A recent visit to the village of Ingrave, just outside Brentwood on the Greater London/Essex border, for which the local parish church of St Nicholas holds two fascinating brasses commemorating members of the once prominent Fitz-Lewis family. The church was founded in 1734 after the original medieval church of Ingrave and that of nearby West Horndon were ruinous with the decision being made, by act of parliament, to unite the two parishes with a new church. The construction was financed by the 8th Lord Petre of nearby Thorndon Hall, interestingly he was a Catholic having descended from a line of notable recusants who deserve a separate post of their own as I intend to visit their memorials at the parish church of Ingatestone one day.

Brass to Sir Richard Fitz-Lewis with his four wives

The two brasses I mentioned previously were originally within the old church of West Horndon though were installed here at St Nicholas’ presumably during the deconstruction of the original church. They both commemorate members of the Fitz-Lewis family who resided at West Horndon in the 15th and 16th centuries with the first monument in particular memorialising a Sir Richard Fitz-Lewis and his four wives. Sir Richard was a Sheriff of both Essex and Hertfordshire and would receive his knighthood at the Battle of Stoke, considered to be the last major engagement of the War of the Roses, in 1487. Furthermore, during the Battle of Blackheath in 1497, he was made a Banneret, a distinction for a knight who can lead his own troops in battle under a unique square-shaped heraldic banner in particular.

Sir Richard Fitz-Lewis dressed in a tabard

Just across from his monument is the second brass memorialising a Margaret Fitz-Lewis, she was married to a Sir William Lucy who was slain at the Battle of Northampton in 1460 supposedly by a fellow called John Stafford, who soon after the battle took Margaret as his wife! It’s rumoured that Margaret and John had previous liaisons with John using the field of battle to his advantage to kill her husband and therefore eliminate any suspicion. It is also rumoured that Margaret was a mistress of Edward IV though I believe this could be mistaken identity yet regardless, Margaret would pass away in 1466 possibly due to complications during childbirth at the young age of 28.

Small dog at the feet of Lady Margaret Fitz-Lewis

This blog is related to my project These Mortal Remains which is a contemporary photographic survey of unique and interesting funerary monuments across Greater London churches (as well as those of particular interest from my travels across the UK) which I intend to compile for a future book release. If you wish to see more content from this project and stay up to date then do follow my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/these_mortal_remains/

A KNIGHT AND A LADY

Poyntz for Posterity

These MortaL REMAINS Project