Group of Three Chest Tombs to William Tipper, John and Sarah Coleman and Arthur Hood; in the Northern Half of St Mary's Churchyard, Poulton, Gloucestershire

Description

POULTON

1064/0/10024 OLD CHURCH LANE
18-AUG-10 GROUP OF THREE CHEST TOMBS TO WILLIAM
TIPPER, JOHN AND SARAH COLEMAN AND ART
HUR HOOD; IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF ST M
ARY'S CHURCHYARD

GV II
A group of three chest tombs, dating from the C18, constructed from local limestone ashlar. The three tombs form a scattered group towards the north of the churchyard.

1. A chest tomb to WILLIAM TIPPER, dating from the earlier C18: constructed from oolitic Cotswold limestone, the monument sits on a moulded plinth and has a flat top with a moulded cornice. The north side has an elaborately-scrolled cartouche with winged putti heads to either side, flanked by festoons of foliage. The inscription is badly weathered. The west end has another scrolled cartouche with the head of a putto, and is inscribed to William Tipper. The south side and east end have plain panels with moulded edges.

2. A chest tomb to JOHN and SARAH COLEMAN, c1771: constructed from oolitic Cotswold limestone, the memorial is set on a simply-moulded base and has a moulded top set on reeded end panels, with rectangular panels to the long sides having moulded edges. The inscription to the east end is largely weathered away, but the names of John and Sarah Coleman and the date of 1771 are discernible.

3. A chest tomb to ARTHUR HOOD, c1734, with another later inscription: constructed from oolitic Cotswold limestone, the tomb is set on a roll-moulded plinth, and has raised and fielded panels to all four sides, topped by a stepped cornice and a long bale-type capstone, depicting a stylised woolsack. The ends of the woolsack are embellished by the head of a putto and an hourglass. The north side has an inscription which includes the name of Arthur Hood and the date of his death, 1734; the remainder of the lettering is badly weathered. The west end is inscribed to Richard Hood, though the rest of the inscription is largely illegible.

HISTORY: The parish of Poulton was an outlying part of Wiltshire until 1844, when it was transferred to Gloucestershire. The parish church of St Michael was in existence from the C12. In 1337, Sir Thomas Seymour, who was then lord of the manor of Poulton, founded and endowed a chantry in the parish church, and in 1348 constructed a chapel for five chaplains. In 1350, an agreement between Seymour and the king saw the majority of the manor and the advowson of Poulton granted to the Priors and Canons of Sempringham (the Gilbertines). They founded the Priory of St Mary, a priory for canons only, adopting the chapel of 1348 as the priory church, dedicated to St Mary. In 1387, the priory took over the earlier chantry in the parish church. In 1389, Alice Seymour was granted licence to remove the remains of her ancestors from the parish church to the priory church, indicating that the parish church may have been going out of use at this time.

There are few records of the priory after this time until the Dissolution. The priory was surrendered by the Bishop of Llandaff, at the time head of the order, and Thomas, Prior of Poulton, on 16 January 1539. The house at this point consisted only of the prior and two canons, each of whom received a pension at the surrender.

The priory church, which remained dedicated to St Mary, was used as the parish church from the Dissolution until it was replaced by a new church, dedicated to St Michael, built further to the north, within the new centre of the village, in 1873. The priory churchyard of St Mary, which contains a large collection of chest tombs and headstones dating from the later C17 to c1873, was left in situ, and a new burial ground created adjacent to the new church. The large number of grave markers and headstones was removed to the edges of the churchyard in the later C20, leaving only the larger tombs in situ.

SOURCES
W R Elliott, 'Chest tombs and 'tea caddies' by Cotswold and Severn' in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Volume 95 (1978), 68-85
A History of the County of Wiltshire (Victoria County History), Volume 3 (1953), 319
D Verey and A Brooks, The Buildings of England Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds (2002), 565

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The three C18 chest tombs to William Tipper, John and Sarah Coleman and Arthur Hood in St Mary's churchyard, are designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Architecture and design: the three tombs are of high quality in design and execution, showing good use of architectural forms, funerary symbolism, carving and inscription
* Historic: an illustration of the wealth of the inhabitants of Poulton in the C18 and C19, and of the continued use of a former Gilbertine priory site, of which this churchyard is the only extant element
* Group value: with each other, and with three other groups of tombs in the same churchyard also listed at Grade II.

Reasons for Listing

The three C18 chest tombs to William Tipper, John and Sarah Coleman and Arthur Hood in St Mary's churchyard are recommended for designation in Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Architecture and design: the three tombs are of high quality in design and execution, showing good use of architectural forms, funerary symbolism, carving and inscription
* Historic: an illustration of the wealth of the inhabitants of Poulton in the C18 and earlier C19, and of the continued use of a former Gilbertine priory site, of which this churchyard is the only extant element
* Group value: with each other, and with three other groups of tombs in the same churchyard also recommended for designation in Grade II

External Links

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.