight , formerly in the Abbey Church , Merivale , and IIOAV preserved in the chapel of the gatehouse to that monastery . This is an effigy of much

interest ; it now consists , however , of little more than the torso or trunk , the head and lower portions of the legs having * been destroyed . The armour consists of the hawberk or tunic of mail , with chauses or close-fitting pantaloons of the same ; the hands are protectee ! by mufflersthe

, fingers not being divided ; the right arm and hand are lying on the breast ; the left hand appears beneath the shield hanging down on the left side . Over the haAvberk is worn the long sleeveless surcoat of linen , belted round the waist Avith a narrow strap and buckle . Another strap or guige ,

some-Avhat broader than the former , to which the shield is attached , crosses diagonally over the right shoulder to the left side . The shield on the left side is unusually long—not less than 3 ft . 9 in . in length—extending from the shoulder to the knee ; it is not flat on the face , but curved , or convex

without and concave Avithin . In outline it is heater-shaped . The position of the sword is somewhat singular , being on the right side , and fastened to a belt crossing the body diagonally from the right hip to just below the left hip . This effigy bears a resemblance to two ofapparentl

, y , the most ancient of the sepulchral effigies in the Temple Church , London , Avhich likeAvise exhibit the long shield , as in this , and- much the same arrangement of the drapery of the surcoat . I think this effigy is commemorative of the fourth William , Earl of Ferrers , born about the

year 1193 , and who died A . D . 1254 , and was buried in the Abbey Church at Merivale . This effigy , considered by itself , I should take to have been , executed some thirty years earlier than the time of his death , but there is no one else to whom I can assign it .

In the little village church of Avon Dassett , in this county , a feAV . miles east of Kineton , is the recumbent effigy , perhaps unique of its kind , of a former incumbent of that church , who appears to have died before he had attained Pz * iest's Orders , he being represented in the full vestments of a

Deacon . In the tAvelffch and thirteenth centuries , and also in the early part of the fourteenth , it was by no means unusual for ecclesiastics of the inferior grades , such as deacons , sub-deacons , aud even acolytes to become incumbents . We may find innumerable instances of this in almost any

county history , in the , lists of the incumbents of the several parishes , and their different grades in and toAvards the priesthood . This Avas felt to be an abuse , ancl in the second general council of Lyons , held A . D . 1274 , the thirteenth constitution obliges the curatesor incumbentsto residence and to

, , take priest ' s orders in the first year of their promotion . In the Council of Buda , held A . D . 1274 , the 20 th canon imports , that all those who have benefices with the cure of souls shall be ordained

priests . The slab out of which this effigy is sculptured is of dark-coloured forest marble , the effigy being represented lying beneath a horizontal canopy composed of a semicircular arch Avith the representations of buildings above , and this is supported by shafts Avith plain bell-shaped caps , runnina * down the sides of the tomb .

The emgy , which is sculptured in relief , represents the person commemorated in the full vestments of a deacon . He wears the ancient cassock or ordinary habit , over Avhich appears the alb , and over-that the Dalmatic ; ou the right side underneath the Dalmatic , ancl over the alb , are the

two extremities of the stole . The sleeves of the cassock ancl alb are close fitting ; those of the Dalmatic are Avide . About the neck appears the amice , and the croAvn of the head is tonsured . The right hand , held downwards , is grasping a scroll , one of the few instances in which sepulchral

effigies are thus represented . The left hand is upheld on the breast and hanging down from the Avrist appears the maniple . But this effigy does not constitute the Avhole of this monument , for it lies under a sepulchral arch Avithin the north wall of the chancelof later date

, by a century than the effigy , being of the fourteenth century . The arch is ogee-shaped , but not crocketted ; it is , however , cinque-foiled within , and is ornamented with the ball flower in a IIOIIOAV

moulding . It appears to me that in the fourteenth century , when the chancel was rebuilt , this sepulchral arch Avas constructed to contain the effigy of a former age .

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1864-08-13, Page 3” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 11 July 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_13081864/page/3/.
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Title Category Page
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 1
THE FREEMASONS' TAVERN COMPANY. Article 1
RANDOM REMARKS OF A ROUGH ASHLER. Article 1
CURIOUS SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS IN WARWICKSHIRE, OF THE 13TH AND 14TH CENTURIES. Article 3
Untitled Article 4
Untitled Article 4
DIE ENGRAVING, SINKING, AND MULTIPLYING. BY MR. J. NEWTON, Royal Mint. Article 5
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 8
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 8
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 9
PROVINCIAL. Article 9
ROYAL ARCH. Article 13
MARK MASONRY. Article 13
SCOTLAND. Article 14
INDIA. Article 15
CHINA. Article 16
Obituary. Article 16
PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 16
Poetry. Article 16
SUNSHINE. Article 17
THE WEEK. Article 17
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 20
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Random Remarks Of A Rough Ashler.

sionally be found after a good dinner ) might do far more mischief than the example of one hundred good and true men would lead to benefit . —ED . F . M . and M . M . l

Curious Sepulchral Monuments In Warwickshire, Of The 13th And 14th Centuries.

