Memorial Monuments in St Mary's Church Stafford
The Collegiate Church of St Mary in Stafford houses a distinguished collection of funerary and memorial monuments spanning several centuries of local and national history. This article provides an overview of the church's most prominent memorials, highlighting the celebrated sixteenth-century Aston alabaster tomb, the tribute to author and Stafford native Izaak Walton, and significant civic and military memorials dedicated to the people of Staffordshire.
The Aston Tomb
The grandest monument within the church is the sixteenth-century chest tomb of Sir Edward Aston of Tixall (who died in 1568) and his wife, Lady Joan Bowles (who died in 1562). Positioned in the north transept, this elaborate tomb is sculpted from local alabaster. It features life-sized recumbent effigies of the knight in complete Tudor plate armor and his lady dressed in period costume. The sides of the chest are adorned with intricate relief panels displaying coats of arms, heraldic crests, and mourning figures (weepers) representing their children. Although damaged during the English Civil War, the monument was subsequently reconstructed and remains one of Staffordshire's premier examples of Tudor funerary art.
The Izaak Walton Bust
Izaak Walton, the famed author of The Compleat Angler, was born in Stafford and baptized in St Mary's Church in September 1593. Commemorating this connection, a prominent white alabaster bust of Walton is mounted on a carved corbel on the wall of the north aisle. Erected by public subscription in 1878, the bust honors Walton's literary legacy and his enduring ties to the town. Nearby, the ancient Norman font in which Walton was baptized also serves as an informal monument to his memory.
Regimental and Military Memorials
St Mary's has a long-standing association with the armed forces of Staffordshire. The interior features numerous bronze tablets, plaques, and dedicated chapels honoring fallen servicemen:
- Staffordshire Yeomanry Memorials: The church holds monuments, plaques, and retired battle standards (guidons) belonging to the Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment), commemorating their service in campaigns ranging from the Boer War to both World Wars.
- War Memorial Tablets: Several marble and brass wall plaques commemorate the officers and men from Stafford who lost their lives during the First and Second World Wars.
- Individual Service Memorials: Scattered throughout the aisles and nave are individual nineteenth- and twentieth-century wall tablets dedicated to local officers who fell during British campaigns across the globe, including in India and Crimea.
Civic and Gentry Wall Monuments
Surrounding the nave, chancel, and transepts are numerous neoclassical and Victorian wall tablets dedicated to influential local families, clergy, and civic leaders. Notable examples include:
- The Salt Family: Memorials dedicated to prominent members of the Salt family—prominent local bankers, politicians, and philanthropists connected to the nearby William Salt Library.
- Parish Rectors and Clergy: Inscribed stone and brass plaques located around the chancel remembering the deans, rectors, and churchwardens who served St Mary's from the post-Reformation era through the nineteenth-century restoration led by architect Sir George Gilbert Scott.
- Georgian Wall Tablets: Several eighteenth-century wall monuments featuring draped urns, cherubs, and detailed Latin and English epitaphs representing the civic gentry and mayors of Stafford.