From Bontell:
Upon this knight's jupon are emblazoned his arms,—argent on a bend, gules, between three cotises, sable, as many pairs of wings, joined in leure, of the field. This brass is now affixed to the wall, and its original inscription is lost: but Gough gives an inscription from a brass at Letheringham which probably belongs to this effigy: it is in these words:—HIC. IACET. DNS. JOHES. DE WYNGEFELD. MILES. QUONDA. DNS. DE LETHERINGM. AN.... There is also in Gough an impression of a shield, bearing WINGFIELD impaling HASTINGS—Sir John having marries Margaret, daughter of Sir Hugh Hastings. This Sir John Wingfield died 1389
Sir John's mother was Margaret, the heiress of the Bovile family, who married Sir Thomas Wingfield. The greater part of the indent of the brass to Sir Thomas and Margaret now lies at the west end of the nave, under the tower opening, while the indent of Sir John's brass is immediately east of it. Although Sir John's wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir Hugh Hastings, is known to have had her own brass, no trace of it is apparent. Sir John outlived his father by eleven years only, during part of which time he was MP for Suffolk.
His son, Sir Robert, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Russell of Strensham in Worcestershire and there is a striking resemblance between the brasses of Sir John Wingfield and of Robert Russell at Strensham, suggesting that the order for one led to the order for the second. As Sir John Russell married Sir John Wingfield's widow Margaret and died at Letheringham in 1405, this would not be not surprising. The brasses both belong to the style known as London A. While the designs are very similar, the execution differs, suggesting that they were engraved by different marblers. On Sir John's figure, the areas beneath his armpits and below his left arm are hatched, as are the areas between his sword and his leg, while on Robert's figure, they are all cut away so that the stone shows through. The area above the lion between Sir John's ankles is also hatched but left plain on Robert's.

(Link)

(Link)

(Link)

(Link)
Sir Robert Russel
1390
Church of St John the Baptist, Strensham, Worcestershire, England

(Link)
Effigy of Robert Russel, son of Thomas Russel, lord of the manor, c1390, in armor
Surrounding the figure is a marginal inscription, part of its fillet lost, but apparently few or none of the words. What remains, in black letter in Latin, reads:
Hic iacet // Robertus Russel filius thome Russel // quonda dns // de Strengsham Cui' anime ppiciet' deus
Translated:
Here lies Robert Russel, son of Thomas Russell, sometime lord of Strengsham, on whose soul may God have mercy
The Russels of Worcestershire have long been associated with Strensham. We first hear of them in 1298-99, when the manor of Rushal was sold by Godfrey de Auno
to James Russel.5 His son Nicholas was a collector of aid for the county in 1322, and in 1337-38, he settled the manor on his heirs by his wife Agnes, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. When Nicholas died c1346, his second son Edmund was already dead, and John, the eldest son, who succeeded, died three years later in 1349 (There is a problem here, for the brass names the father as Thomas, though genealogical tables show no Thomas Russel. Could it be that Nicholas Russel was known as Thomas?). So it was that Robert, the subject of this brass, became lord of the manor.
Of Robert Russel's life, we know relatively little. He married Catherine, the daughter of John Vampage, by whom he had one son, John. In 1353, he was given exemption for life from being put on assizes, juries, etc., against his will. We know he was living as late as 1361, but no later than 1376, for in that year he was succeeded to the estate by his son, Sir John (q.v.).8 The evidence suggests, then, that he died c1375, though his brass is traditionally dated c1390.

(Link)
The church contains an unusual number of interesting monuments, mostly to members of the Russell family. The earliest are two brasses on the chancel floor, one of about 1390 to Robert son of Thomas Russell of Strensham, showing an armed figure in camail with his feet on a lion; the marginal inscription had shields at the angles, all now gone.
Russell of Strensham. Argent a cheveron between three crosslets fitchy sable

(Link)
Strensham Church-Worcestershire-Chancel floor (E end)-brass memorial to Sir Robert Russell (d.1390)-inscription references him as son of Lord of Manor

(Link)
Lower Strensham Worcestershire
1390 Brass effigy of Sir Robert Russell, d.1390 standing on a stone slab with inscription round the edge and shields once in each corner.
He was the 3rd son of Nicholas Russell & Agnes daughter of John Grindon & Blanch de Savoy . His grandfather James Russell had bought the manor in 1298/9 from Godfrey de Auno
He succeeded his eldest brother John in 1349 (his 2nd brother Edmund also having died childless)
He m Katherine 1340 daughter of John Vampage of Pershore & Catherine daughter of William de Wollashal
Children
1. John 1405 Master of the Horse to Richard ll
He probably died pre 1376 when his son John succeeded
- St John the Baptist, Lower Strensham, Worcestershire

