Shipdham
This coat of arms for the Rev. Colby Bullock and his family is another which has been handled charmingly; the painting has been inserted in a hexafoil, the crest in the topmost foil, the others showing the Gules turned Argent mantling.
The Rev. Colby Bullock died 28 September 1817, aged 66, and his wife Elizabeth died 15 February 1811, aged 63. She was the daughter of Capel Bringloe of Hingham and of Elizabeth his wife, who was the daughter and heiress of George Bedell of Woodrising. Also for Diana, their 2nd daughter who died 13 February 1864, aged 86; for Catherine, the 3rd daughter who died 7 March 1864, aged 85; for Mary, the 4th daughter who died 25 April 1868, aged 87; and also for Susanna, the 5th daughter, relict of Rev. William Girling of Scarning, who died 13 March 1864, aged 80.
Quarterly of eight: 1, Gules a Chevron Ermine between three Bull’s heads cabossed Argent armed Or – BULLOCK; 2, Argent on a Bend Azure between two Lions rampant Sable three Plates – LLEWELLYN OR FLUELLIN; 3, Per pale Gules and Azure a Cross engrailed Argent – BERNEY; 4, Quarterly: i and iv, Azure a Chevron Ermine between three Escallops Argent – TOWNSEND; ii and iii, Argent a Bend engrailed Azure between two Buck’s heads cabossed Sable – NEEDHAM; 5, Chequy Or and Gules on a Fess Azure three Escallops Argent – BALDOCK; 6, Gules on a chief Argent two Mullets pierced Sable – BACON; 7, Azure on a Chevron between three Estoiles Or as many Lozenges Gules – BUTTS; 8, Ermine on a chief indented Sable two Lions rampant Or – BURES; impaling Quarterly: 1 and 4, Per pale Argent and Gules Barry wavy of four each division alternately charged with a Leopard’s face and a Fleur-de-Lys all counterchanged – BRINGLOE; 2 and 3, Gules a Chevron engrailed between three Escallops Argent – BEDELL. Crest: Five axes, handles or, blades argent, bound together gules.
COLBY BULLOCK
Enlarged:
Enlarged view
Colton
This coat of arms has been delightfully displayed within a carved marble surround, on a grey background.
It is for Henry Daveney, who died 22 November 1771 aged 29, and his wife Susannah (nee Bradfield) who died 7 February 1819 aged 84; and also for Parham, their son, who was born 27 December 1769 but who survived only a short time, dying 2 June 1770.
The arms are Quarterly 1, Argent a Chevron Sable between three Nuns’ heads couped at the shoulders proper – DAVENEY, 2, Argent on a Chevron engrailed between three Mallets proper as many Lions’ gambs Or within a Bordure engrailed and Bezanty Sable – PARHAM, 3, Barry wavy of ten Argent and Sable a Lion rampant Or – SEABORNE, quarterly Argent and Gules within a Bordure counterchanged, in the second and third quarters a Fret Or over all on a Bend Sable six Mullets Or, – SPENCER, impaling Quarterly Argent and Gules a Cross Ermine between four Mullets Or – BRADFIELD.
DAVENEY quartering PARHAM, SEABORNE AND SPENCER, impaling BRADFIELD.
The SPENCER coat obviously derives from that of Despenser; Burke’s General Armory p. 954, has this coat with five mullets on the bend and a bordure “quarterly of Gules and Argent” for SPENCER of Bradfield, Norfolk, and of Suffolk.
The impalement is close to the arms of BRADFIELD of Norfolk, Azure a Cross compony Or and Azure between four Mullets Or. This itself is a bit suspect, with the Azure on Azure; this variant is not recorded in Papworth or Burke’s General Armory. However, the painter has made a superb job of it, with the ermine tails placed precisely within lozenges formed by thin black lines; heraldically incorrect, but a delightful result.
Yaxham
Yaxham church has seven pews in the south aisle with a remarkable series of bench end carving depicting mythological beasts. Nothing, uncommon, you say? But these date from the early part of the twentieth century.
