East Grinstead Online
St Swithun’s Church
The Monument to Dame Katherine Grey
This monument, to Dame Katherine Grey,
who died in 1505, is the only surviving medieval
monumental brass in St Swithun’s church. At
first glance, it is disappointing, but it has a story.
People often ask if this lady has anything to
do with Lady Jane Grey, or if Dame Katherine
served Queen Elizabeth I. The answer is No, to
both. This is not Katherine, younger sister of
Lady Jane Grey, born in 1540. The Katherine
Grey connected with St Swithun’s church served
the grandmother and great grandmother of
Queen Elizabeth I.
The monument contains fragments of what was a large, impressive tomb with 3 coats
of arms, originally in prime position up by the altar. The church tower fell in 1785, causing
great destruction. Mr Thomas Wakeham rescued the inscription for Dame Katherine Grey,
the figures of her 2 husbands, and the wrong central figure. He had them mounted on a
platform and added his own marble monument, complete with Latin inscription. We can
discount the central figure, which is of an unknown male civilian, and has been dated
1520. (A lady would usually be shown with an elaborate headdress).
The figures of the 2 knights are not of the highest quality – one has no fingernails, but
they represent Katherine’s 2 husbands, Sir Thomas Grey, knight and banneret, and
Richard Lewkenor, esquire. Grey, on the left as you view the monument, has spurs,
Lewkenor, on the right, has none.
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The inscription is written in quirky
English. It is significant that it was written in
English, not Latin, in 1505, well before the
Reformation.
'Here under this marbille stone lieth
Dame Katherine Grey, daughter of Thomas
sometyme lord Scales [the word penetrated by screw holes] wyff to Sir Thomas Grey
Knight and banneret and after wyff unto the honourable Richard Lewkenor thelde at Brambletey and one of the ladies to queen Elizabeth wyff of blessed memory Edward the iiii and
afterward to quene Elizabeth wyff unto our soffereyne lord Henry the viith the wheche
passed owte of this transitory worlde the 18th day of June the year of owre lorde god
MCCCCCV and the same Dame Katherine and Richard her husband yane founded indoed
and inorned the present church of Estgrenestede to the laude and honour of god in diverse
[blank space]
and ornamentes and alms howse of 3 poor men, 4 whose sowles jhu for
thy utter passion yeve upon them they merciful compassyon Amen.'
Roughly translated, this means:
Here under this marble stone lies Dame Katherine Grey, daughter of Thomas, the
late Lord Scales. She married Sir Thomas Grey, knight and banneret, then Richard
Lewkenor the elder, of Brambletye. She was one of the ladies-in-waiting to Queen
Elizabeth (Woodville), wife of blessed memory to Edward IV, and afterwards to Queen
Elizabeth (of York) wife to our Sovereign Lord, Henry VII. She passed out of this transitory
world on 18 June 1505. Dame Katherine and her husband Richard were benefactors of
East Grinstead church, endowing and ornamenting it, to the laud and honour of God. They
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also endowed an almshouse for 3 poor men. Jesus, from your utter passion, have mercy
upon their souls, Amen.
She claimed to be the daughter of Thomas, Lord Scales. He was killed in the ‘Wars
of the Roses’ in 1460. She did not inherit his title, so she was probably illegitimate.
Whether she had contact with her father, who her mother was, and her birth date are
unknown to us. She may have been alive by 1436, because of a bequest to ‘Katherine,
daughter of Lord Scales’ including 'a best goblet and cover silver and gilt, a silver pot, a
best bed with sheets and all its furniture’ and a primer, or mass book. So she may have
lived from before 1436 to 1505, which
is a long life for the times.
We do not know who the alleged
first husband, Sir Thomas Grey, knight
and banneret was. A Sir Thomas Grey
was married to someone else. It is
possible that the monument makers, or
Katherine’s executors, were mistaken, and that she outlived those who knew of her early
life.
Katherine’s second husband, Richard Lewkenor, acquired Brambletye from his first wife.
This was not the 17th century ruin that we can see from the lane today, just off the Forest
Way, but an earlier building, to the west. Now Dame Katherine’s Brambletye is just a
wooded clump and earthworks in the field.
Katherine’s inscription boasts that she served 2 Queens, Elizabeth Woodville (c.
