Relhan Collection : 334 Wimpole church. Monument of Sir Thomas Chicheley

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>Sir Thomas Chicheley (1578-1616) inherited the Wimpole estate from his father, Thomas Chicheley, in 1592 and left it to his son, also Thomas. He became MP for Hunts 1601 but 1601-3 was travelling in France. In1614 he won an election as MP for Cambridge with his brother-in-law the 5th Sir John Cutts of Childerley (<b>127</b>), in opposition to Sir John Cotton of Madingley and Sir John Cage of Longstowe (<b>252</b>). Wimpole church unsuprisingly contains a magnificent group of memorials, with an impressive one for Thomas Chicheley and family. This was rather awkwardly moved into the N chapel when the chapel was restored in 1732 and was originally a 2-stage altar tomb, of alabaster and black marble, with inscription panels and a small shield of arms. Chicheley is in armour, lies recumbent with a sheathed sword but no helmet, a mastiff with its bone at his feet and his bare head resting on a black cushion with gold embroidery and tassels. Beneath are 3 small kneeling figures, for his wife Dorothy (d. 1644) and their adult children Thomas and Jane. The son Thomas inherited Wimpole while a baby, so Dorothy ran the estate until he came of age in 1635. He was a prominent Royalist which cost the estate heavily in contributions for Charles I and then fines under the Commonwealth, and sold Wimpole to Sir John Cutler, a wealthy banker, in 1693. His son Henry, perhaps the swaddled baby shown on the tomb, had died 1652, and would have been a late addition to the tomb.</p><p>Bingley and Cockerill 2006; Thrush and Ferris 2010; RCHME 1968; VCH 1973 </p></p>