The alabaster effigies in the porch are now thought to be Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, born in 1400 and an earlier Montacute Countess of Salisbury, but not his wife Alice. Richard Neville was the son of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland, and married the heiress of the last Montagu Earl of Salisbury, inheriting the title in 1429. He was Lord Chancellor from 1453-5, fled the country in 1459, returned the following year, and was beheaded at Pontefract Castle on the day after the battle of Wakefield in 1460. His son, also Richard, born in 1428 was Earl of Warwick (this title also came from his wife, whose brother was the last of the Beauchamp family to be Earl, and whose possessions included a fortified manor in Caversham) and is known to history as ‘the kingmaker’. The reason for the effigies’ presence in Burghfield is unknown, as the individuals are buried in Bisham Abbey. Tradition has it that the effigies were dragged behind a galloping horse from Newbury, and that the lady turned over en route. . The 1719 Antiquities of Berkshire by Elias Ashmore refers to the effigies as lying close to the floor on the south side of the Chancel. The lady has been in her present position since 1843, but the male figure was only placed there in 1929 having spent the earlier period under the belfry stairs.

In 1928 Mr Howard inspected the alabaster effigies, and identified the armorial bearings as Warwick quartered with Oxford. This led him to conclude that the man was a member of the Neville family who had married a daughter of Lord Oxford. He believed an alabaster effigy of the man’s father was in Salisbury cathedral.

Sir John Williams, a direct descendant of Iestyn ap Gwrgant (the last prince of Morgannwg (Glamorgan), married Elizabeth Moore (a considerable Burghfield heiress) c1495. Their second son (also John) purchased the Burghfield manors after the Dissolution of the monasteries (1536-40). He became Lord Williams of Thame. His main residence was Rycote Palace in Oxfordshire but he often stayed in Burghfield because it was nearer to London. His sons all predeceased him, and his estates passed to his daughter Margery and Her Husband Henry, Lord Norreys of Rycote. Henry granted Burghfield to his wife’s cousin Nicholas for his lifetime.

The Norrey’s and their heirs the Earls of Abingdon rented the Burghfield manors out to tenants until they sold up around 1803.

The 1719 Antiquities of Berkshire by Elias Ashmore refers to a fair raised monument in a chapel to the south side of the chancel surmounted by brass plates and the figures of a man in armour lying between his two wives and at their feet two brass tablets, one of which was an eulogy whilst the other recorded the death of Nicholas Williams on 1/4/1568, and of his brother Richard 9 days later. It is recorded that Nicholas had two wives, Elizabeth & Mabel, with a daughter by each. A note from Rector Cherry in the Baptism Register records that the brasses had originally been in the chapel adjacent to the nave in the pre 1842 church; that the inscription naming those represented had not been seen since before his incumbency in 1827; and that they had been found when the old church was demolished and placed against the south wall of the apse. One of the female figures (Elizabeth) has subsequently been lost. A photograph from 3/77 shows them on the west wall to the south of the nave door.

Wooden Effigy - Sir Roger

Matthew de Burghfield, the Lord of the Manor in the early 13th century, was the first to have a bridge built at Burghfield. The villagers had previously had to wade through the marshes and ford the deep River Kennet, and there had been many accidents. The Abbey would not pay for a proper crossing, but moved by his vassals’ brave determination Matthew put his hand in his pocket for a narrow wooden structure, which he later widened for the use of carts and horses. By the reign of King Edward 1, this bridge had become an important river crossing, but overuse had left it in a bad state. The King ordered its repair and the builder’s grandson, Peter de Burghfield ( Abbas ) found himself presented with a large bill by the King’s agent, Theobald Le Carpenter. He protested in the strongest possible terms and refused to pay because the bridge had only been erected out of the goodness of his grandfather’s heart and he was therefore under no obligation to keep it in working order. In the end, Peter’s cousin, Sir Roger de Burghfield ( Regis ) stepped in and agreed to pay for repairs to the southern half of Burghfield Bridge if Peter paid for the northern half.

Sir Roger was the most prominent member of the de Burghfield family, a Knight of Berkshire and Member of Parliament for Berkshire in 1301 and twice for Oxfordshire, and the last to hold the manor. He died in 1327.His heir was his brother Peter de Burghfield who was incumbent at the church of Burghfield. His family commissioned a wooden effigy carved in London in 1340. The 1719 Antiquities of Berkshire by Elias Ashmore refers to the effigy as lying on the floor against the north wall of the Chancel.

A note initialled KCB dated 21/2/1928 states Mr F. E Howard of Boar’s Hill ( an expert from the Diocese?) visited the church and suggested the wooden effigy then under the stairs in the porch should be moved to the chancel, because of its beauty, and because such effigies were only generally made in memory of a benefactor of the church or locality. On his advice, then it was laid on a table in the chancel.

It was stolen on the 9th of January 1978, and was apparently sold in the Portobello road for £600, then bought by a dealer for £4000, before being discovered by an English art dealer for sale in an antiques fair in Ghent, priced £10000. Despite it having been stolen, the courts ruled that compensation would have to be paid to the person being in possession of the statue. Nearly £10,000 was raised through public appeals to recover the statue and in May 1982 the statue was restored to the church where it lies in a glass display case in the chancel.

The organ appears to have been rebuilt several times. It is believed the original was bought second hand in 1883. A letter from Bishop & Son (Organ builders) in 1920 suggests the original would have been made c1840 as a top of the range instrument for a mansion, but was then in very poor repair and not helped by the frontal which was ornate but detracted from sound. It was rebuilt in 1922 at a cost of £622/15/0d, An earlier letter (14/6/1915) from H E Walker recalls that his uncle had removed the organ from London and installed it in the west end of the church. In 1892 it had been moved back to his uncle’s shop and rebuilt, using a case made by the builders of the 1892 chancel. It was believed to be more than 60 years old in 1919.

Southern Porch: Wooden board listing benefactors.Inner porch: Wall tablet to John Homer Chance died 1900Nave: north wall: stone tablet to John Potenger (died 1714) ; Three Willink family memorials, George Ouvry William (died 1918), his mother Mary (died 1918, and father Henry George (died 1938); Nave: south wall: noneNave: west wall: Memorial tablet to Arthur William PearsonNorth transept : Brass tablets to James Frederic Cherry (died1884)& Charles Edward le Mesurier Cherry (died 1886) and to John Pring Bucknell (died1921); stone tablets to M.A & James Taylor who died in 1864 &1872 respectively; Francis Clare and Frances Peacock (1825 & 1828); The Rev Matthew Robinson (1827); Mary & Rev William Robinson (1789, 1803); John Henry Bird (1840); John Hector Cherry (1862); A three piece Latin inscription to five further members of the Cherry family who died between 1824 &1849, and a stone tablet to a further three who died between 1852 and 1863; William & Elizabeth May (1842,1848); Alice Helen Steele, 1948: and Rev Dallas Oldfield Harrington (1911).ChancelSouth transept:A brass tablet to seven members of the Butler family who died between 1559-1612. Stone tablets to Mary Phoebe Lumbert (1814); Richard Paris Collett Lumbert and his wife Mary, both 1855; ten members of the Burgess family (1725-1837); and Charles Cottingham (1898); Millenium quilt.