1437-1492), wife of King Edward IV, and Elizabeth of York (c.1466-1503), wife of Henry
VII. There is no mention of service to Henry VI’s Queen Margaret, nor to Queen Anne,
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Queen of Richard III. Possibly it was dangerous to mention service to the court of Richard
III during the reign of Henry VII. Elizabeth Woodville's first husband was Sir John Grey, so
she and Katherine may have been kinswomen, if Katherine also married a Grey. It is
interesting that Katherine served Elizabeth Woodville and that Queen’s daughter, Elizabeth
of York.
Katherine requested burial in front of a statue of Our Lady in the chancel of the north
aisle of the parish church of ‘Estgrenested’. She specified 'my
pikture in a wynyng sheet' (winding sheet or shroud) between
her two husbands. This shows humility, yet she also wanted her
executors to provide an inscription 'shewyng what I was' with
'piktures of my two husbandes aftir their honour', with their escutcheons or coats of arms and hers, so she intended their status to be displayed on the monument. Katherine’s executors
patronised a London monumental workshop, identified as Workshop ‘G’ by Miss Rosalind Willats.
Her executors may not have depicted her in a winding sheet,
because an eighteenth-century antiquary, Sir William Burrell,
who visited shortly before the tower fell, made no mention of
such an image. He described a monument of grey Sussex marble in the North aisle, the
effigy of a woman between two men, with the arms of Grey over the man on her right, of
Lewkenor over the man on her left, and of Scales over the woman. There was clearly still
an impressive memorial to Katherine in the church, before the tower fell. Unfortunately for
us, he did not draw what he saw.
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Katherine and her second
husband were generous patrons of
the church in East Grinstead, contributing to rebuilding and decoration, according to the inscription.
She bequeathed gifts to the church
'to honour God'. A basin and silver
ewer were to be made into a cross, and her gowns of silk with furs made into vestments for
the church. These gifts show care for the church and its liturgy, and their use would ensure
remembrance and prayers for Katherine's soul. She asked that if the parish could not 'doo
the coste' of making a cross, her executors should dispose of the silver ewer and basin 'in
other almes deedes for the well of my soule by their discrecioun'. Katherine's second husband, Lewkenor, had already founded a chantry dedicated to St Mary in the church, endowed with three farms, 'Boylys', 'Harwards' and 'Brockhurst', to pay a priest to sing masses for the soul of Lewkenor and others.
Katherine left 6s. 8d. to Chichester cathedral, and 13s. 4d. to the parish church for
any unpaid tithes. She asked her executors to commission her tomb and choose suitable
scripture. One executor was Dr Thomas Brente, to whom she left 'my best vestment, a
masbooke’ and a chalice. He also served Queen Elizabeth Woodville and was a chaplain
to Henry VII. This shows Katherine’s court connections and that she had some trusted
clergymen around her.
Katherine also wanted prayers from the poor, because the prayers of the poor,
thought to be closer to God, were considered more powerful. Alms deeds were an important part of funeral arrangements for the wealthy. Katherine prescribed five marks to be
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given to poor people at her burying and at monthly anniversaries of her death. Today, a list
of benefactors, under the organ loft, lists Lewkenor and Katherine who 'gave certain almshouses adjoining East Grinstead common for the use of poor persons', in 1505. In her will,
she asked her executors to attend to the almshouse specified in her husband's will, to find
the land for it and 3 poor men.We do not know whether this almshouse was ever established, but Katherine and her husband hoped for the prayers of poor men.
Katherine bequeathed gifts to her ladies, in return for their prayers. They were to receive their wages, further sums, and such horses and
harness as she had, and 20s. upon marriage. She wanted prayers from her household. There is no mention of
any children of Katherine with either husband.
Dame Katherine Grey is an enigma, whose origins
and early life seem to be lost in the mists of time. She
wanted prayers from those close to her and to be shown
in her shroud, to help the poor and enhance the church,
yet she wanted her high status and court service to be
displayed.
Next time you are in St Swithun’s church, have a look at what is left of Dame Katherine’s monument and perhaps pause to consider the story of its rescue, and Katherine,
herself.
There will be free tours of St Swithun’s church during the May Fair, on Monday, May
4th, at 11am, 1 and 3pm.
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