Relhan Collection : 240 Landwade church. Monument, with recumbent effigies, of Sir John Cotton d. 1593 and Dame Isabell his wife d. 1578

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>The N chapel contains the six-poster monument of Sir John Cotton (d. 1593) with reclining figures and heavy strapwork along the top. Cole writes ‘<i>under the canopy are 2 marble squares with the following inscriptions... Sir John Cotton, Knighte, son of Sr Roberte Cotton Knighte, and also the bodie of Dame Isabell, wife of the saide Sr John Cotton, and daughter of Sr William Spencer, Knighte’</i>. ...Sir John died 1593 age 81, and Dame Isabelle in 1578 age 63. They had 6 sons, of whom 3 survived them, and 3 daughters who all survived and had married by 1593. Sir John Cotton succeeded in an aggressive claim to Landwade and Exning manors in the 1520s from a young nephew, and remained in possession until he was succeeded by his son, another Sir John (d. 1620). There followed 7 more generations, mostly commemorated here with monumental tombs, along with other family members. Admiral Sir Charles Cotton is here, although his monument is in Madingley (257). Some tombs have been coloured again in modern times, and they fill the chancel of this small church, a stunning collection. The couple are shown lying stiffly in prayer. His bare head rests on a helmet and he is in military dress, she has a much-layered dress with a chatelaine hanging from her waist. Both wear ruffs and stout shoes and there is a small dog at his feet. The figures still lie in an original iron-fenced grave and are in good condition, for St Nicholas’ church has been little disturbed since its days as a private chapel for nearby Landwade Manor (242). There are several other handsome Cotton memorials in the church.</p><p>Palmer 1932; VCH 2002; Wilson J 2014</p></p>