Derbyshire (England) -- Antiquities; Derbyshire (England) -- History
Sir Godfrey and his wife are represented in half-length figures of
alabaster, carved in high relief, beneath a double-crocketed canopy.
The knight is represented in plate armour, and having on his head a
conical helmet or bascinet, with a camail of mail attached to its lower
edge. The lady wears the reticulated head-dress or cowl. Over the
knight are the arms of Foljambe—_sa._, a bend between six escallops,
_or_—the same being represented on his surcoat; over the lady are
represented the arms of Ireland—_gu._, six fleurs-de-lis, _arg._, 3, 2,
1. The monument is complete as it stands without any inscription, but
in 1803, Mr. Blore, the antiquary, placed here a slab of black marble
with the following inscription in gilt letters: —
“Godefridus Foljambe miles et Avena un: ej. quæ postea cepit in
virum Ricardum de Greene militem dno dnaque manerius de Hassop,
Okebroke, Elton, Stanton, Darley-over-hall, et Lokhowe, cantariam hanc
fundaverunt in honorem sanctæ Crucis a^o. rr. Edri tertii xxxix +
Godefrus ob: die Jovis pr: post fest: ascens. dni a^o: regis pdci 1^o
obiitq Avena die Sabbi pr: p: nativ: b: Mariæ Virg: a^o. rr. Ric. II
vi^o.”
This may be translated: —
“Sir Godfrey Foljambe, Knight, and Avena his wife (who afterwards
married Richard de Greene, Knight), Lord and Lady of the manors of
Hassop, Ockbrook, Elton, Stanton, Darley-over-hall, and Locko, founded
this chantry in honour of the Holy Cross, in the 39th year of the
reign of King Edward III. Godfrey died on the first Thursday after the
feast of the Ascension, in the 50th year of the aforesaid King, and
Avena died on the first Saturday after the feast of the nativity of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the 6th year of the reign of Richard II.”
At the bottom of this slab is the word “Watson,” which is in itself
sufficient to stamp this inscription as of modern date; for the old
monumental sculptors were never guilty of the offence of advertising
themselves on the inscribed slabs that they erected. It has been stated
that Mr. Blore obtained this inscription from a document in the British
Museum where the original epitaph was quoted. This, however, is an
impossibility, for a contemporary inscription could not possibly have
contained the blunders of this supposed transcript. The date of the
foundation of the chantry is wrong, and it was, moreover, founded by
Sir Godfrey Foljambe in conjunction with his first wife Anne, and not
with his second wife Avena. The family from which Anne, the first wife,
came is not known, but his second wife, Avena, was the daughter and
heiress of Sir Thomas Ireland, of Hartshorne, by Avena, daughter and
heiress of Sir Payn de Vilers, of Kinoulton and Newbold, Notts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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