Church Monuments Society

English churches have been subject to extension, rebuilding, decay, destruction and re-ordering since the day they were first erected. These have oftentimes left historians perplexed as to what had happened over the centuries, especially with regard to funeral monuments. Even so, sometimes we are more than a little surprised by fresh discoveries; this pair of grave markers are one such.

In the period from September 2013 through to April 2014 the chancel stalls in the church of the Hospital of St Cross were cleaned, conserved and restored with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. These stalls had been much interfered with from at least the early 18th century, and by the end of the 19^th century had been partially dismantled and dispersed around the church (Riall 2008, Riall 2014). The stalls were returned to the chancel in the 1920s. The friezework above them had been detached in the Butterfield restoration of the church in the 1860s, and hung separately in the chancel (Crook 2013). The stalls and their friezes were reunited in 2014. During the conservation process the stalls were removed from their wooden platforms, which were then taken up because the bearers beneath were rotten.

To our surprise this revealed two Markland grave markers, hidden beneath the 1920s platforms, sited just inside doorways through the chancel’s walled screens. The markers are set within areas of remnant black and white paving that was probably laid in the 17th century, but retained by Butterfield, who had large areas of the chancel covered in Minton tiles. Amongst them can be seen the famous ‘ZO’ tiles, which are thought to refer to an anonymous benefactor, perhaps Edward, then Prince of Wales.

The two grave markers are quite similar, taking the form of 20-inch marble squares, originally white but now much stained. These markers commemorate two of the children of Abraham Markland, Master of St Cross 1694-1728. On the north side of the chancel is the marker for Abraham Markland, who died in his tenth month, the infant child of Abraham and his second wife, Elizabeth Markland. He was born 19 June 1705 and died on 24 March the following year. His plaque offers an inscription on a shield, set within a border of foliate motifs. The second plaque, which is set on the south side of the chancel, records the burial of George Abraham Markland, son of Abraham Markland and his first wife, Catherine neé Pitt. The plaque simply records the year he died, 1722. This marker is much simpler, lacking a cartouche, although there are very worn vestiges of a carved foliate wreath around the epitaph.

It is the worn nature of this plaque that suggests when it was placed here the stalls stood some way forward of the chancel walls, permitting access from the side chapels (Lady chapel to the north and Morning chapel to the south), which also allowed wall-paintings on the chancel-side of these to be seen. Sadly, very little of them survives today. It was certainly an unusual arrangement, one that perhaps survived from the time they were first set up, in c.1513-15, through to the early 19th century.

The markers are once more hidden beneath the platforms upon which the stalls stand.

References

Crook, J, 2013, HOSPITAL OF ST CROSS, WINCHESTER, Report on below-ground works in the choir of St Cross Church, privately circulated, unpublished report.

Riall, N, 2008, ‘The Diffusion Of Early Franco-Italian All’antica Ornament: The  Renaissance Frieze In The Chapel Of The Hospital Of St Cross, Winchester, and The Gaillon Stalls, Now At St Denis, Paris’, Antiquaries Journal, 88, 258-307.

Riall, N, 2014, The Renaissance Stalls at the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester: The Hospital of St Cross and Almshouses of Noble Poverty.

Nicholas Riall

Gallery

• 1. Chancel stalls in the church of the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester, as repaired in 2014. The Butterfield floor tiles can be seen in the foreground with remnant black and white floor tiles behind.
• 2. Looking down into the chancel of the church of the Hospital of St Cross in January 2014 during the conservation works, showing the black and white paving with George Markland’s plaque on the left (north).
• 3. Plaque recording the burial of Abraham Markland, d.1706
• 4. Plaque recording the burial of George Markland, d.1722