Gonalston St Laurence

Monuments and Memorials

Wall Monuments inside the Church

Memorial to Francis Henry Paley, Rector

An inset memorial tablet to the memory of a former rector is located on the south wall of the chancel. It is of limestone and has a stylised rose in each corner.

IN MEMORY OF
FRANCIS HENRY PALEY M·A
BORN AUG: 4.1826,
DIED MAY 10.1909.
RECTOR OF THIS PARISH,
1889-1907.

Memorial to Commander Philip Francklin

A plain stone tablet set with a gold medallion is located on the south wall of the nave commemorating Commander Francklin, formally head of Gonalston’s leading family.

TO
THE MEMORY OF
COMMANDER
PHILIP FRANCKLIN DSC
ROYAL NAVY

15TH JANUARY 1913
25TH SEPTEMBER 1999

LORD LIEUTENANT OF
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
1972 - 1983

SAILOR, AIRMAN,

COUNTRYMAN

HONOURED & GREATLY LOVED

STEADFAST, FEARLESS AND TRUE

Stone burial markers within the church

North side of chancel

Partially covered by choir stalls

HERE LIETH THE BODY OF
WILLIAM CLARKE
RECTOR OF
GONALSTON
DIED MARCH 5TH
1808
IN THE 55TH YEAR
OF HIS AGE

In the Sanctuary

HERE LIETH THE
BODY OF
THOMAS SILVERWOOD
HE DIED
1691

HERE LIETH THE
BODY OF
------
------
JOANNE HIS WIFE

MARY PATTERSON

The later two are very worn. It is not known if these burials remain in-situ.

Effigies

The three effigies

Detail of one of
the effigies
Effigy of medieval knight
by R. Westacott (1849)		 Effigy of medieval lady
by R. Westacott (1849)

In the eastern corner of the north aisle there are three carved stone effigies. Two are of medieval knights, the other a lady possibly of the same period. The effigies are said to be those of John de Heriz 1229, John de Heriz 1329 and Lady Matilda de Heriz, the last of the de Heriz line.

These monuments were removed from their original positions within the church during the 1792 diminution of the church and placed beneath the wooden floor of the nave, where they remained until 1849 when the Victorian sculptor and artist Richard Westmacott RA retrieved them.

There are also rather imaginative drawings of the effigies from 1676 by Richard Hall (engraved by Wenceslaus Hollar) in Robert Thoroton's The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire published in 1677.

Medieval Cross Slab

A fragment of a medieval cross slab has been re-used as the sill of the piscina in the south wall of the chancel. See the Archaeology page for further details.

Exterior

On the exterior of the South wall of the nave is a memorial tablet

SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
MARY THE WIFE OF
THE REVD SAMUEL OLDACRES
SHE DIED LAMENTED
OCTOBER 2D. 1821
AGED 51 YEARS

Other Item

There is also a window with a dedication plate commemorating a member of the Francklin family.