Listed Building: DARNLEY CHEST TOMB ABOUT 3 METRES NORTH OF THE VESTRY OF THE CHURCH OF ST LAWRENCE (1248828)

Grade II
Authority
Volume/Map/Item 1356, 11, 8
Date assigned 24 August 1990
Date last amended

Description

TQ 56 43 BIDBOROUGH HIGH STREET (east side) 11/8 Darnley chest tomb about 3m north of the vestry of the Church of St Lawrence GV II Chest tomb. Circa 1803, by Sir Richard Westmacott (Pevsner, 2nd edn., 1976), restored in 1956 (Skinner). Portland stone. An elegant sarcophagus raised on stone blocks, the chest with shallow diagonal reeding and a moulded lid. Scrolls decorate each end of the lid with, in the centre of each scroll, a finely carved life-size putto head with wings carved back over the chest and meeting tip to tip. Rectangular inscription panels on the long sides of the sarcophagus, roundels at each end. The main inscription commemorates Mary, Countess of Darnley, died 1803. The Dowager Countess of Darnley lived at Great Bounds (demolished) in Bidborough parish from 1790 until her death. She paid for a west gallery in the church "for the use of the children of the Sunday School", which survived until the addition of the south aisle in 1876. A very high quality churchyard monument. Newman, John. West Kent and the Weald. Buildings of England series (1976 edn.). Skinner, F.A., Bidborough, a Parish History (1986 edn.). Listing NGR: TQ5652043213

External Links (0)

Sources (1)

  • Map: English Heritage. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.

Map

Location

Grid reference TQ 5651 4321 (point)
Map sheet TQ54SE
Civil Parish BIDBOROUGH, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, KENT

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Record last edited

Nov 16 2006 5:21PM