Visits to Fields of Battle, in England, of the Fifteenth Century: to which are added, some miscellaneous tracts and papers upon archæological subjectsBrooke, Richard
History
Visits to Fields of Battle, in England, of the Fifteenth Century: to which are added, some miscellaneous tracts and papers upon archæological subjects
Brooke, Richard
Battlefields -- England; Great Britain -- History -- Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485
The place of interment of the Breretons of Handford was in the parish
church of Cheadle, distant nearly four miles from the hall. The church
is in the village of Cheadle, and is an old stone edifice of the Gothic
style of architecture, with a chancel, a clerestory, a nave with four
pointed arches on each side, resting on octagonal pillars, and with side
aisles. It has a square tower, with six bells. It is a rectory which
has for many years been in the patronage of the Broughtons; and the
present rector is the Rev. Charles James Cummings.
There is a striking general resemblance between the churches of Cheadle,
Wilmslow, and Bowdon, all in the same part of Cheshire; and they all
appear to have been rebuilt, or considerably altered, or repaired, not
long before the Reformation; and tradition says, that all three were
repaired or rebuilt at the same time, which receives considerable
corroboration, not merely from the resemblance in the appearance and
style of the churches, but also from the fact, that an inscription, which
I saw a few years ago, and which probably still remains, on the stained
glass of a window at Bowdon Church, mentions the name of a prior of
Birkenhead, the last or one of the last priors of that place, who is
stated in the inscription, to have presented the window to the church.
The church at Cheadle is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A chapel, called
the Handford Chapel, is on the south side of the church. In this chapel
is a large altar tomb, on which are recumbent marble figures of two
knights or personages, in complete plate armour, of a very richly
ornamented style, and each with his hands conjoined; one bare-headed, but
with the head resting on a helmet, which is so injured that it cannot be
clearly ascertained whether it had any crest; the other figure has a
helmet, which is ornamented with a wreath and a fillet, and has a crest,
seemingly the head of some animal, but of which there are not sufficient
remains to show whether it was the head of a bird or beast, but it is
said to have been that of a hind. Each of the figures is decorated with
a collar of SS, and the feet of each rest upon a lion. Another altar
tomb is placed close up to and on the north side of the tomb, but on
rather a lower elevation; on it is a third figure, in stone, with some
truces of its having been painted; it is the effigy of another personage,
in plate armour, but instead of greaves, it has rather small jack-boots,
and is bare-headed, with long flowing hair; and, what seems very
remarkable in such an effigy, instead of a gorget, it has a neckcloth or
cravat, tied, with the ends of it falling down over the upper part of the
cuirasse. The head also rests upon a helmet with a plume of feathers,
coloured blue, white, and red: the feet do not rest upon any animal.
On the north side of this tomb is the following inscription:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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