The Jefferay Monument
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright for Photograph: Creative Commons |
Location
| Street: | Church Lane |
| Town: | Chiddingly |
| Parish: | Chiddingly |
| Council: | Wealden District Council |
| County: | East Sussex |
| Postcode: | BN8 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Inside building |
| and in: | Religious |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | South interior wall of Chiddingly Parish Church |
| In the AZ book: | East Sussex |
| Page: | 97 |
| Grid reference: | J6 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
| OS Reference: | TQ544142 |
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Makers
| Name : | William Cure II |
| Role: | Sculptor |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | Sir Edward Montagu at the request of his wife Dame Elisabeth Montagu (d1611) |
| Installation date: | 1612 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Chiddingly Parish Church |
| Description: | Large, pink veined off-white monument occupying the width of the wall in a bay extended out from the South aisle, S.E. corner. The centre piece is of two reclining figures, the male above the female, and two standing figures, the male to the left and the female to the right, with a kneeling child at the front, all life size. They are contained within a large classical edifice. a) Sir John is lying on his side, head on right elbow, clad in a long legal robe and cape, a knotted sash and the collar of an unidentified order. His cloak is pushed back over his left shoulder. There are fur cuffs and collar to the robe and his shirt has a neck ruff and small cuff ruffs. The hat is a square academic style and he has square toed shoes. His elbow is resting on an embroidered pillow with a tassel at the comer and he holds the broken remains of a scroll in his left hand. b) Below him lies Dame Alice (nee Apsley), his wife, on her back. She wears a simple Elizabethan style dress, with patterned top, ruff and bonnet cap, hands clasped in prayer, her head on an embroidered pillow. c) To the left is the standing figure of Sir Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton, their son-in-law, fully robed with a glimpse of the breeched right leg. The cape has a wide protruding collar and his left hand is on the pommel of his sword. d) To the right is the standing figure of their daughter Dame Elizabeth, in an elaborate dress with a tightly buttoned square necked bodice with lace edging, an exaggerated decollete and tight sleeves. The skirt has a large platform hooped skirt with ruff edge hanging in vertical folds, her right foot with a square toed shoe protrudes and is resting on the top of a skull. Behind her head is a large starched upstanding collar of lace, she has a fan shaped coiffure with a horizontal dividing line of interlaced ribbons, from her neck at the back hangs a cloak or cape. e) In front of the reclining figures is a plinth upon which is the badly mutilated kneeling life sized figure of a child, Elizabeth, the daughter of Dame Elizabeth and Sir Edward, the future wife of Robert Bertie (12th Lord Willoughby, 1st Earl of Lindsay killed at Edgehill 1634). She kneels on a cushion and wears a dress with a lace necked bodice and a platform ruffed skirt. Her hands are clasped in front in prayer. The figures stand within a large classical architectural monumental structure with a plinth and moulded bases, the two standing figures within semi-circular niches with diminishing fluted semi-circular heads and each on a drum of stone said to represent the cheeses that were placed before them as stepping stones as they walked to Church from their house at Chiddingly Place, as they were too proud to put their feet to the ground. |
| Iconographical description: | At the top centre is a semi-circular coffered arch containing a black tablet with the bearded figure of Death to the left in medieval costume holding a spade. On the right, a naked bearded old man with a cloak covering his loins, holding an hourglass in his left hand and a scythe in his right, signifying Time. |
| Inscription: | HERE LYE BVRIED THE BODIES: OF SR IOHN IEFFERAY, KNIGHT LATE LORD CHEEFE BARON OF THE ESCHEQVER: AND OF ALICE HIS FIRST WIFE SOLE DAVGHTER AND HEIRE OF IOHN APSLEY OF LONDON GENT: AND OF DAME ELIZABETH THERE SOLE DAVGHTER AND HEIRE: MARIED TO SR EDWARD MOVNTAGV OF BOVGHTON IN THE COVNTY OF NORTHAMPTON KNIGHT OF THE BATHE: BY WHOME SHEE LEFT ISSVE LIVINGE ONE ONELY DAVGHTER ELIZABETH MARIED TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE SR ROBERT BERTIE KNIGHT OF THE BATHE LORD WILLVGBY OF WILLVGBY BEACKE AND ERSBY WHO HAVE ISSVE NOW LIVINGE THREE SONNES: MOVNTAGV: ROGER: AND PEREGRINE: AND ONE DAVGHTER, KATHERINE. THE SAYD SR IOHN IEFFERAY DYED THE XXIIITH OF MAY: 1578: ALICE HIS FIRST WIFE DIED THE (*) MAY AND DAME ELIZABETH MOVNTAGV THERE DAVGHTER DIED THE: 6: OF DECEMBER: 1611: AT WHOSE REQVEST TO HER SAID HVSBAND SR EDWARD MOVNTAGV IN MEMORY BOTH OF HER DISCENT AND OFSPRINGE,: THIS MONVMENT WAS ERECTED AND FINISHED: 1612. (*) Dates of death of Dame Alice are obliterated but recorded in 1862 as 28th May 1570 |
