4 
effigies. It seems probable, too, that although other Nanfans held the manor, 
this was the first who really lived at Birtsmorton Court. The ‘‘Oumphrey Arun- 
del,” ‘Lord John Arundel, Bishop of Chester,” and ‘‘Dame Elizabeth Lygon,” an 
ancestress of the Beauchamps of Madresfield, were, I suppose, relations and connec- 
tions of the Nanfan family ; but that the tomb was not erected until the time of 
Henry VII. is certain from the effigies of Richard Nanfan, who was his esquire. I 
like to think that this tomb was erected through the gratitude of the great Cardinal 
Wolsey to the memory of his early friend and patron, John Nanfan, who pre- 
sented Master Thomas Pechye to the living, a.D. 1510. With respect to the 
armorial quarterings upon the panels, it is the opinion of those versed in heraldy 
that some of the devices are as old as the Wars of the Roses, that these were ad- 
ded to by the Nanfans in the days of Henry VII., and that in the time of Queen 
Anne the Earl of Bellomont made one or two additions. In the time of Charles I. 
“the Bloody Meadow duel” was fought between Sir Giles Nanfan and the 
lover of his sister Bridget. The lover was buried in the Berrow Churchyard, and 
Bridget left the ‘‘ Bloody Meadow” by will to the poor of Berrow, and devoted a 
sum to the payment of a minister to deliver a sermon against the sin of duelling. 
I may here mention that many years ago I went with Sir William Guise to ex- 
amine the parish registers respecting the name and date of the burial of Bridget’s 
lover. We found the entry, and made a copy, which I regret to say I have mis- 
laid. Some time ago Sir William went with me to examine the register a second 
time, but we were informed that the register book ‘‘ was Jost,” and Mr, Harkness, 
the former incumbent, does not remember ever to have seen it. The book 
certainly disappeared between the incumbency of the Rev. James Hughes and 
that of Mr. Harkness. Inquiries should be made everywhere respecting this 
abstraction. 
Bridges Nanfan, the last male heir of the direct line, died in 1704, and his 
only daughter, Catherine, married Richard Coote, Earl of Bellomont, who died 
in 1700. This lady distinguished herself by marrying four husbands, the last she 
married at the age of 72. Neither of the Earls of Bellomont distinguished him- 
self in anyway whatever ; but the English stateman, William Huskinson, was 
born at Birtsmorton Court, and his father was churchwarden in 1797. In the 
church there is a fine monument to Rear-Admiral Caldwall, the second husband 
of Catherine Nanfan. 
This paper, on the ancient home of Rosamond and Sire Hildebrand, was 
listened to with the most wrapt attention, and the party again started to find 
another delightful object of interest in ‘‘ Payne’s Place,” Bushley, where the Rev. 
E. R. Dowdeswell met the clubs, and very kindly explained the curious features 
of the farm house, which has long formed a portion of the estate of his ancestors. 
At the close of the battle of Tewkesbury, Margaret, seeing her gallant son a 
prisoner, her troops slain or dispersed, all hope gone, committed herself to the 
care of two poor monks belonging to some small religious house in the neighbour- 
hood. There was no bridge then, but the guides knew well the ford which ex- 
isted at the Lower Lode, and safely conducted her to Bushley, which then owned 
