MONUMENTAL EFFIGIES 



Sir Philip de Gayton, died 1316, and 

 EsCHOLACE his wife, living 1284. Gayton. 



The wooden effigy of Sir Philip de Gayton 

 lies under an open ogeed arch in the wall 

 that separates the chancel from the chapel, on 

 a high tomb of which the sides are divided by 

 panelled shafts with crocketed finials into 

 twelve niches with ogeed and cusped canopies 

 of very good design. The knight is shown 

 in the well-known military costume of the 

 thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, 

 consisting of hood, hauberk, genouilleres, 

 chausses, spurs, surcote, sword-belt, sword 

 and cingulum, with the head resting upon the 

 usual two pillows, and the feet upon a smooth 

 and sleek animal. It is apparent that a shield, 

 doubtless charged with the De Gayton arms, 

 was originally borne on the left arm. The 

 whole monument, including the effigy, which 

 had fallen into some decay, was ' restored ' in 

 1830. 



He was one of the representatives for the 

 county in 1300, and married a lady of whom 

 nothing further is known than that she had 

 a daughter Juliane, married to Thomas de 

 Murdak, and bore the unusual name of 

 Escholace, and was living in 1284. Her 

 graceful freestone effigy lies under a richly 

 moulded pointed arch in the north wall of 

 the chapel. The lady is shown wearing a 

 long loose gown, low in the neck, with tight 

 sleeves fastened with eleven very small buttons 

 at the wrist, very exasperating to do up. 

 Over this garment a mantle is shown gathered 

 under the left arm in the common fashion of 

 effigies of the period, and fastened by a cord 

 held in the left hand. This is the usual 

 attitude with effigies of ladies at this time, and 

 Queen Eleanor is so shown in her statue at 

 Westminster. The face of Escholace has 

 been rechiseled in modern times. She wears 

 one of the numerous varieties of head-dresses, 

 consisting simply of a coverchief flowing to 



or silvered, and which he desired, as the medieval 

 artists always did, to break up by slightly raised 

 work in order to supply value and ornamental 

 importance to the gold or silver. The gesso he 

 impressed before it hardened with matrices or 

 stamps of various patterns — mail of different sizes 

 being among them — certain liney marks showing 

 the removal of the mould as the operator proceeded 

 with his work. As to the surfices to be gilded, 

 there were many processes. They were usually 

 first treated with bole Armenian, to give depth 

 and richness to the gold leaf, which was much 

 thicker than that of the present day — often, in 

 early times, beaten out of specially supplied gleam- 

 ing bezants from the East — and, as well as the 

 silver, applied with white of egg, left dead, or 

 burnished with an agate, the detit de knp of the 

 Frenchman. 



the shoulders over small pads at the sides of 

 the temples, and confined round the head by 

 two jewelled circlets. She has no wimple 

 and in this respect also her dress resembles the 

 effigy of the queen, as well as all the figures 

 on the crosses at Northampton, Geddington 

 and Waltham. 



Sir Walter Trevlli, died 1290, and 

 Eleanor his wife, died 131 6. Woodford. 



The wooden effigy of Sir Walter Treylli 

 lies together with that of his wife on an altar- 

 tomb in the line of the north arcade of the 

 nave, both figures being carved with consider- 

 able art. The knight is represented in a 

 round headpiece covering the mail hood or 

 possibly attached to it, a short surcote, mail 

 hauberk and chausses, and poleyns of plate, 

 the precursors of the more shapely genouil- 

 leres. He bears a shield on his left arm origin- 

 ally charged with the coat of Treylli. The 

 hands are in prayer and the sword is suspended 

 from the belt by two lockets in accordance 

 with the new fashion then coming in. The 

 feet rest upon a lion and the head upon the 

 usual double pillows. The absence of spurs 

 is very unusual, perhaps unique, and may be 

 attributed to an oversight, unless real spurs 

 were attached. The whole figure has been 

 painted and decorated, according to the in- 

 variable practice with wooden effigies, but 

 nearly every trace of this treatment has 

 perished. It is evident that it is a memorial 

 of about the middle of the first quarter of the 

 fourteenth century and it was no doubt set 

 up shortly before or at the death of Eleanor 

 relict of Sir Walter Treylli in 13 16. 



The figure of Eleanor Treylli is well 

 proportioned. She wears a tight-sleeved and 

 long gown of which the full skirt is gathered 

 up under the left arm in the usual way, fall- 

 ing in voluminous and graceful folds. Over 

 this is worn a mantle ; a deep wimple is 



The painting upon stone and wooden effigies — 

 for the process was the same in both cases — was 

 of course done in distemper {tempera), and finally 

 covered with a coat of plain or tinted oleaginous 

 varnish, a very necessary but not sufficient pro- 

 tection. The failure of the painting upon wooden 

 effigies is attributable to constant changes of 

 temperature, causing the contraction and expan- 

 sion of the wood, and the consequent breaking 

 up or ' fretting ' of the surface. Age, damp and 

 neglect have accelerated the ruin of stone and 

 wooden figures alike, and this h,is been completed 

 by the periodical scrubbing? with soap and water 

 and soda by relentless parish clerks. Thus it is 

 that the effigy of Dame Treylli at Woodford 

 retains traces only of its ancient splendour ; all 

 the rest of these interesting memorials in the 

 county are melancholy wrecks. 



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