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Classification
| Categories: | Composite, Commemorative, Architectural, Sculptural |
| Object type1: | Building |
| Object subtype1: | Mausoleum |
| Object type2: | Sculpture |
| Object type3: | Statue |
| Subject type1: | Portrait |
| Subject subtype1: | Group |
| Subject type2: | Allegorical |
| Subject subtype1: | Reclining |
| Subject type3: | Figurative |
| Subject subtype1: | Reclining |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Main body of memorial |
| Material: | White marble veined in red |
| Height (cm): | 370 |
| Width (cm): | 330 |
| Depth (cm): | 80 |
| Part 2: | Figures - lifesize |
| Material: | White alabaster |
| Part 3: | Central panels at base |
| Material: | Slate |
| Part 4: | Base |
| Material: | White and red marble |
| Height (cm): | 120 |
| Width (cm): | 330 |
| Depth (cm): | 80 |
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Object Condition
| Condition 1 of type: | Surface |
| Condition 1: | Previous treatments |
| More details: | Statue of Sir John Jefferay - remains of red paint in the folds of the robe. |
| Condition 2 of type: | Structural |
| Condition 1: | Broken or missing parts |
| More details: | Statue of Dame Alice (nee Apsley), his wife - embroidered pillow, the comer tassel of is missing. Standing figure of Sir Edward Montagu - both his hand and pommel of his sword are missing, only part of the quillon remains. Standing figure of Dame Elizabeth - both her wrists and hands are missing. From her neck at the back hangs the broken off remains of a cloak or cape. Kneeling figure of Elizabeth - corners of cushion broken. Her hands are missing. Her fan shaped coiffure is badly damaged and the right side of the face and shoulder is missing. Fully restored 1996 |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 07/07/2007 |
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History
| History: | This enormous edifice is without doubt the show piece of the interior of the church and it is worth describing it in detail. The monument is to Sir John Jefferay, died 23rd May 1573, who was Chief Baron of Exchequer under Elizabeth I and at various times member of Parliament for Arundel and East Grinstead. His effigy in legal robes reclines on its elbow above the recumbent form of his second wife, Dame Alice. Below them kneels a grand-daughter, Elizabeth, later to marry Robert Bertie. In the two niches stand Sir John's only daughter Elizabeth and her husband Sir Edward Montague, both with a look of ineffable hauteur. Lady Elizabeth's fantastic ruff and farthingale is in marked contrast to the simplicity of her mother's costume. The monument is in alabaster, which was perhaps mined at Mountfield near Battle where there is still a quarry in use. The monument has been attributed to William Cure II, one of a famous family of sculptors who came from Amsterdam in 1541 and worked in England for three generations. Latterly it is felt that it was probably the work of more than one sculptor as there are considerable variations in the quality of the carvings. This is one of the most impressive and important pieces of monumental sculpture in Sussex, as there are only two known examples in England of erect figures in monuments of this period (16th Century). The other is at Spilsby, Lincolnshire, and this fact is recorded in Prof. Brian Kemp's authoritative work ''English Church Monuments'' (1980). The families portrayed in each memorial are related. An interesting local tradition concerns the stone drums on which Sir Edward and Lady Elizabeth stand. These are supposed to represent the cheeses that were placed before them as stepping-stones as they walked from Chiddingly Place to church, as they were too proud to put their feet to the ground. There is also a persistent tradition of a secret tunnel from Chiddingly Place to the church which is supposed to emerge either in front of the monument or at the base of the tower, but this is so far unproven. It is known, however, that part of a tunnel was found at Chiddingly Place which emerges in one of the original rooms of the present Place Farm.