The Pelican vulning is a common Christian symbol of renewal.
Pelican vulning
The Unicorn is next. A horse-like creature, it may have originally be the description of a rhinocerous; “dangerous, with elephant feet and black hair, spending its’ time wallowing in mud, with a single black horn” was one description of it. The horn was an antidote to poison, and for the Chinese at least, an aphrodisiac.
Then the WYVERN. It is a winged dragon with two legs, with bird-like claws, and frequently a barbed tail.
Wyvern
Then the Owl. Thought to be a symbol of wisdom, in the past it was also considered to be the harbinger of disaster. The little owl was associated with the goddess Athene. [see also http://www.pauldfrost.co.uk/intro_o2.html]
Owl
The Manticora, a winged lion-like figure with a devil’s tail, and with a bearded human head. It also had a triple row of teeth, but a thin voice like pipe or trumpet. A symbol of the devil. [ See also: http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast177.htm}
The Manticora
A Cockatrice comes next, a cockerel-like body, head and wings, but with an extended serpent’s tail. Described as a dragon with a cockerel’s head, its look or breath is said to be poison; it can only be killed by a weasel or the sound of a cock crowing.
Cockatrice
The Elephant and Castle is next. The castle was in fact a howdah, a seat on an elephant used in India for tiger hunting. This sign was used by a blacksmith in south London, in a building later used by the Cutlers guild; so it became used as a sign of cutlers and workers making surgical knives, scissors, and other instruments. [see also http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ele1.htm]
Elephant and Castle
Next, a Dragon, which have two pairs of legs and wings. Carnivorous, fiercesome creatures, often watching or guarding places or special objects.
Dragon
Then a Griffin. Part eagle, part lion, it has a lion’s body with an eagle’s head. Sometimes shown without wings.
Griffin
A Yale. The size of a hippopotamus or a horse, with the tail of an elephant and two-foot-long horns which it can swivel at will, forwards or backwards in attack or defence. Used by the Beaufort family as supporters.
Yale
Next, the Phoenix, shown arising from a nest of flames; when it becomes old, it makes a nest and ignites it, and is born again from the ashes. Only one (or maybe two) phoenix lives at any one time, it is never seen to eat, though it may live up to 1460 years. Most colourful, it is as big as an eagle, with golden neck, purple body and an azure tail. It might represent the sun, and being born again, for Christians it may represent rebirth after death.
Phoenix
Another Wyvern.
Wyvern
A Tiger. Notice the clever way in which the tiger’s stripes have been reproduced.
Tiger
It is remarkable to find so many recent carvings of mythological creatures in a small church. The whole question of the previous use of ancient mythology in religious buildings, manuscripts and pictures is complex and obscure.
Narborough
Below the Spelman window on the north side of the chancel a stone tablet has been set into the wall, bearing an old brass, which used to be on a marble monument at the east end of the north aisle.
The stone has two small crosses on the left side, and it is thought to be the pre-Reformation stone altar, re-used in the Victorian reconstruction of 1865, by the Rev. William Alfree. It has a monument for John Eyre, a brass with two kneeling figures; on the left the knight in full armour but for a helmet, hands joined in prayer. His gauntlet lies beside his prayer-book on the top of the cloth-draped kneeling desk. Opposite is his wife, likewise kneeling at prayer, with a similar prayer book open on the desk before her, ruffed and hair capped with a falling veil behind. From their mouths arise scrolls, his reading: “With the Lord there is Mercy” and hers: “and with Him is plenteous redemption”.
