o6 THE CHURCH OF NORBURV. 



where it formerly stood for a long time. Its original position 

 cannot be known, for it is older than any part of the present 

 fabric. The figure, which is of a hard stone, and in fairly good 

 preservation, represents a knight clad in chain armour, with a 

 hood of the same on his head, whilst over the armour is a 

 surcoat. The right hand is on the hilt of the sword, and on 

 the left arm is a shield. This is the monument of Sir Henry 

 Fitzherbert, fifth lord of Norbury. He came into his inheri- 

 tance in 1267; the exact year of his death is not known, but 

 he was living in 1310. He rebuilt the manor house at the 

 beginning of the fourteenth century, and to him was probably 

 due the gallery that led into the church. 



There are but few parish churches in England that possess 

 two such beautiful effigy-bearing table-tombs of the fifteenth 

 century as those of the tenth and eleventh lords of Norbury. 

 The tomb of Nicholas Fitzherbert* (1473) bears his knightly 

 effigy delicately carved in alabaster, in plate armour of the 

 period. His head, with short-cut, straight hair, rests on a helmet 

 surmounted by the crest of a clenched gauntleted hand. Round 

 the neck is the collar of suns and roses, with a lion pendant, 

 which was the badge of Edward IV. There are not many 

 effigies extant wearing this collar ; Derbyshire, however, has 

 another example, which occurs on the brass to Roger Bothe 

 (1476), in Sawley church. Roger was brother-in-law to Nicholas 

 of this monument. The long sword rests by the knight's left side, 

 and of all the beautifully finished details of the monument none 

 show more care than the iiarticulars of the sword belt. There 

 can be little doubt that such effigies as this were not only 

 designed by the sculptor as portraits, but that the actual armour 

 and ornaments were faithfully copied from those worn by the 

 deceased. The feet rest upon a lion, with the curious addition 

 of a minute angel on the lion's back supporting the tip of the 

 right foot. The east end of the tomb is blank, and was 

 probably so originally as a necessity of its position. At the 

 west end are two female figures, which were certainly intended 



* Styled in error Sir Nicholas in Churches of Derbyshire. 