The monument has sadly been disfigured and although tradition attributes this to the Puritans of the 17th Century there is no foundation in fact. It is thought by many that the monument probably suffered from the common mistake which identified this Sir John Jefferay with Sir George Jeffrey, the inhuman judge of James II reign ('The Bloody Assizes'). This impression is unfortunately still prevalent. From what we gather of his private and public life Sir John Jefferay was a most just and estimable man, so that it is doubly unfortunate that he has been confused with a man so much his opposite. The Montagues have lost arms and fingers, and three carved shields with a wealth of heraldry lie at the base of the monument awaiting restoration to their proper place above the inscription. The shields were in position until the summer of 1944, when a V1 flying bomb exploded in the fields between the church and Muddles Green. The blast of the explosion caused some minor structural damage to the exterior of the church, and loosened the shields to such an extent that it was deemed safer to take them down. It is recorded that 50 high explosive and 1350 incendiary bombs were dropped on Chiddingly in the course of World War II. In 1830 there was a wave of agricultural unrest known as the 'Captain Swing Riots', which swept across Sussex from East to West in a matter of weeks. They took the form of machine-breaking, rick-burning, riotous assemblies and a great deal of damage was done to the property of parson and squire. Riots took place at Hellingly and Ringmer, the latter in the churchyard. The interior of Horsham Parish Church was badly damaged and it is not impossible that there was such an incident at Chiddingly, in the course of which damage was done to the monuments. The riots, which went on for two years in the South of England and East Anglia, provoked savage sentences from the courts. Over four hundred people were transported and nineteen hanged. (Chiddingly Church Guide) STANDING WALL MONUMENT - S AISLE - S Wall The Jefferay Monument 1612 but fully restored 1996 with the aid of an anonymous donation and grants by the Sussex Historic Churches Trust and the Historic Churches Preservation Trust. Sir John Jefferay d 1578 Dame Alice Jefferay d 1576 Sir Edward Montagu 1562 - 1644 Dame Elizabeth Montagu d 1611 Elizabeth Bertie (nee Montagu) d 1654 Large, pink veined off-white monument occupying the width of the wall in a bay extended out from the South aisle, S.E. corner. The centre piece is of two reclining figures, the male above the female, and two standing figures, the male to the left and the female to the right, with a kneeling child at the front, all life size. They are contained within a large classical edifice. a) Sir John is lying on his side, head on right elbow, clad in a long legal robe and cape, a knotted sash and the collar of an unidentified order. His cloak is pushed back over his left shoulder. There are fur cuffs and collar to the robe and his shirt has a neck ruff and small cuff ruffs. The hat is a square academic style and he has square toed shoes. His elbow is resting on an embroidered pillow with a tassel at the comer and he holds the broken remains of a scroll in his left hand. There are vestigial remains of red paint in the folds of the robe. b) Below him lies Dame Alice (nee Apsley), his wife, on her back. She wears a simple Elizabethan style dress, with patterned top, ruff and bonnet cap, hands clasped in prayer, her head on an embroidered pillow, the comer tassel of which is missing. c) To the left is the standing figure of Sir Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton, their son-in-law, fully robed with a glimpse of the breeched right leg. The cape has a wide protruding collar and his left hand is on the pommel of his sword, both the hand and pommel are missing, only part of the quillon remains. d) To the right is the standing figure of their daughter Dame Elizabeth, in an elaborate dress with a tightly buttoned square necked bodice with lace edging, an exaggerated decollete and tight sleeves. The skirt has a large platform hooped skirt with ruff edge hanging in vertical folds, her right foot with a square toed shoe protrudes and is resting on the top of a skull. Both her wrists and hands are missing. Behind her head is a large starched upstanding collar of lace, she has a fan shaped coiffure with a horizontal dividing line of interlaced ribbons, from her neck at the back hangs the broken off remains of a cloak or cape. e) In front of the reclining figures is a plinth upon which is the badly mutilated kneeling life sized figure of a child, Elizabeth, the daughter of Dame Elizabeth and Sir Edward, the future wife of Robert Bertie (12th Lord Willoughby, 1st Earl of Lindsay killed at Edgehill 1634). She kneels on a cushion (comers broken) and wears a dress with a lace necked bodice and a platform ruffed skirt. Her hands (missing) are clasped in front in prayer. Her fan shaped coiffure is badly damaged and the right side of the face and shoulder is missing. The figures stand within a large classical architectural monumental structure with a plinth and moulded bases, the two standing figures within semi-circular niches with diminishing fluted semi-circular heads and each on a drum of stone said to represent the cheeses that were placed before them as stepping stones as they walked to Church from their house at Chiddingly Place, as they were too proud to put their feet to the ground. At the top centre is a semi-circular coffered arch containing a black tablet with the bearded figure of Death to the left in medieval costume holding a spade. On the right, a naked bearded old man with a cloak covering his loins, holding an hourglass in his left hand and a scythe in his right, signifying Time. Black marble tablet with incised roman style lettering. Above the tablet is a shield containing a coat of arms, quarterly of four. The main body of the monument is white marble, veined in red, the figures are white alabaster. The base of the monument beneath the statues is a mixture of white/red marble with two central black slate panels and two square shellstone blocks beneath the standing statues. This memorial is one of only two specimens of funerary statuary in England of the early 17th century with erect figures. Sir John Jefferay was Chief Baron of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I and MP at various times for Arundel and East Grinstead. It is mainly attributed to a Dutch sculptor, William Cure II, from Amsterdam but it is believed other sculptors also worked on the monument. Dates of death of Dame Alice are obliterated but recorded in 1862 as 28th May 1570 (www.chiddinglychurch.org.uk/nadfas2.htm - copyright NADFAS) |
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References
| Source 1 : | |
| Title: | 'Chiddingly Church Guide' |
| Type: | Book |
| Author: | Loosemoore, Jose & Burgis, Joan |
| Page: | 9-11 |
| Publisher: | Chiddingly Parish Church |
Further information: | |
| www.chiddinglychurch.org.uk/churchguide1.htm#http://www.chiddinglychurch.org.uk/churchguide1.htm# | |
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Photographs
Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
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