JOHN EYRE and his Wife at Narborough
The inscription on the brass says “Here do lye John Eyer Esquire late Receyvor Generale to Elizabeth the Quenes Majestie, in the counties of Norf., Suff., Cantabridge, and Huntyngton, and one of the Masters of her High Court of Chancerye and Margaret his wyfe, one of the daughters of Sir Thomas Blenerhaiset of Frens Knight late Wyfe of John, Spelman Esquire, son and heyre apparent of Sir John Spelman, Knyght.” It records that he died on 20 May 1561, and his wife died 15 December 1558. This John Eyre took much advantage of the Dissolution and bought Bury Abbey and a number of Friar’s houses at Lynn; he died without issue.
There are three brass shields, the lateral ones plain, the central one mantled with helm and crest: An armed leg, spurred, couped at the thigh.
Quarterly EYRE and TOWNSEND
The dexter shield has Quarterly, 1 and 4, (Argent) on a Chevron (Sable) three Quatrefoils (Argent). – EYRE, 2 and 3, (Azure) a Chevron Ermine between three Escallops (Argent). – TOWNSEND. This is presumably the Eyre pedigree, for his father or the family.
Quarterly EYRE and TOWNSEND
The central shield is the same; both shields are charged with a crescent for difference, for John Eyre himself.
Quarterly EYRE and TOWNSEND impaling BLENERHASSET, LOWDHAM, KELVEDON, ORTON, and SKELTON
The sinister shield has EYRE quartering TOWNSEND with a crescent for difference, impaling Quarterly of six, 1 and 6, (Gules) a Chevron Ermine between three Dolphins embowed (Argent). – BLENERHASSET; 2, (Argent) three Escutcheons (Sable). – LOWDHAM; 3, (Gules) a Pall reversed Ermine – KELVEDON or KELDON; 4, (Azure) a Lion rampant (Argent) crowned (Or). – ORTON: 5, (Azure) a Fess between three Fleurs-de-lis (Or). – SKELTON. Jane, daughter of Sir William Kelvedon of Braxted in Essex, married John Lowdham of Lowdham; his son, Sir Thomas Lowdham, had a son John, and his daughter Joan or Jane married Sir Ralph (or Thomas?) Blenerhasset. It was their daughter Margaret who married John Eyre as her second husband.
Langford
Farrer describes “a fine monument” in the church, covered up with a view to restoration. In the booklet “Sculptured monuments in Norfolk Churches”, Noel Spencer2 describes it as “A mighty monument in a little church…” and it is of Sir Nicholas Garrard, died 1727, a salter (or manufacturer or dealer in salt or other chemicals3), an Alderman and Sheriff of the City of London. He lies in Roman clothing upon his sarcophagus, with his father and grandfather behind him, both similarly clad in short tunics, flanking a pedestal bearing an urn (this used to have a cherub upon it). Spencer records that his widow, “Dame Cecilia, who caused this monument to be erected ‘in duty and respect as much as in obedience to his desire’. This she did ‘to perpetuate the Memory of her Dear and entirely Beloved Husband together with his worthy ancestors’.” The sculptor was Christopher Horsnaile the Elder, the partner of Edward Stanton, who was working 1700-1742; he was mason to Westminster Abbey until 1737, and also mason to the Inner Temple. This is reckoned to be his finest monument, among many produced with Stanton and alone4, and according to Blomefield5 it cost 400 guineas.
GARRARD family at Langford
On the pedestal the inscription recorded that Sir Jacob Garrard, “an Eminent, Wealthy, and Honourable Citizen”, was knighted by Charles I in 1641, and made baronet by Charles II in 1662, “having aided and assisted the Royal Family with Men, Money, and Arms, in their Distress and Exile, for which he became obnoxious to the Usurpers of Authority, and was Try’d by the Committee for raising Supplies, as a Delinquent, but nobly Defended both his Life and Estate with unshaken Resolution and stedfast Loyalty.” Quite an encomium. He married Mary Jennings, and died 1666; only four of their many children survived.
