An Abergavenny tomb

The Gwent/Monmouthshire edition of the Buildings of Wales describes the collection of medieval monuments in the church of St Mary, Abergavenny, also known as Abergavenny Priory, as "one of the outstanding series...in the British Isles". The photograph shows the memorial to Sir Richard Herbert of Ewyas who died in 1510. This canopied monument has been mutilated and restored over the years but much of the original structure can still be seen. The main figure shows a bare-headed, armoured knight, his legs straight rather than crossed, and at his feet a lion. Under the arch behind him is an albaster Coronation of the Virgin. A headless Sir Richard and his wife kneel in adoration at her feet. To left and right of Mary are the couple's six standing sons and two kneeling daughters. Monuments from this period are not too uncommon though quite a few suffer from over-restoration. That is not the case here and the structure is all the better for it.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Alabaster tomb effigies

When the Puritan iconoclasts took their hammers to the carved tomb effigies of the parish churches of Britain they must have been particularly pleased to come upon those made of alabaster. This soft, slightly translucent stone, a marble-like variety of gypsum, would yield very easily to their blows, and noses, hands and any other decorative protrusion would easily be detached. You can visit churches throughout the land and find examples of this kind of assault. Sometimes restorers have rebuilt that which was lost: elsewhere the vandalism remains for all to see. The photograph shows two such effigies in the Priory Church of St Mary, Abergavenny. They are Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook d. 1469 and his wife, Margaret. They can be found in the Herbert Chapel alongside six other tombs dating from the early C14 to the late C17.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2