Tomb of Mary Ellis in St Clement's Church

Summary

A chest tomb dedicated to Mary Ellis in 1609.

Reasons for Designation

The tomb of Mary Ellis, a chest tomb erected in 1609, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* it commemorates Mary Ellis, a woman thought to be 119 years old at the time of her death. This individual memorial to an unmarried woman without children stands as a highly unusual monument in its cultural context.

Architectural interest:

* as an extremely early example of a churchyard memorial;
* for its simple form, accentuated by the local custom of sharpening blades along its edge.

Group value:

* the tomb has group value with the Grade II* listed church of St Clement, and with two nearby tombs dedicated to William Goodlad and Mary Haddock, both of which are also listed at Grade II.

History

Churchyards have been used for burial for many centuries. Medieval churchyard memorials and early post-Reformation outdoor tombs are extremely rare. People of the monument-raising ranks usually opted to be laid to rest inside the church, a situation which only began to change in the later C17. Early Modern outdoor survivals show how the middling orders were beginning to erect quite ambitious tombs which drew on the tradition of internal church monuments.

Little is known about the life of Mary Ellis except from the inscription of the chest tomb dedicated to her memory in this churchyard. It records that she was the daughter of Thomas and Lidia Ellis, that she remained a virgin and was never married. Most surprisingly, she was thought to be 119 years old when she died on 3 June 1609. This exceptional claim cannot be proven by records as births or baptisms were not systematically registered until 1538, 48 years after Ellis' supposed date of birth.

A history of Rochford Hundred, written in 1867, refers to the uneven surface of the slab on top of the tomb: "from the circumstance of its having been devoted to sharpening scythes and knives". It has been locally known as the 'Cutlass Stone' for this reason.

The red brick base of the tomb was restored in the 1970s, with a newly carved plaque fixed to the side as the original inscription was no longer properly legible.

Details

A chest tomb dedicated to Mary Ellis in 1609.

MATERIALS

The tomb comprises a limestone slab on a red brick base laid in English bond.

PLAN

Orientated on an east to west axis. It lies south of the south porch of the church.

DESCRIPTION

The tomb is a simple structure. There are roughly nine courses of English bond brickwork making up the base. The limestone slab is not decorated and has been worn away at its edges, reportedly by the sharpening of blades.

On the north side of the brick base, a plaque has been inserted (in around 1970), reading:

HERE LIES THE BODY OF MARY ELLIS / DAUGHTER OF THOMAS AND LIDIA ELLIS / OF THIS PARISH / SHE WAS A VIRGIN OF VIRTUOUS COURAGE / AND VERY PROMISING HOPE / AND DIED ON THE 3RD OF JUNE 1609 / AGED ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN

Sources

Books and journals
Benton, P, The History of Rochford Hundred, (), 371

Other
Applicant supplied sources

End of official list entry

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