Conservationists make discoveries in Aldworth
Original pieces of the historic stone effigies, Aldworth giants, found
A SERIES of discoveries have been made by the team working on the conservation of historic 14th-century stone effigies in St Mary's Church in Aldworth.
A number of original pieces of the Aldworth giants, effigies of the ancient De La Beche family, and two pieces of the decorated canopies under which the statues lie have been found by conservators from Nimbus, who were removing infill around the stone plinths to improve presentation.
The first of the nine stone effigies, carved between 1300 and 1350, is that of Sir Robert De La Beche, who was knighted by King Edward I in 1278, which means some of the finds are over 700 years old.
Churchwarden Michael Soames said the discovery it enabled a clearer picture of the giants to be built, and gave an insight into how the Victorians carried out a restoration of the canopies in 1871.
“When we embarked on this project I had thought that we were just going to do a bit of cleaning and to smarten up the area around the giants. I had no idea what we would find and the excitement of it all,” he said.
“The biggest of the pieces from the giants are more than a foot long. Two pieces are perfectly recognisable and we can easily see where they extend the respective giant.
“One large part is a fragment of dress and another part is part of a face – the lips and nose are quite clearly recognisable and its position on one of the giants is also quite clear.
“We have a number of other pieces including part of a knee and part of an elbow. We have yet to discover exactly which giant they “belong” to.”
Experts have been consulted on the best way to present the new discoveries while the work is going on to give better protection to the giants in order to help them through coming centuries.
A campaign has been running for over a year to raise money to make the church damp proof and save the giants from ruin, and Mr Soames said he was extremely grateful to have the support of a number of charities and individuals for their help.
Also represented are Lady Joan de la Beche, Sir Philip, the second son of Sir Robert and Lady Joan, Sir Nicholas, the third son, the eldest son, Sir John, and his wife Lady Isabella.
The son of St John, Sir Philip, who was said to have been seven feet tall, is also carved in stone. Alongside him are Sir John, son of Sir Robert, and John de La Beche, second son of Sir John and Lady Isabella.
