Knightley Tomb, Fawsley - Northamptonshire

Alabaster freestanding tomb to Sir Richard Knightley, northamptonshire

This impressive freestanding monument commemorates Sir Richard Knightley (d. 1534) and his wife Jane Skenard, heiress of Old Aldington. Sir Richard’s will of 1528 instructed that he should “be buried in the chancel, before the image of our Blessed Lady, in accordance with my degree,” and the richly coloured alabaster tomb that survives fulfils that wish with striking dignity.1 2

The Knightleys were among Northamptonshire’s leading gentry, loyal to the Tudor court yet rooted in local power networks. Their daughter Susan Knightley married Sir William Spencer, linking the family to the Spencers of Wormleighton—ancestors of the present Earl Spencer.3

This tomb exemplifies the early-Tudor transition between late-medieval piety and Renaissance humanism: its Gothic architectural base preserves the devotional imagery of the fifteenth century, while the calm realism of the effigies anticipates the more personal commemorative style of the Reformation period. It stands today as both a work of artistic refinement and a vivid expression of lineage, faith, and status on the eve of religious change in England.

Richard Knightley effigy with Lancastrian double S motif

The two life-sized effigies lie side by side on a chest decorated with traceried niches containing small standing figures of their children. Sir Richard is portrayed in full plate armour, hands raised in prayer, wearing the Collar of Esses, a Lancastrian emblem later adopted as a Tudor badge of office, around his neck. His head rests on his helm, and a lion crouches at his feet.

Jane Skenard effigy, Tudor headdress and jewellery

Jane is shown in a close-fitting gown and pedimental headdress, her serene face framed by elaborate carving; a small dog lies at her feet, a traditional symbol of fidelity. Traces of original red, blue, black, and gold paint survive, hinting at the monument’s former brilliance.

Alabaster tudor tomb sculpture of mourner weeper

This pair of smaller male figures represents two of the Knightley sons, their identical dress and close stance suggesting brotherly unity. Each wears a short gown and cap and holds one hand in prayer while the other clasps his brother’s—a touching human detail within the formal iconography of the tomb. Such paired “weepers” symbolized continuity of lineage and the family’s collective prayer for the deceased.

fawsley 20092008-19