English church monuments facts for kids
A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a deceased person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms ranging from a simple commemorative plaque or mural tablet affixed to a wall, to a large and elaborate structure, on the ground or as a mural monument, which may include an effigy of the deceased person and other figures of familial, heraldic or symbolic nature. It is usually placed immediately above or close to the actual burial vault or grave, although very occasionally the tomb is constructed within it. Sometimes the monument is a cenotaph, commemorating a person buried at another location.
Once only the subject of antiquarian curiosity, church monuments are today recognised as works of funerary art. They are also valued by historians as giving a highly detailed record of antique costume and armour, by genealogists as a permanent and contemporary record of familial relationships and dates, and by students of heraldry as providing reliable depictions for heraldic blazons. From the middle of the 15th century, many figurative monuments started to represent genuine portraiture where before had existed only generalised representations.
Examples of English church monuments
The church monuments of England, in particular, have been preserved in far greater numbers and, generally, in better condition than those of other countries. They are second to none in artistic merit. Fine examples may be found in cathedrals and parish churches in every county.
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Tomb depicting a cross-legged knight, thought to be Hamon Belers, in St Mary's Church, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire (circa 1300).
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The cadaver tomb of Bishop Richard Fleming in Lincoln Cathedral. He is depicted as if alive at the top; the lower effigy shows his decaying corpse in a shroud (1431).
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Alabaster effigies of John Harington, 4th Baron Harington and his wife Elizabeth Courtenay, at the Church of St Dubricius, Porlock in Somerset (circa 1471).
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Monument to John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland in St Mary the Virgin's Church, Bottesford, Leicestershire, by Gerard Johnson the elder (1588).
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Monument to John Wrey (d.1597); originally in St Ive Church, Cornwall, but moved to St Peter's Church, Tavistock, Devon, in 1924.
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Monument to Sir Edward Denny and his wife at Waltham Abbey Church (1600). The kneeling figures in the frieze below depict his ten children and are known as "weepers". In the spandrels, allegorical figures of Fame and Time look on.
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The Layer Monument Marble polychrome mural monument at the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Maddermarket, Norwich circa 1600.
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Monument to Richard Stone and his wife at St Mary's, Holme-next-the-Sea in Norfolk (1607).
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Thelwall's mural monument in the chapel at Jesus College, Oxford (1630).
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Effigial monument in Worcester Cathedral, circa 1640.
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The monument to Sir John Hotham in St Mary's, South Dalton, East Yorkshire. The sculpture dates from after 1697. It includes a skeleton and figures representing the four cardinal virtues.
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Part of the memorial placed by Ann Bellamy Lynn to her husband George at St Mary's Church, Southwick, Northamptonshire (1758).
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Monument to Major-General Sir William Ponsonby in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, London (1815). The winged figure of Victory symbolises the general's death at the Battle of Waterloo.
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A Victorian wall monument (1890) at St Paul's Church, Shadwell, London.
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Monument to Emily, the wife of Admiral Charles Lister Oxley in Ripon Cathedral. The angelic heads depict the couple and their seven children (1898).
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Monument in bronze to Bishop Edward King at Lincoln Cathedral by William Blake Richmond (1913).
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Mural memorial to Bishop John Macmillan in Guildford Cathedral, Surrey (1956).
An Arundel Tomb
One of the best-known poems by 20th-century English poet Philip Larkin was inspired by a 14th-century English effigial monument. Titled "An Arundel Tomb", the poem was Larkin's response to the monument on a tomb located in Chichester Cathedral. Note the stylized lion and dog figures at the feet of the lord and lady, respectively.
Images for kids
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The subject of An Arundel Tomb in Chichester Cathedral
