2011

SU3687 : Monumental brass (5 of 5) St Mary’s Church, Childrey

taken 13 years ago, near to Childrey, Oxfordshire, England

Monumental brass (5 of 5) St Mary’s Church, Childrey
Monumental brass (5 of 5) St Mary’s Church, Childrey
One of the features of the church is the presence of a number of monumental brasses set mostly in the floor and walls. They date from the 15th and 16th centuries. This one commemorates William and Elizabeth Fettiplace (or Fetyplace) who died in 1528 and 1516 respectively. They are seen arising from their tombs. The figures are both rather androgynous but I think William is on the right. There are clues in the inscriptions as William is saying 'Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy' whilst his wife, typically of women, is more verbose and is saying 'Set us free, save us, justify us, O Blessed Trinity'. Latin scholars should be able to confirm my ascription on this basis.
St Mary’s Church, Childrey

Written by Brian Robert Marshall
The church has been listed Grade I since 1966 LinkExternal link It has a 15th century tower although its origins are some 200 years earlier. There was an even earlier church hereabouts dating to 996 AD which was recorded in the Domesday Book but no trace remains. The nave is Norman but was rebuilt in the mid 15th century around the same time as the tower was built. The transepts were added in ca 1325. The church contains a number of floor- and wall-mounted brasses. There is also an ancient lead font which may date to as early as 1175. It features the embossed figures of twelve bishops dressed in chasubles. The single-handed clock on the tower dates to 1763 and until as recently as 1985 was wound manually every day. Mechanisation has taken over the task. There are memorials within to soldiers who died in the Great War including a brass plaque commemorating the Fallen who were members of the Old Berkshire Hunt. An unusual such memorial is a German-made cross that marked the grave of a British Officer born in Childrey who died in battle in France in 1914 and who was buried by his enemies. Another curiosity is the presence of ‘squints’, openings through the wall of a church in an oblique direction, to enable the worshippers in the transepts or other parts of the church, from which the altar was not visible, to see the elevation of the host. The squint in the north transept is set too high for this to be the case and its true purpose remains unclear.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Brian Robert Marshall and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Village, Rural settlement Religious sites Category: Brass other tags: Monumental Brass Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · St Mary [84] · Read it click on the Image [19] · Commemoration [11] · Monumental Brasses [5] ·
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SU3687, 162 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Brian Robert Marshall   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Thursday, 25 August, 2011   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 26 August, 2011
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SU 360 877 [100m precision]
WGS84: 51:35.2692N 1:28.9064W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SU 360 877
View Direction
North-northeast (about 22 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Supplemental image
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