CROSS-LEGGED EFFIGIES IN DORSET. 15 



Under a small recessed arch at the east end of the south wall 

 of the nave of Mappowder Church is a diminutive cross-legged 

 effigy about zft. long. The little figure is in a hooded coif mail, 

 with surcoat, sword, and shield. The hands are in the attitude 

 of holding a heart against the breast. 



This monument is popularly known as a " heart " shrine, 

 which is stated by tradition to be the burial place of a heart, the 

 body having been buried elsewhere. The workmanship is not of 

 a high order ; the details of the mail and costume are lacking in 

 finish, and the figure has the appearance of having been roughly 

 hewn out of a block of stone, probably by a local mason. 

 Hutchins gives the following account of this effigy, Vol. II., 

 p. 26q : " In a nich in the upper end of the south wall is a 

 small effigy of a person in stone, scarce 2ft. long, lying on his 

 back in armour, with a shield and sword, his hands elevated in a 

 praying posture, his head on a cushion, and a dog supporting 

 his feet, but no arms or inscription. It seems to have been 

 some favourite infant of this (Coker) family, placed here by a 

 fond mother. There is one of the same kind to the same family 

 at Frampton." 



The effigy at Piddletown rests on the floor in a corner of the 

 Athelhampton Chapel, and the columns supporting another 

 monument are placed on the slab of this effigy, making it 

 impossible to obtain a view of it except from the end. There is 

 no record or tradition of any kind to assist in the identification 

 of this effigy. 



The effigies at Dorchester and Trent are separated by many 

 years from those just dealt with, and we jump at one bound from 

 the end of the XHIth to the end of the XlVth century, with no 

 examples in the county of the gradual transition from the pure 

 mail to the full panoply of plate armour, until we reach the final 

 stage of such transition in these three effigies. 



To follow in detail all the stages of this transitional period is 

 impossible here, and involves a corresponding study of contem- 

 porary weapons both of offence and of defence. As the former 

 became improved so the need for more complete and solid 



