Relhan Collection : 230 Isleham church. Monument of knight with feet on bear

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>1833</p><p>See (<b>349</b>)</p><p>The worn stone effigy of a knight, his feet under an ogee arch and resting on a bear, the Bernards’ symbol, has been moved to the S chapel. The figure is now worn and battered, missing the left arm from elbow to wrist, and has lost all colour. The arch is small and covers only the feet not the figure (the figure has been moved around in the church) and the much-defaced bear supporting the feet abuts the wall. Roger Bernard held Isleham lands from the late C13, his son Sir Gilbert Bernard was active in County business, acquired confiscated Templar land in Isleham and was still buying land here in 1360. When his son William  died  1380 the estate was split, but his part of the estate passed to his elder son Sir Robert Bernard, who died c. 1434. As the armour and dress are dated between c. 1405-1440s Robert is most likely to be the knight buried here. He isdepicted wearing plate armour, with a beard and pageboy haircut, wears a chaplet, and his head rests on a highly decorated helmet, his hands in be-ringed gauntlets are in prayer, bosses on his belt are decorated with (once) coloured flowers and the belt had held a sword and dagger, now broken off. His feet on the small bear are armoured. He is unusual in being made by a master carver serving elite clients near the Totternhoe quarries in Bedfordshire, and only occasionally further afield. In this case he seems to have used the local clunch. The effigy is paralled by the one to Thomas Pever at Toddington, Beds, (d. 1429, his armour dated 1410-15). Layer describes ‘<i>an ancient cumbent monument, without any inscription; his feet are in a Gothic arch. About this tomb there is neither inscription nor arms the gauntlet is ornamented after a very particular fashion, with many rings and jewels on each finger. The head also seems to have been encircled by a chaplet... and the faces to have been much hacked and hewed about by the godly party who hate graven images’</i>.He is one of 3 similar stone effigies in the church, another being for Sir Robert de Walkefare (349).  </p><p>Bradley and Pevsner 2014; Palmer 1932; Saul 2019</p></p>