Below the figure of Sir Nicholas there is another inscription. This tells us that his son Thomas inherited the estate and title; he married Sarah, only daughter and heiress of Nicholas Bermen of Peasenhall, Suffolk. Of their nine children, only two sons and a daughter survived. The daughter Mary is buried here, as is Sarah. Jacob, the eldest son, died before his father, and he is buried with his family. Sir Nicholas Garrard, the third son, succeeded his father in the title and estate; he married Cecilia, daughter of Sir Edwin Stede of Stede Hall in Kent. Sir Nicholas died 11 March 1727.
The position of the inscriptions and of the figures demonstrates a remarkable familial piety, awarding pride of place to his grandfather and father above the person remembered in the monument.
When Blomefield recorded this monument, on the wall opposite were his shield, mantle, torse, helmet, spurs and sword, with several banners: Garrard impaling Jennings (Argent a Chevron Gules between three plummets Sable), and Garrard impaling Berman (Argent a Fleur-de-lis Gules). These insignia were placed here by his widow.
An earlier authority says that in the church at the funeral of a knight, his sword was allowed to be hung, because at their first dubbing,the knight did promise to defend religion and the church. A cleric in a London church had taken similar arms, claiming they were offerings to the church, but Justice Yelverton ruled that they were not oblations but hung in honour of the deceased, and therefore neither parson nor anyone else had the right to remove them or lay claim to them. There is no sign of the arms on this church wall now.
Wyvern crest at Langford
Nearby, there is a painted coat of arms on an ornate carved fitting presumably detached from the monument. The dexter half is just discernable and shows: (Azure) two lions guardant and combatant (Argent) with the baronet’s badge above. – GARRARD, impaling Argent a chevron between three Boars’ heads couped Sable, muzzled (Or). – STEDE.
The crest is a Wyvern Vert; it should have a spear Or, headed Argent, piercing its throat, and the tail should be nowed6 Sir Nicholas Garrard married Cecilia, daughter of Sir Edwin Stede of Stede Hall in Kent, and died 11th March 1727. He was the third son of Sir Thomas Garrard, Bt., and his wife Sarah, daughter and heiress of Nicholas Bermen of Peason Hall, Suffolk; and Sir Thomas’s parents were Sir Jacob Garrard, the eldest son and heir of Thomas Garrard, Esq., who died in 1666.
PHOTOGRAPHS by Charles Charles-Donne
Hilborough
30.01.2012
The Caileys held this lordship from Earl Warren until the early fourteenth century when Sir Thomas Cailey left it to his heir Adam, son of Sir Roger Clifton. Above the west door are the arms of the founder, Sir John Clifton, magnificently carved, the shield bearing Warenne’s arms which his dependant lord assumed, changing the colours and adding a bend. The shield is canted below the helm, from which, quite remarkably, the buckle protrudes over the shield – amazing after over six hundred years. Clifton’s supporters are two ibexes sejant, and his crest a plume of feathers. The lichen encrusting this carving serves only to enhance its magic. Chequy (Or and Gules) a Bend (Ermine). – CLIFTON.
Didlington
On the north wall of the tower in an arch are six brass plates, each about 4¼ by 7 inches, remembering the Tyssen – Amherst family members. William Amhurst Tyssen Amherst was the first Baron Amherst, created 1892. He seems to have changed his surname twice, first from Daniel-Tyssen then to Tyssen-Amherst by royal licence in 1852, before adopting the above name; his father was William George Tyssen-Amherst, formerly Daniel-Tyssen, and before that, born Daniel.
His mother was Mary Fountaine of Narford Hall, Norfolk. He was High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1886, and MP for West Norfolk from 1880-85, then for South- West Norfolk from 1885-1892. He was created Baron Amherst of Hackney in 1892. He married Margaret Mitford at Hunmanby, Yorkshire, on 4 June 1856.
