Monument to Charles Sergison
| 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 Platt |
| Town: | Cuckfield |
| Parish: | Cuckfield |
| Council: | Mid Sussex District Council |
| County: | West Sussex |
| Postcode: | RH17 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Inside building |
| and in: | Religious |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | To the left of the main altar, Parish Church of Holy Trinity |
| In the AZ book: | West Sussex |
| Page: | 71 |
| Grid reference: | N4 |
| 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: | TQ303245 |
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Makers
| Name : | Thomas Adye |
| Role: | Sculptor |
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General Information
| Construction period: | 1734 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Parish Church of Holy Trinity. Cuckfield. |
| Description: | Dark grey, veined marble sarcophagus issuing from a pyramidal shaped back slab. Surmounting the sarcophagus is a seated female figure looking at her reflection in a hand mirror that she holds in her right hand. Her left hand rests on the top of a large medallion with a profile relief portrait of Charles Sergison that is supported on her raised left knee. To her left is a naked seated cherub that also supports the medallion. At the top of the pyramidal backslab is a white marble relief of the Sergison coat of arms. The whole rests on a tomb-like pedestal that has an inscribed panel to the front. |
| Iconographical description: | The female figure looking at her reflection in a mirror symbolises 'Truth'. |
| Signatures: | Carved into the edge of the portrait medallion on the side of the figure of 'Truth':
Tho. ADEY. SCVLPT. IT |
| Inscription: | Near this Place lyeth Interred ye Body of CHARLES SERGISON Efqr. Of Cuckfield Place, who departed this life Novr.ye 26th. 1732 Aged 78. He was initiated into ye Civil Government of the Royal Navy in the Year 1671, as a Clerk in one of His Majesty's Yards, & laudably Served through Several Offices till the Year 1719 (namely 48 Years) 35 of which as a Principal Officer and Commifsioner to the Satisfaction of the Several Kings and Queens, and their greatest Ministers, and all his Superiors, about which time the Civil Government of the Navy being put into Military hands, he was esteem'd, by them, not a fit person to serve any longer. Right hand side of panel on base, inscribed letters: He was a Gentleman of great Capacity & Penetration exact Judgment, close Application to Businefs Strict Integrity: These Virtues compleatly qualify'd him for t/y [that] Post which he so well fill'd, so long enjoy'd In those who serv'd under him. Merit alone recommended Fidelity and Diligence were rewarded, which gain'd him Respect, Esteem and Honour. He serv'd his Country in several Parliaments, where like a true Patriot, he consulted only ye real Interest of ye Nation, without any particular views of his own. In private Life He observ'd Justice & Probity was Affectionate to his Relations Peaceable to his Neighbours Kind and Beneficent to his Servants And in every Station an Honest Man |
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Classification
| Categories: | Sculptural, Funerary, Composite, Commemorative |
| Object type1: | Statue |
| Object type2: | Sculpture |
| Subject type1: | Portrait |
| Subject subtype1: | Head |
| Subject type2: | Allegorical |
| Subject subtype1: | Head |
| Subject type3: | Figurative |
| Subject subtype1: | Group |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Statuary |
| Material: | White marble |
| Height (cm): | 138 |
| Width (cm): | 125 |
| Depth (cm): | 50 |
| Part 2: | Whole structure |
| Material: | White and grey marble |
| Height (cm): | 380 |
| Width (cm): | 217 |
| Depth (cm): | 70 |
| Part 3: | Base |
| Material: | Light grey marble |
| Height (cm): | 115 |
| Width (cm): | 217 |
| Depth (cm): | 48 |
| Part 4: | Sarcophagus |
| Material: | Dark grey, brown veined marble |
| Height (cm): | 85 |
| Width (cm): | 160 |
| Depth (cm): | 44 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 21/12/2007 |
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History
| History: | Charles Sergison purchased Cuckfield Park in 1691 from Mary Clark, the last of the Bowyer family who had built the house 100 years before and it remained in the family until 1968. By 1800, the Sergison Family owned forty one properties in Cuckfield. 'Adey' is spelled 'ADYE' on most sources. Sergison had been granted the coat of arms with a dolphin crest also in 1691. Sergison was, at age 17, a junior in one of the naval dockyards and became Chief Clerk to John Pepys, the brother of the diarist. He rose to become one of the four Principals in control of the navy and he served for 48 years under William III, Queen Anne and George I. He was aggrieved by being forced to retire at 65 years old. During his retirement he collected sixty five folios of Minutes of the Navy Board, now known as The Sergison Papers and published by the Naval Records Society. He also assembled a library of books for which he had three bookcases made by the joiner who had worked for Samuel Pepys, later known as The Pepys Bookcases. His papers are now in the Royal Maritime Museum in Greenwich. He died at Cuckfield Place at 78 years in November 1732. They had no children and his estate was left to Thomas Warden II and to his late wife's sisters and nieces. A condition of the will was that Thomas Warden take the name of Sergison. His will directed that ''my body be decently interred in my burying place in the chancel of the parish church'' and ''a monument be set up on the north side of the chancel''. The Rev Daniel Walter who dominated Cuckfield for nearly half a century (1713-1761), refused permission for the erection of the monument overshadowing the altar but Thomas Warden II called a vestry meeting and enlisted the support of several inhabitants.
('A Chronicle of Cuckfield') |
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References
| Source 1 : | |
| Title: | 'A Chronicle of Cuckfield' |
| Type: | Book |
| Author: | Wright, Maisie. |
| Edition: | 1991 |
| Publisher: | Mid Sussex Local History Group & the Cuckfield Museum Trust. |
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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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