232 The Churches of Devizes. 



Registers. — These commence in October, 1559 ; but the whole 

 series are not the originals, some of them, prior to the year 1605, 

 being copies made at that date by the then rector, John Davis. 



Monumental Brasses. — There are two in the south-east chapel ; 

 on one of them are engraved figures, each about twenty inches in 

 length, representing John Kent, Esq. (who died in 1630) and his 

 wife; 1 the former in a robe, the latter in the female costume of 

 the period. The figures are slightly turned towards each other. 

 Above them on a shield are the arms of Kent — a lion passant — ; 

 a chief ermine. Crest, a lion's head erased erm : collared, lined, 

 and ringed. Beneath is the following inscription : — 



" Hie, svb eodem tristi Marmoris spectacvlo sepvltvm jaeet eorpvs Johanis Kent 

 Senioris Doctissimi viri, Grenerosi, nvper defvneti, cvivs absentiam satis deplorent ? 

 qvemq cassvm lvmine non immerito lvgeant Oppidani; Dvm vixerit, illi tarn 

 fervens in Devm existebat Pietas vt inde placida ipsivs conseientiae, tranqvil- 

 litate acqyisita terra ipso se frvitvrvm esse cselo diceretvr, Tanta in singvlos a 

 svmmis ad imos amicitia vt inter adhvc ignotos in hoc oppidvm admiranda 

 beneficia, immortalitatis seterna erexisse trophsea videantvr. Vivet in seternum 

 ivstorum memoria. Obijt A 0 - setatis 72 primo die Octobris A°- Dni. 1630. 



Vita probum, pietas Sanctum, finisq beatum 



Te eensent, vitse fama perennis erit. 

 Nee tantum pietatis honos neq finis Olimpo 



Fulgeat hie landis non moritura dies 

 Solo deo mini sola sains." 



John Kent was in 1628 town-clerk and mayor of Devizes, he 

 also represented the Borough in several parliaments during the 

 reigns of Elizabeth and James I. In the register of his burial, he 

 is described as "Justice of the Borough. 55 



The other brass has been executed (since the modern "revival 55 ) 

 by the Messrs. "Waller, and commemorates Mary, wife of the Rev. 

 William Maskell, of Broadleaze, who died in 1847. It consists of 

 a cross fleury, raised on five steps, with the Sacred monogram on 

 a medallion at the intersection; at the four corners of the slab, 

 which is of Purbeck marble, are the Evangelistic symbols, and 



1 This brass, although a very late example, is somewhat interesting, as clearly 

 showing the temporary revival of church art, which took place just before the 

 Great Rebellion. 