The MacDaniel of Daniel family came from County Mayo in the 17th century. John Daniel married Dorcas Auchmuty of Bryanstown, Scotland, in 1734 and inherited her family estate. William Daniel became High Sheriff of Kent in 1825, and married Amelia Amherst, daughter of Capt. Nicholas Amherst and his second wife, Mary Tyssen, becoming heiress to the Amherst and Tyssen estates. Capt. Amherst was the descendent of John Amherst of Amherst, Kent, in 1399. The first baron Amherst of Montreal was a distinguished soldier, eventually a Field Marshal. His youngest brother William was the father of William Pitt, 1st Earl Amherst, and the earldom continues.
William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst died in London in 1909 and was buried at Didlington, being succeeded by his eldest daughter, Mary, by special remainder, having had no sons to continue the male line. At its peak, the Norfolk estate consisted of 9, 488 acres; the family also had 240 acres in Yorkshire and 47 in Kent.
Cokayne’s Peerage notes that he made no special mark in the House of Commons, and his peerage appears to have reflected his enormous wealth; this may also account for him having the ‘exceptional favour’ of a special remainder. [It notes with regret that he was allowed to take the title of Amherst, rather than Hackney where he had a lot of property]. The Amherst titles began in 1776 with Baron Amherst of Holmesdale and Montreal, a soldier who served with great distinction in Europe and America, where he was Commander in Chief; later he became Governor of Virginia. He refused an Earldom, and was appointed Field Marshal in 1796.
His nephew William Pitt Amherst succeeded to the peerage by special remainder, and he too was distinguished, becoming Ambassador to China (where he was refused admission) and then Governor of Bengal. Interestingly, he married Sarah, the widow of the 5th Earl of Plymouth, and when she died, he married Mary, the widow of the 6th Earl of Plymouth! They lived at Knole, where he died in 1857; his wife inherited Knole from the 4th Duke of Dorset, her brother. His son, also William, was another M.P., and married Mary, daughter of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton.
Baron Amherst took the same arms as the first Earl Amherst, which were Gules three jousting Spears Or heads Argent, those of the old family of Amherst in Kent. His arms here have Quarterly 1 and 4, Gules three tilting Spears erect in fess Or points Argent.- AMHERST, 2, Per saltire Argent and Or, in fess two Lions rampant Gules, in chief and in base a dexter Arm couped in pale vested Gules cuffed Azure the hand proper holding a Cross-crosslet fitchy erect Gules. – DANIEL, 3, Or on a Chevron Azure between three French Marigolds proper slipped Vert two Lions passant respectant Or within a Bordure compony Argent and Or. – TYSSEN; in pretence, Argent a Fess between three Moles Sable. – MITFORD. His supporters were On either side a heron proper, collared Or.
His crests were On a mount Vert three tilting Spears one in pale and two in saltire Or, encircled by a wreath of laurel proper – Amherst; and in front of a trefoil slipped Vert a dexter arm couped fessways habited Gules cuffed Azure the hand proper holding a cross-crosslet erect Gules. – Daniel. And for Tyssen: A demi-lion rampant per fess wavy Or and Azure ducally crowned Gules and holding in the paws an escutcheon Azure charged with an estoile Or.
Letheringsett
Herbert Arthur Cozens-Hardy was the fourth Baron Cozens-Hardy, also living at Letheringsett Hall.. He was appointed OBE, and was a JP; Deputy Lieutenant for the County Palatine of Lancaster; and he had the unusual title of Bailif of Egle in the Order of St. John. He was born 8 June 1907, and died unmarried on 11 September 1975, when the barony became extinct.
The Bailiff of Egle is one of the four Great Officers under the Grand Prior, the others being the Lord Prior of St John, the Prelate, and the Chancellor.
4th Baron Cozens-Hardy
The fourth Baron’s arms have, suspended below the shield, the Knight’s Grand Cross of the Order. The arms are also unusual: above the quartered HARDY and COZENS are the Arms of the Order of St John: On a Chief Gules a Cross Argent in the first quarter the Royal Crest. “A Bailiff or Dame Grand Cross being armigerous shall be entitled to have carried immediately after him or her a Personal Banner depicting his or her Arms with those of the Order in chief.”
