This finely carved effigy represents a 13th-century bishop, shown lying in state with hands raised in prayer. The figure is sculpted from dark Purbeck marble, a material much used in English cathedrals of the period. The bishop is depicted wearing liturgical vestments, including the mitre and chasuble, and rests beneath an elaborately canopied tomb.
This much mutilated, Purbeck marble, effigy is of Bishop Walter de la Wyle at Salisbury Cathedral.
William de la Corner (d1291) was bishop of Salsibury from 1289 until his death whilst on his second mission abroad as an ambassador for Edward I. This tomb is just 1.1 metres in length and is sometimes described as the tomb of a boy bishop. However, small tombs like this were often built when just the heart of the deceased was buried, in this case it was the bones that were returned to Salisbury.
Once thought to be an effigial monument to William Longespee (d1250) the date of the armour places this as a 14th century monument.
Lord John Cheney (d1499) was a Lancastrian supporter who in 1483 had supported the Duke of Buckingham's rebellion against Richard III. When Buckingham's rebellion failed he joined Henry Tudor in Brittany and returned with him from France in 1485.
This monument of an alabaster knight wearing Milanese armour is dedicated to Robert Lord Hungerford (d1464).