CURIOUS SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS IN WARWICKSHIRE , OF THE 13 TH AND 14 TH CENTURIES .

By ME . BLOXAM . The most ancient of the sepulchral monuments in this county is undoubtedly that huge and unlettered monolith at Long Compton , called the King Stone , standing near the circle called the Rollright Stones , which , together with a cromlech in its vicinity , stand in the neighbouring county of Oxford . This is is the maenhir of the earliest

type of sepulchral monuments of the ancient British period , and in accordance with that memorial noticed in Holy Writ as placed over the grave of Rachel . We have no Roman , no inscribed British-Roman , and no Anglo-Saxon monument at present -visible in this county . The earliest monumental records we have in our

churches are of the early | part of the thirteenth century . Of this period is the sculptured and recumbent , though much mutilated , effigy of a knight , formerly in the Abbey Church , Merivale , and IIOAV preserved in the chapel of the gatehouse to that monastery . This is an effigy of much

interest ; it now consists , however , of little more than the torso or trunk , the head and lower portions of the legs having * been destroyed . The armour consists of the hawberk or tunic of mail , with chauses or close-fitting pantaloons of the same ; the hands are protectee ! by mufflersthe

, fingers not being divided ; the right arm and hand are lying on the breast ; the left hand appears beneath the shield hanging down on the left side . Over the haAvberk is worn the long sleeveless surcoat of linen , belted round the waist Avith a narrow strap and buckle . Another strap or guige ,

some-Avhat broader than the former , to which the shield is attached , crosses diagonally over the right shoulder to the left side . The shield on the left side is unusually long—not less than 3 ft . 9 in . in length—extending from the shoulder to the knee ; it is not flat on the face , but curved , or convex

without and concave Avithin . In outline it is heater-shaped . The position of the sword is somewhat singular , being on the right side , and fastened to a belt crossing the body diagonally from the right hip to just below the left hip . This effigy bears a resemblance to two ofapparentl

, y , the most ancient of the sepulchral effigies in the Temple Church , London , Avhich likeAvise exhibit the long shield , as in this , and- much the same arrangement of the drapery of the surcoat . I think this effigy is commemorative of the fourth William , Earl of Ferrers , born about the

year 1193 , and who died A . D . 1254 , and was buried in the Abbey Church at Merivale . This effigy , considered by itself , I should take to have been , executed some thirty years earlier than the time of his death , but there is no one else to whom I can assign it .

In the little village church of Avon Dassett , in this county , a feAV . miles east of Kineton , is the recumbent effigy , perhaps unique of its kind , of a former incumbent of that church , who appears to have died before he had attained Pz * iest's Orders , he being represented in the full vestments of a

Deacon . In the tAvelffch and thirteenth centuries , and also in the early part of the fourteenth , it was by no means unusual for ecclesiastics of the inferior grades , such as deacons , sub-deacons , aud even acolytes to become incumbents . We may find innumerable instances of this in almost any

county history , in the , lists of the incumbents of the several parishes , and their different grades in and toAvards the priesthood . This Avas felt to be an abuse , ancl in the second general council of Lyons , held A . D . 1274 , the thirteenth constitution obliges the curatesor incumbentsto residence and to

, , take priest ' s orders in the first year of their promotion . In the Council of Buda , held A . D . 1274 , the 20 th canon imports , that all those who have benefices with the cure of souls shall be ordained

priests . The slab out of which this effigy is sculptured is of dark-coloured forest marble , the effigy being represented lying beneath a horizontal canopy composed of a semicircular arch Avith the representations of buildings above , and this is supported by shafts Avith plain bell-shaped caps , runnina * down the sides of the tomb .

The emgy , which is sculptured in relief , represents the person commemorated in the full vestments of a deacon . He wears the ancient cassock or ordinary habit , over Avhich appears the alb , and over-that the Dalmatic ; ou the right side underneath the Dalmatic , ancl over the alb , are the

two extremities of the stole . The sleeves of the cassock ancl alb are close fitting ; those of the Dalmatic are Avide . About the neck appears the amice , and the croAvn of the head is tonsured . The right hand , held downwards , is grasping a scroll , one of the few instances in which sepulchral

effigies are thus represented . The left hand is upheld on the breast and hanging down from the Avrist appears the maniple . But this effigy does not constitute the Avhole of this monument , for it lies under a sepulchral arch Avithin the north wall of the chancelof later date

, by a century than the effigy , being of the fourteenth century . The arch is ogee-shaped , but not crocketted ; it is , however , cinque-foiled within , and is ornamented with the ball flower in a IIOIIOAV

moulding . It appears to me that in the fourteenth century , when the chancel was rebuilt , this sepulchral arch Avas constructed to contain the effigy of a former age .

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