Quarterly 1 & 4, Per chevron Argent and Or, in chief two Fireballs Sable fired proper. – HARDY, 2 & 3, Azure a Lion rampant Or gorged with a ducal coronet Azure, in chief two Barrulets Or. – COZENS. His crests are 1, A dexter arm embowed holding in the hand an Eagle’s head erased fesswise proper – Hardy, and 2, A Lion rampant Or vulned at the shoulder proper and gorged with a ducal coronet Or.- Cozens. His supporters are dexter, An Eagle Argent, wings endorsed Gules holding in the beak a white Rose slipped and leaved proper, and sinister, a winged Lion rampant queue fourchée (forked) Argent also wings endorsed Gules. The motto is: FEAR ONE.
Briningham
Briningham church is hidden away, a quiet unassuming small church, the family church of the Breretons.
It has little of interest except for a memorial tucked away behind the east end in the ‘dormitory’.
There are a number of broken, sunken, and neglected graves at the foot of the east wall, with no obvious names, but almost certainly those of the family, since four yards away and facing the east wall is a pyramidal structure, three-sided and about ten feet tall, with a shield bearing the BRERETON arms. On top of the structure is the muzzled Bear of the Brereton crest.
According to Farrer’s Church Heraldry of Norfolk, , this is for “Brereton Seppings” but I saw nothing of this when I was there, nor can the person named be identified.
Baconsthorpe
The Heydon family came from a town of the same name; Thomas de Heydon was an itinerant justice in 1221; the law continued to be a major family occupation. In 1431, John Heydon of Baconsthorpe was made Recorder of Norwich, and was a feoffee (a trustee or legal manager of an estate owned by others) for many great estates in Norfolk, and was executor of the wills of Lady Bardolf and Sir John Clifton of Buckenham Castle. By the time of his death in 1480 he held at least fifteen manors in Norfolk, owing much of his wealth to sheep.
His son Sir Henry Heydon was Steward to the Duchess of York, mother of Edward IV. It was he who completed the sumptuous manor house begun
Baconsthorp Castle
by his father at Baconsthorpe, now called BACONSTHORPE CASTLE, as well as Salthouse church. He married Ann (or Elizabeth) Boleyn, daughter of Sir Jeffrey Boleyn, Lord Mayor of London. He lies buried in the Heydon family vault adjacent to Heydon church.
His eldest son, Sir John Heydon, was made a Knight of the Bath at Henry VIII’s coronation, and after a wild youth, settled down and became a courtier. He and his wife, Catherine Willoughby, are buried in the north aisle of Baconsthorpe church. Their daughters married into the Townshend, Darcy, and Digby families, and his eldest son Sir Christopher married Sir John Heveningham’s daughter; but he died before his father.
His son, another Sir Christopher, inherited from his grand-father; he was highly regarded for his fairness and charity and for a remarkable hospitality – one Christmas he entertained thirty master shepherds of his own flocks at Baconsthorp. His first wife was Lady Anne Drury, and the second was Temperance, daughter of Sir William Carewe; the third was Agnes Crane of Suffolk who survived him. His tomb, and that of his first two wives, was in the south aisle; at his death he owned over thirty manors, ten advowsons, and several rectories.
His heir was Sir William Heydon, eldest son of his first wife. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of Norfolk, a JP, “admiral of the admiralty jurisdiction,” and married Anne Wodehouse (Woodhouse) of Hickling. Despite all his inheritance, he wasted much of it on injudicious projects with “certain citizens of London”. Their monument is in the south aisle (opposite).
His eldest son, another Christopher, travelled widely, became an eminent scholar, and was High Steward of Norwich Cathedral. He was knighted at the sacking of Cadiz in 1596 by Robert, Earl of Essex; this association with Essex led to a brief imprisonment, later pardoned. He was buried in a peculiar tomb at Saxlingham, with his first wife Mirabel. Anne Dodge was his second wife, and she was buried here.
Heraldry in Norfolk 