The Monument to Henry, Ist Baron Norris of Rycote (1525 -1601).
by Isaac James (d. c1625).
in St Andrew's Chapel Westminster Abbey.
Library photograph from Alamy website.
Photography is not allowed inside Westminster Abbey for any purpose.
One can understand their need to monetise their holdings but the refusal to allow photography is particularly mean spirited. On my last visit I was charged £18 entry fee. My entreaties to photograph the Newton and Shakespeare monuments were to no avail although they did get me into the library.
In the chapel of St Andrew, off the north transept
of Westminster Abbey, is a very large monument, about 24 feet high, to the
memory of Henry (Norris or Norreys) 1st Baron Norris of Rycote (?1525-1601) and
his wife Margaret, daughter of John (Williams), 1st Baron Williams of Thame.
His mother was Mary (Fiennes) and his father Henry was executed by Henry VIII
in 1536 for allegedly being a lover of Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth I showed Henry
and Margaret particular favour, appointing him ambassador to France and
creating him Baron Norris in 1572.
The monument, by sculptor Isaac James, has no
inscription and Henry and Margaret are both buried at Rycote chapel in
Oxfordshire, in the grounds of their house.
Either side of their recumbent effigies kneel their
six sons in armour. Only their third son Sir Edward Norris, Governor of Ostend,
survived his father, dying in 1603. He is shown kneeling and looking upwards whereas
the other sons have bowed heads and praying hands to indicate they were
deceased: William (d.1579), Marshal of Berwick, Sir John (?1547-1597), a
celebrated military commander, Henry (1554-99), Maximilian (d.1593) and Sir
Thomas (1556-99) who were all soldiers. The carved shield on the top section of
the monument includes the coat of arms of Norris of Rycote, supported by two
monkeys. The square pedestal depicts military scenes and is surmounted by a
small statue of Fame.
This description and the unbelievably poor lo resolution photograph lifted from the Westminster Abbey website
see - http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/henry,-lord-norris
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An early 19th Century aquatint of the Norris Monument by Isaac James
Another Aquatint of the Norris Monument
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When I saw it 40 years ago, there was no public access but one of the guides let me look at it. It was being used as broom cupboard.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it still is?