Tomb of Sir Humphrey Fitzwilliam 1556 at Clayworth Church

As part of our Grants scheme, our William and Jane Morris Church Conservation Grants award £500-£5,000 to churches, chapels and other places of worship in the United Kingdom for the conservation of decorative features and monuments. A recent recipient of this award, Davina Gull, tells us about the restoration of Tomb of Sir Humphrey Fitzwilliam 1556 at Clayworth Church.

The national significance of the 1556 Fitzwilliam tomb was first recognised and identified by Dr David Carrington of Skillingtons Ltd. in 2013 when a full detailed conservation report was commissioned. Their report found that it ‘is a fine and rare example of early English Renaissance decorative plasterwork. It is also the earliest known plaster monument in the United Kingdom. It is therefore without doubt of national importance as a work of art and also worthy of academic study’.

The Fitzwilliam family can be dated back to 1219 to William Fitzwilliam of Sprotborough from whom the current Earl Fitzwilliam is descended. Humphrey Fitzwillliam’s ancestors were the Constables of Conisborough Castle in the 15th and 16th centuries. Sir Richard Fitzwilliam married Elizabeth Clarel of Aldwarke in 1443 and they had twelve children. The sixth child Edward Fitzwilliam was Sir Humphrey’s father. His uncle Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam married Lucy Neville and they were the parents of Sir William Fitzwilliam who from the age of 10 was companion to the future King Henry VIII. Sir William later became the Earl of Southampton.

Sir Humphrey Fitzwilliam married Anne Dalyson of Laughton, Lincolnshire and they had ten children. A brass plate on top of the tomb states ‘’Humfray Fitzwilliam Esqwyer was buryed at Clayworth ye Day of October Ao 1556 who had to wife Anne one of Ye Dowghters of Willm Dalyson of Laghton in the County of Lincolne Esqwyer: which Anne was buryed at Clayworth the last day of June Ao 1558. And had Issue Sons . Willm. Charles.Roger. Thomas. Edward. Humfray & Dowghters Elizabeth. Margaret. Dorothe. And Anne. Whose Soules God Pardon.’’

The tomb is still in its original position in the chancel as confirmed by the plan of the church in the Rector’s Book of Clayworth 1676. The tomb was illustrated in the book Ancient Sepulchral Monuments dated 1887 with very accurate detailed drawings of the front, east and west elevations. The decoration on the front of the tomb is worthy of note. In the centre is a cartouche bearing the coat of arms of Fitzwilliam impaling Dalyson celebrating the union of the Fitzwilliam and Dalyson families. There are leafy vine arrangements with round barley twists and stylised flowers at each centre. The upper part is decorated with trefoil/shamrock representing perpetuity. On the west elevation are three Tudor roses and on the east side three fleur-de-lis representing the Prince of Wales feathers. The photograph taken before any restoration was started shows a pew very close to the west end of the tomb. This pew obstructed the view of the stucco work and also prevented proper restoration work to take place.

We employed a specialist joinery firm (Kirk and Bills) to shorten the pew and replace it back in the chancel. We also need to create a breathing space around the pew which was achieved by removing the first layer of tiles close to the tomb and replacing them with limestone. All of this work was done under the direct supervision of our church architect, Graeme Renton.

The next stage of the process, once sufficient grant money had been raised was to employ the specialist conservators Skillingtons of Grantham. This work was carried out under the direct supervision of Dr David Carrington. They stabilised the crumbling plaster, repaired the bullnose trim, and then cleaned the tomb but only used a dry cleaning method so as not to obliterate the ancient pencil marks on the surface. The Church Building Council wanted the top layer of plaster removing from the plinth but this proved to be a very difficult procedure because it was attached to the brickwork underneath. A sample area was removed which involved a lot of hammering and banging so Dr Carrington contacted the Church Building council and asked to fill in the gap and not remove any more of the plinth which could have caused further damage to the tomb. Hence you will notice a small patch on the plinth at the front. We have also installed a barrier rope in front of the tomb to try and prevent any further damage occurring.