Relhan Collection : 284 Sawston, church. Altar tomb to John Huddleston (d.1530) or Sir John Huddleston (d.1557)

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>Relhan shows a large brass on the tomb-chest inscribed ‘Here lyeth entombed the body of Sir Iohn Huddelston knight 1557’, but this looks his own labelling and there is no certainty about which Sir John , father or son, is commemorated. The Pyratts and Dernford manors were brought to the Huddlestons of Millom (Cumbria) by the marriage of William Huddleston to Isabel Neville in the C15. Their son John, inheriting 1516, may be the subject of this monument, or alternatively it was his son John (d.1557). The association of the family as principal landowner in the parish lasted nearly 500 years. Sir John (1499-1557) is best known as the devout Catholic who helped Queen Mary I when she claimed the throne which had been usurped by Lady Jane Grey. At this dangerous time Mary stayed overnight at Sawston Hall, pursued by the Duke of Northumberland. In appreciation, she granted stone from the semi-ruinous Cambridge Castle (<b>71</b> and others). Other rewards included a knighthood, the manor of Great Wilbraham and positions as a privy councillor, Captain of Philip of Spain’s Guard in England, and Vice-chamberlain. He held land in other counties and served as a JP and sheriff of Cambs under Edward VI. He married Bridget, daughter of Sir Robert Cotton of Landwade, who faced difficulties as a Catholic after her husband died. Relhan’s drawing shows a handsome pedimented altar tomb, with a brass on which was inscribed Huddleston’s offices of state, transcribed by Cole, with a canopied recess in which are two shields and an inscribed brass plate. A lengthy contemporary account of his lavish funeral and grave was transcribed by Layer. While Cole was waiting for his dinner in 1757 he had ‘<i>a peep into the church’</i>, which he described as ‘<i>very handsome and spacious’</i> but with a dilapidated N chapel, and the altar of Sir John Huddleston (<b>283</b>), which was awkwardly placed between rails, next to the altar. In 1767 when the family was at mass he visited the church again, making a drawing of it and noting that the dilapidated N chapel had been pulled down for stone to mend highways. Later on, Thomas Kerrich, another friend of Richard Huddleston, studied and transcribed documents here, making especially detailed descriptions of the church which were published in the Gentleman’s Magazine 1815. In 1929 the inscription remained but the altar tomb was gone, restorations of the church 1870-80 and 1900 being blamed for this loss. The monument has now been reconstructed, apparently using a tomb chest with quatrefoils in place of the cross-hatched red panels Relhan shows, losing the brasses that Cole transcribed, and having a black slab for Elizabeth de la Pole d. 1423, whose monument originally occupied this space next to the altar, on top of the tomb. Is this a C19/20 attempt to reconstruct whatever pieces could be found? The helmet noted in <b>283</b> can be seen on this modern photograph.</p><p>Bradley and Pevsner 2014; Kerrich 1815; Palmer 1932; Teversham 1943; VCH 1978</p></p>