(Link)
Sir Edward Cerne
1393
17:14 17.10.2021St James's Church, Draycot Cerne, Wiltshire, England

1393
Edward de Cerne, died 1393 and his second wife Elyne/Ellen de Cerne died 1418, widow of Walter Paveley. Edward's 1st wife was Phillipa. Edward succeeded his brother in 1348 and was knighted in 1378. In 1379 Edward was an assessor of taxes and a collector of taxes in 1382.
The inscription is in Norman French:
Moun Sire Edward Cerne chevalier o Elyne sa femme gist icy: De les queus almes Diex a sa pyte eyt m'ci. Amen
Edward Cerne, knight and Ellen his wife lie here, on whose souls may God have mercy. Amen
Draycott Cerne, St James
Location: Draycott Cerne, Wiltshire, SN15 5LG. The Church is located in the private grounds of Draycott House. Access is permited to the church but the gates are locked roughly outside of 9-5 pm.
History:
The Manor of Draycot was held by the Venoix family who established a church in the late 12th Century. During the 13th Century the manor passed to the Cerne family who held it until 1452. The church is unusual in having a sunken Chancel. The earliest feature in the Chancel is the double piscina, used by the priest to wash his hands as well as wine to be drained away after the service.

Sir Edward and Elyne Cerne
d.1393 and d. 1418 (wife), engraved 1393
Draycot Cerne, Wiltshire
Image size: 21" x 35 1/2"
The upper part of the cushion and the tip of the bascinet (helmet sometimes worn under the great helm) have been restored and the indent in the slab shows that originally his tournament helm and crest were above his head with small shields, presumably of his and his wife’s arms. The French inscription, not reproduced, can be translated: "Monsieur (the normal address for a knight) Edward Cerne, knight, with Elyne his wife, lies here—on whose souls God of his pity have mercy, Amen". In a charming gesture, found on a small number of monuments at this period, husband and wife hold hands.
Standing on a grassy mount, an early example of this convention, which replaced the symbolic beasts by a diminutive Paradise garden, Sir Edward wears a mixed armor of mail and plate. Under the plain jupon (a tight fitting garment covering the breast and back plates), can be seen the mail hauberk (shirt). This is much shorter than in the earlier period when it was the main defensive garment. The sword belt is of hinged plates with decorated panels and has both the misericorde (or dagger) and the sword.
His widow is dressed as a vowess, that is a widow who had taken a vow before the bishop not to remarry, in kirtle (or long gown) mantle, and the barbe (a close fitting veil with a goffered panel under the chin) and veil like a nun. The brass was presumably made soon after the death of Edward for it belongs to a group made at a London workshop between 1385 and 1394.
Sir Edward Cerne succeeded his brother, John de Cerne, in 1348 and was knighted by 1376, acting as an assessor of taxes in 1379 and as collector in 1392. He married twice, first before 1352 and then to Joan but neither the date of his first wife’s death nor of his second marriage is known. He died in 1393, being succeeded by the son of his first marriage, and his widow was allotted her dower in 1394. She appointed a new rector in 1408 to Draycot. She died in 1418

(Link)
Brass of Sir Edward of Cerne and his wife ellen

Artifact Identification Brass Rubbing: Sir Richard and Dennis Attelesee (1982.05.0072)
Artist/Maker Kathleen H. Cairns.
Geographic Location Europe, West; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - England; Kent; Sheldwich
Period/Date Medieval; 1394 CE
Culture British, English
Dimension 1 (Length) 127.0 cm
Dimension 2 (Width) 77.5 cm
Dimension 3 (Depth) 1.0 cm
Bibliography Felgate, T.M. Knights on Suffolk Brasses. East Anglian Magazine Ltd. Ipswich, Sufflok 1976.
Spinke, Winifred. A Memento from Old England. Bury St. Edmunds, n.d.
Bontell, Rev. Charles. Monumental Brasses of England (1849), p. 32.
© 2001-2013 University of Illinois Board of Trustees | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

(Link)
Richard Atteleese
1394
St James' Church, Sheldwich, Kent, England