Burial within the church was traditionally a privilege reserved for the clergy and the lord of the manor and his family. Later, it became the preserve of the wealthy generally. The position of honour was on the north side of the sanctuary.
In Devon, there are no surviving tombs of Norman date, and very few early medieval. Most were destroyed or defaced during the Puritan regime (1649-1660), when brasses were stripped wholesale from memorial stones. It is estimated that of approximately 150,000 brasses existing before the mid-seventeenth century, only 4000 were left intact.
There were undoubtedly more tombs in Saint Winifred's than are seen today. The older tombs that have survived are almost certainly not in their original positions. Several generations of the landed gentry of the parish are not represented in the church as would be expected, prominent among these being the medieval Branscombe family itself.
The finest tomb remaining in the church is that of Joan Wadham, whose first husband was John Kellaway, by whom she had fourteen children. Her second husband was Sir John Wadham, by whom she had six children, a total of twenty offspring! Sir John Wadham's main residence was at Merifield, near Ilminster. After he died in 1577/78, Joan retired to the dower house, Edge Barton in Branscombe. She is almost certainly not buried here, as the tomb has been moved. It sits on an unidentified older table tomb.
The façade of the Wadham tomb is that of a Greek temple. On one side kneels John Kellaway of Cullompton in doublet, ruff, trunk hose and a long academic gown with pendant sleeves, hanging from the shoulder. Joan herself is depicted kneeling behind, in a ruff and puffed sleeves, with a line of fourteen children, five boys and nine girls. She is about a third of the size of the male figures. The girls are dressed exactly like herself, with ruffs and flat caps, the boys in doublet, ruffs and trunk hose like their father.
On the other side, kneeling, is Sir John Wadham. He is in full armour, but with a ruff, which is unusual. A helmet with a pair of crossed gauntlets, part of Sir John Wadham's outfit, are laid between the two husbands, who are depicted praying. Again, the figure of Joan is behind, a double appearance thought to be unique in British memorial art of this period. There are five children in a row, a sixth has broken away. Five were girls and there was one boy.
The inscription was probably on brass, originally:
`Here lieth entombed the body of a virtuous and ancient gentlewoman, descended of the ancient house of the Plantagenets, sometime of Cornwall, namely Joan, one of the daughters and heirs unto John Tregarthin, in the County of Cornwall, Esq. She was first married unto John Kellaway, Esq., who had by her much issue. After his death she was married to John Wadham, of Merefield, in the County of Somerset, Esq., and by him had ... children. She lived a virtuous and godly life, and died in an honourable age, September ... in the year of Christ, 1581'
In the centre of the pediment above is the red rose badge of Wadham. The Wadham crest was a stag's head with a rose between the horns. The central shield is that of Joan herself, the others are those of her husbands, with their quarterings. The whole tomb was originally painted.
The register states:
`Mrs. Jone Wadham, wid., was buryed the 30th of September, 1583'
Nikolaus Pevsner, in his book The Buildings of England, speculates the tomb may have been raised by Joan and Sir John Wadham's only son, Nicholas, the founder of Wadham College, Oxford. Pevsner also thinks the tomb may have been made by the same mason whose work can be seen in nearby Southleigh church. The Bartlett tomb inscription in the south transeptal chapel has been credited to the same hand
The north transept contains another tomb, bearing no name, but which is thought to be a memorial to Elias Holcombe of Hole House, identified by his coat of arms. it is been described as a `clumsy copy' of the Wadham memorial. He died two years after Joan, in 1585. Hole House then passed to the Bartlett family.
On the tower wall are several tablets. A monument in the south tower window is to John Bampfylde, who died in 1719.
There is a particularly fine monument in the chancel, to the memory of Anne Mychell of Truro, wife of Ellys Bartlett of Hole House, who died in 1606. It is in a grandiose Renaissance Corinthian style. it is interesting to note these two Elizabethan gentlewomen were of similar Cornish descent and lived just half a mile apart, in the two oldest manor houses in the parish, although separated by 16 years.
The south transept is also known as the Priest's Chapel.
From the fact that the window is somewhat cut away, it is surmised
there may have been an altar here and that a priest was buried,
as was the custom, before his own place of service. There is no
record of such a burial, but there is a Purbeck marble floor slab
ornamented with a Maltese Cross of very rare design. A fifteenth
century date has been suggested. It has rude and indistinct lettering:
`Orate-p-aia John Hedmunt'
(pray for the soul of John Hedmunt)
There is no record of any priest of that name associated with Saint Winifred's. The slab is not orientated in the conventional east-west direction, so is probably not in its original place. The absence of a chalice or any other recognised sacred symbol argues against this being a priest's tomb.
Another old slab memorial was uncovered in the floor of the nave of the church, also bearing a cross. This is now in the corner, by the altar. Again, it is believed it may be that of a priest.
Also in the south transept is a child's grave with a particularly poignant epitaph. Anna Bartlett of Hole House was buried on 26th of March, 1699.
`Here lieth a blossom of the worlds
great tree which was as fare as buds
of Roses [be] She died an infant
Heaven was made for such
Live like an infant thou shalt
have as [m]uch'
Some people claim there is the outline of a boat visible, scratched into the flat top of this tomb.
In the nave, on the north wall, are two memorials to the Stuckey
family, originally from Compton Durville, South Petherton, Somerset.
Robert Stuckey married the only daughter and heiress of the Bartletts
of Hole and died in 1768. His son John, a magistrate, lived to
be 91 and died in Weston, Branscombe.
Drawings © 1996 Angela Lambert
© 1996 Ronald Branscombe branscombe@globalnet.co.uk
Register now for 1Mb of
FREE! web space with GeoCities.
Return to Branscombe Parish.
Return to Branscombe Home
Page.
This page last updated: 15 August 1996 09:55:52