Grove St Helen

Monuments and Memorials

Tower chamber

Hugh Hercy (died 1455) and his wife, Elizabeth (died 1450)

Hercy slab

Detail of slab

Tablet

Sketch of the slab
made in 1796

An alabaster slab to Hugh Hercy and to Elizabeth Hercy was re-sited from the chancel of the old church in 1882 and re-cut in 1932.

Piercy (1828) provides a description of the slab:

'This is an alabaster slab, six feet six inches long, and three feet three inches broad; one of the figures represents a man in armour, on his head a hat and feather, a greyhound at his feet looking up,—the face worn out: at his side a woman,—her face and head-dress very indistinct, on the left side of her head some appearance of a reticulated dress. The crack across the stone is so splintered that whatsoever has been at her feet is not now to be known. Above the man’s head is a shield, but the colours are quite indistinct; above the woman’s, the saltiere is engraved, with a round pell,.— it appears black, being inlaid with pitch. Near the edge of the stone—

"Hic jacet Hugo Hercy qui obiit VI die Decembris anno dm m. cccc. I. V. et Elizabeth uxor ejus quae obiit anno dm m. cccc. I. Animae proprietur Deus."'

A bronze tablet on the tower wall states:

BELOW THIS TABLET IS THE TOMB OF SIR HUGH
HERCY OF GROVE • NOTTS WHO DIED 11 DECEMBER
1455 • AND HIS WIFE ELIZABETH DAUGHTER OF
SIR SIMON LEKE OF COTTAM • NOTTS WHO DIED IN 1450.
IT WAS MOVED FROM THE CHANCEL OF THE OLD CHURCH
AND PLACED HERE IN 1882 AND WAS RESTORED IN 1932 BY
THEIR DESCENDANT SIR FRANCIS HUGH GEORGE HERCY
DEPUTY LIEUTENANT FOR THE COUNTY OF LONDON.
THE INSCRIPTION ROUND THE BORDER READS
HIC • JACENT • HUGO • HERCY • ARMIGR. QUI • OBIIT • XI • DIE •
DECEMBRIS • ANNO • DOMINI • MCCCCLV • ET • ELIZABETH • UXOR •
EJUS • QUOE • OBIIT • ANNO • DOMI. MCCCCL • ANIMOE • PROPITIETUR • DEUS.

The Reverend Robert Wright (died 1748)

Nearby is a badly worn floor stone in memory of a 'Mr Wright', most probably the Reverend Robert Wright who was the incumbent from 1737:

Here Resteth the Bod[...]
Mr Wright R[...]
who Died March [...]
1748 Aged 58 Years and of [...]

Also incorporated in the floor of the tower is a medieval cross-slab.

Vestry

William Levinz (died 1747)

To the Memory
Of WILLIAM LEVINZ Esquire
Only Son of Sir CRESWELL LEVINZ Knight,
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas,
Whose many Virtues he inherited.
Having represented in Parliament for many Years,
First the Borough of East Retford,
And then this County,
With uncommon Abilities, Diligence, and Integrity;
He died May the Seventh 1747,
Aged Seventy Six Years.
He married ANN Daughter of SAMUEL BUCK Esquire
Barrister at Law,
A Partner worthy of so much merit;
Who died June 15th 1726,
In the Fifty First Year of her Age,
And lieth also here
Interred.