The Aldworth Giants

It is a sunny Good Friday and we have an outing planned.  This week has been a holiday.  Tuesday we chilled out and swam, Wednesday was yoga and Thursday, Sandham Chapel (more later).  Today we are off to Aldworth, a small West Berkshire village.   It was recorded in the Doomsday Book as Elleorde, an Old English name meaning Old Enclosure or Old Farm.  It was then a tiny village, which according to the Doomsday Book numbered 'not more than twenty-five souls, all of them simple folk, villeins, serfs and swinherd!'  Let's see what has changed. 

In medieval times there was a castle at Aldworth, which stood on the site of what is now Beche Farm.  It belonged to the De La Beche family, who were powerful landowners and knights.  They were originally from Flanders and encouraged to settle in England by William of Normandy after the conquest. 

St Mary's church is our focus.  It dates back to around 1200. 

The Yew tree in the churchyard is at least 1000 years old and though it has been struck by lightning and blown over in a storm it is still partly alive.   

The church is of interest as it houses nine stone effigies to the De La Beche family.  The collection is the largest number of medieval memorials to a single family in a parish church. The figures are supposed to be life size representations and some are over seven feet tall, which has led to them being called the 'Aldworth Giants'.  There are indeed records to suggest they were a tall and proud family.  The effigies date from various times in the midddle ages but are all in a simple classical style.

Many were damaged by parliamentarians during the Civil War in the 17th century.  Some knights are missing the lower part of their legs, noses and arms, presumably because they were the easiest parts to break off.  More recent grafiti is also on evidence.

Here is Sir Robert De La Beche, knighted by Edward I in 1278.

Along with Sir Robert, his son Sir John, and grandson Sir Philip line the north wall.  

 


Sir Philip is the most impressive of the effigies.  He wears a mantle over his embossed leather armour to signify that he was valet to Edward II.  There is a dwarf squatting at his feet.   Sir Philip went around with a dwarf to emphasise his height and importance! 

This is his top end

Sir Philip had six sons: John, Philip, Nicholas, Edmond, Robert, Edward, and one daughter, Joan. He was sheriff of Berkshire and Wiltshire in 1314.  Along with his sons, he took part in a rebellion against Edward II in 1322.  They were defeated at the battle of Boroughbridge and imprisoned for five years.  Their lands were confiscated until the accession of Edward III in 1327, when they were restored to their former position.

Sir Philip's first son, Sir John, lies with his wife, Isabella, in the nave of the church together with his younger brother, Lord Nicholas De La Beche. 

Lord Nicholas became very important in the early years of the reign of Edward III. By 1336 he was steward of the province of Gascony in France, Constable of the Tower and custodian of the King's first son, Edward Prince of Wales, later the Black Prince. Lord Nicholas died in 1348, living just long enough to see the fulfilment of his duties in England and France, enjoy the victory over the French at Crecy in 1346 and the glory that the Black Prince found for himself in the battle.

Lord Nicholas' elder brother Sir Philip, the second son of Sir Philip De La Beche, lies together with his mother, Lady Joan, along the south aisle of the church. 

Lady Joan looks very graceful and the carving of her traditional dress has painstaking detail of fold and shape. 

The last effigy is shown below in the foreground.  It is that of John, the son of Lady Isabella. He is badly mutilated.  He died in 1340 at the age of twenty.   The family became extinct in the male line soon afterwards. 

There are many interesting walks around here in pretty countryside, we do a fraction of one but the pub beckons.  The Bell at Aldworth has been regularly featured in the pub guide and offers excellent real ales and simple fare.  Every lunch time it is packed so it is not surprising that on Good Friday it is bursting at the seams with nowhere inside or out to sit.  Me thinks the simple folk, villeins, serfs and swinherd have multiplied and come forth!  

Acknowledgements 

2016 Aldworth Parish Website