The church was founded in the 7th century by the Mercian king Wulphere. A few Saxon fragments remain, but the building is mostly 13th century. Some idiots have painted the entire interior (walls, box pews, even the pillars) in a modern white emulsion paint that makes the place look hideous - how can this happen in a Grade 1 building?
Above: my main interest was this brass plaque in an ashlar surround. It shows a 16th century family kneeling in a paved chamber before a plinth piled with bones. The skull and crossbones is a symbol of mortality, but also of military death or glory and membership of various secret fraternities prevalent in the county.
Military clues are scattered throughout the tableau, including the detailed armour of the eldest son, the two heraldic devices (they require more interpretation) and the significant mention in the text that the father is "armig" but not actually a knight (although the arms have helmet crests). Both parents and the eldest son are kneeling on cushions, the all the rest are kneeling on the stone floor. Note the chrysom child lying on the ground on the right (a child that died in infancy so that its christening gown was used as its shroud).
In a cultural context the eldest son's armour, and the prominence of the two coats of arms are significant. Armour obviously had a practical protective purpose, but I am intrigued by the theory that it was also used to portray the male body as acquiring a superhuman aspect. Considerable social rules surrounded medieval heraldry - who can have arms, how they assume them, and why.
Above: high up on the wall immediately over the brass plaque was this 16th century helmet. It is tempting to connect the helmet with the family in the brass engraving, but there is no evidence for this. You can see part of the gleaming emusion-covered wall.
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