Relhan Collection : 330 Westley Waterless church. Brass of Sir John de Creke and wife Alyne

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>Lysons 1808 </p><p>Drawn by S Lysons, copied by Relhan</p><p>The Westley Waterless brass, described as ‘<i>one of the finest medieval funerary monuments in the country</i>’ by Kinsey, depicts two graceful figures beneath an ornate double canopy. Layer had recognised Sir John de Creke and Alyne, both in a praying posture ‘<i>upon a fair marble stone in brass’</i> and Cole in 1752 records that under the upper S window of S aisle, covered by a pew but just visible, were fragments of a brass to a man and woman. This brass seems to be in a better state when drawn by Samuel Lysons, and this drawing has been copied by Relhan from his engraving. The estate of Westley had been purchased by Walter, Sir John’s father, in the mid C13 and passed in 1353 from a later John de Creke to his niece Joan and her husband Sir Edmund Vauncey (<b>352</b>). Sir John de Creke was Sheriff of Cambs and Hunts, holder of important Crown offices, including Constable of Cambridge Castle where he had to supervise repairs, and was involved in military campaigns (but complaining he was ‘<i>too old and infirm’</i> in 1322) and he is therefore entitled to wear full armour. He is shown holding a small shield with the Creke arms and his armour-clad feet with rowelled spurs rest on a lion. He wears a padded jacket, coat of mail, and a surcoat. His legs and knees have mail chausses and plate armour and his shoulder-caps bear royal lion-leopard head designs. He has a dagger and sword with a belt decorated with flowers. Alyne wears a wimple and long gown under another gown, with a mantle tied across her chest and a lively spaniel at her feet. There is a maker’s mark on Alyne’s dress, and indents for 3 small shields survive. However, neither figure is dressed in the style of their own age but of the 1340s for, it is argued (Kinsey), the brass was essentially a statement of his sons’ aspirations. All 3 sons, especially the oldest, Sir Walter de Creke (d. 1352) had served Edward III well, including in his Scottish campaigns, and became accepted in aristocratic circles. It seems<i></i>therefore that the brass was commissioned by the family in the mid 1340s to celebrate a humble family’s rise to royal service. For this to be complete there was considerable rebuilding works needed in the church to create a suitable commemorative scheme, which meant a long wait before the brass could be commissioned from a London workshop and be completed with high-class workmanship. The brass, along with Trumpington (<b>330</b>), is a rare pre-Black Death brass in Cambs and an early example of a married couple. Alyne had died by 1325, John in1328 or 1329. His second wife, Joan Breton, and 5 children survived him.</p><p>Heseltine 1981; Kinsey 2020; Lysons 1808; Palmer 1932; Rogers in Hicks 1997</p></p>