Description

TQ 56 43 BIDBOROUGH HIGH STREET (east side)

11/8 Darnley chest tomb
about 3m north of the
vestry of the Church of
St Lawrence

GV II

Chest tomb. Circa 1803, by Sir Richard Westmacott (Pevsner, 2nd edn., 1976),
restored in 1956 (Skinner). Portland stone.

An elegant sarcophagus raised on stone blocks, the chest with shallow diagonal
reeding and a moulded lid. Scrolls decorate each end of the lid with, in the
centre of each scroll, a finely carved life-size putto head with wings carved
back over the chest and meeting tip to tip. Rectangular inscription panels on
the long sides of the sarcophagus, roundels at each end. The main inscription
commemorates Mary, Countess of Darnley, died 1803. The Dowager Countess of
Darnley lived at Great Bounds (demolished) in Bidborough parish from 1790
until her death. She paid for a west gallery in the church "for the use of
the children of the Sunday School", which survived until the addition of the
south aisle in 1876.

A very high quality churchyard monument.

Newman, John. West Kent and the Weald. Buildings of England series (1976
edn.).

Skinner, F.A., Bidborough, a Parish History (1986 edn.).

Listing NGR: TQ5652043213

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26541016

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)