A remarkable stone effigy dressed in funeral garments
St Mary, Hartpury, Gloucestershire
The present church, now dedicated to St. Mary, was built before 1100 and like all early Norman churches, would have been dark with massively thick walls and small round arched high-level window openings. During the early part of the 14th century the original windows in the nave were enlarged and the present large presbytery (chancel) and sanctuary were added to accommodate the more elaborate ceremonial of the time. The tower was built detached, but immediately adjoining the church, during the early part of the 14th century.
Lying in the shade of an overhanging yew, to the north of the Church there is a fine 'listed' table tomb, which records that Thomas Sloper died on 13th April 1703. The most remarkable feature is the stone effigy that surmounts it. Dressed in cerements or grave clothes of exuberant and deeply carved drapery, the figure is assumed to be that of Joane, his wife, who died in 1676. It is modelled on the reclining effigy so often found on interior monuments but almost never seen outside.
He translated the Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam - one of...
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and Frances, Countess...
The low-relief portrait of the deceased adds some ...
Note the unusual way in which the year of death ha...
"... falling mortally wounded during a raid on the...
Robert Gosse was buried twice!
Admiral Sir Joseph Sydney Yorke with descriptive t...
Major William Davy died at sea in 1784 and his hea...
The mason has a problem with this unfamiliar word!
A British landowner and one of the wealthiest men ...
The desecrated monument to Humphrey and Frances Orme
Philip was lost in a storm off Memel in a ship cal...
There is one unusual spelling on this grave - can ...
A brother and sister died from Scarlet Fever on co...
Edwin and Ann Sutton were pre-deceased by seven of...
The Trainer of Red Rum
An unusual design featuring low-relief engravings ...
Elaine died on her Golden Wedding anniversary.
George and Margaret Wellings lost four children be...
Two friends who died on the same day and who are r...
George Stacey lost his son aged 1 day and his wife...
His last words were "This day, the Lord calleth me".
An unusual sub-section of the Children's Cemetery.
"Peck have a pint on us".
A wonderful example.of wrought iron.
This is the first time in all our years of surveyi...
"Hear my knock on Heaven's door
The Severn Tanker disaster 1961
"Rhetorically expressed".
Charles held the Great Seal for only a day before ...
Can you see the spelling mistake in this memorial ...
William and Harriet Croxford lost 5 children - age...
David Green died in the Charfield Railway Disaster...
Albert Morris lost two of his sons to violent deat...
An unusual design showing an angel kneeling by the...
John Jackson died at the Ghent Military Hospital w...
A home-made memorial can be very poignant.
The unique bee shelter can be found in the churchyard
A sad story of multiple sibling deaths.
A very curious military grave.
A mother, father and infant son fatally injured on...
"Fatally injured while on war work".
A homophone error we hadn't seen before.
How often do you see a picture of a pipe on a memo...
An unusual design showing a fairground carousel.
James Williams "... met his untimely death by a sh...
The mason must have been having a really bad day!.
Albert Bassett died "in fatal equine accident"
The stone mason had problems with the words "docto...
Jack regarded himself as an "adopted Kenyan".
A parting thought from a deceased husband to his w...
"Both a joy to be with".