Tudor gentleman Alexander Fettiplace (c. 1505 to 1565) lies stiffly in embossed 16th century armour, hand on sword and body and head propped on an elbow, on bottom shelf of unique 1613 family monument in St Mary’s Parish Church in the Windrush Valley, Cotswolds, village of Swinbrook, Oxfordshire, England, UK. Alexander’s son and grandson recline on the shelves above.
Swinbrook, Oxfordshire, England, UK: Tudor gentleman Alexander Fettiplace (c. 1505- c. 1565), wearing embossed 16th century plate armour, lies stiffly, his head resting on his right hand, his body propped on his right elbow and his left hand on his sword, on the bottom shelf of a unique triple-tiered family monument in the chancel of the Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin. The Renaissance-style monument, sculpted by a local mason in 1613, was commissioned by Alexander’s grandson, father of 18 children Sir Edmund Fettiplace (1554-1613). His effigy occupies the top shelf while that of Alexander’s son William (1530-1562) rests in the centre. William died aged only 31 or 32; his father lived for 60 or 61 years, outliving William by three years. The Tudor and early Stuart male Fettiplaces commemorated by the 1613 monument were joined in 1686 by three heads of the family of the later 17th century, who lie in gilded Carolean armour in a much more elaborate Baroque tier of shelves against the north sanctuary wall. The effigies of John Fettiplace (d. 1567), Sir John Fettiplace (d. 1672) and Sir Edmund Fettiplace (d. 1686) are by the sculptor William Bird or Byrd of Oxford (1624-c. 1691), official mason to Oxford University. The Fettiplaces, lords of the manor of Swinbrook, were among the wealthiest and most powerful families in Oxfordshire and Berkshire. They once owned estates in 15 counties, but their mansion at Swinbrook, in the picturesque Windrush Valley, was demolished after the last member of the dynasty died in 1805. The aristocratic Mitford family later owned both the house built in 1926 to replace the Fettiplace mansion and also the Jacobean manor house at nearby Asthall, which was the childhood home of the controversial Mitford sisters, Nancy, Unity, Diana and Pamela.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Swinbrook, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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