Whilst returning from a visit to Sutton Library – we decided to cut-through the old graveyard of St Nicholas Church – to feed the squirrels and pigeons that live in the trees here abouts on the way back to our car. This was going on whilst the temperature in the UK soared to an incredible 32 °C! The weather should now be heading into a much cooler Autumn in preparation for a very cold Winter! Therefore, for us British people this heat is hellish to experience – but experience it we must and march forever onward! However, as we entered the graveyard we realised that the Church was ‘Open’ and welcoming curious visitors!
This was a very fortunate happening as I had been told that this Church is a place of considerable historical value – with half of its stain-glass windows (on its north-side) being blown-out by by a Nazi German bomb on the night of September 24th, 1940!
Although we are not religious in the literal sense – we do respect the beliefs of others. The attending ‘faithful’ were kind and considerate – offering leaflets, guidance and even water on a day when people needed this vital resource far more than is usual! Obviously, ‘water’ is a very special and divine substance for the Christian religion as it washes away sins and through its purifying agency – allows the ‘Holy Spirit’ to enter the minds, hearts and bodies of those being baptised! This is why our family was very grateful for the care and attention we received – as we were the proverbial ‘weary traveller’ in need of sustenance! As our children habitually took to drawing a colouring in pictures (in the wonderfully equipped children’s section) – myself and Gee traversed the structure – recording in photograph and video all the data we could find!
As we were thinking of completing our very interesting visit – one of the ‘faithful’ announced that the door of the Church Organ was being opened to the General Public for its usual ‘once a year’ exposure of the now ‘hidden’ ‘Tomb of Dame Brownlowe’ – which was constructed in St Nicholas Church (termed the ‘Sutton Parish Church’) between 1699-1700 CE! I cannot workout how a tomb can take two-years to complete – particularly as the body could not be stored in the refrigeration facilities that exist today! Furthermore, why would the Church Authorities choose to ‘obscure’ this apparently ‘important’ tomb by building an ‘Organ’ across its facade in 1899 CE? Whatever the case, and despite these mysteries, we were present today when the ‘Organ Door’ was opened and we were allowed to peer into the interior! The impression we got was that we were gazing upon a very important ‘icon’ of the Church – and should be grateful for doing so – even though the object is still very difficult to see clearly (or even coherently) although we have done our best to record this historical event for all to experience and appreciate. I sent Gee through the ‘gap’ as she is much more demure than my 6 ‘ 2″ stature!
“ In addition to the 1862-4 interior fittings all the monuments from the earlier church on the site were reinstated. These include a magnificent Baroque marble monument occupying the full height and width of the former north chapel to Dame Dorothy Brownlowe (d 1699) by the distinguished sculptor William Stanton. She was the wife of Sir William Brownlowe whose principal seat was Belton House in Lincolnshire, where Stanton was master mason, but her father held the manor of Sutton. The monument is of more than special design interest.”
The above is an oil painting on canvas of Dorothy Mason, Lady Brownlowe (1665-1700) made by Willem Wissing (Amsterdam 1656) made in Burghley House (Northants – formerly ‘Lincolnshire’) during 1687 – when Dorothy was around 23, 24 or 25-years old). Oddly, the ‘Wyles’ family (that is the family which carries my British surname) is native to Duddington Village (now in Northants – but historically of Lincolnshire). Burghley House (where the above Portrait originally hung) is not far from Duddington and I have visited on a number of occasions – researching my family history. It would seem that ‘Dorothy Mason’ (or ‘Dame Brownlowe’ – sometimes ‘Brownlow’) was born in 1664 (or ‘1665’) and died in late 1699 – or before May 1700 – the latter date being when her Will was Probated. This means that Dorothy Mason was around 34, 35 or 36-years old when passing – and was considered to have ‘died-young’ by her grieving husband (Sir William Brownlowe) who raised the tomb in question in some considerable haste – with detractors criticising its rather ‘eclectic’ and ‘haphazard’ design! I am wondering whether this structure has been DELIBERATELY hidden by the Church Authorities out of somekind of misplaced and misconstrued sense of ‘shame’! The following is the biography of Dorothy Mason – comprising my own historical research:
‘Dorothy Mason was born in May 1664 (or 1665), at Sutton, Surrey, and was the daughter of Sir Richard Mason (c.1633-1685) and Anne Margaret Long (c.1637-1711). She married Sir William Brownlowe 4th Bt. (1665-1702) – son of Sir Richard Brownlowe 2nd Bt (1628-1668) and Elizabeth Freke (1634-1684). She is described as ‘really deserving everybody’s love’. Dorothy Mason had four children and did NOT die in chiildbirth or at least not as a direct conseqience of the birth-process:
1) Anne Brownlowe (1694-1790) who married Sir Richard Cust
2) Richard Brownlowe (1689-1690)
3.John Brownlowe, 1st and last Viscount Tyrconnel (1690-1754)
4) Dorothy Brownlowe (b.1695)
She died before May 1700 – around four to five years after giving birth to her last child. Her Will was probated in May 1700. After her premature death, her sorrowing husband gave her an immense funeral procession and commemorated her with a monument by William Stanton (1639-1705) – built within St Nicholas Church, Sutton, in Surrey. This structure was dismissed by William Hone as being “a sort of hasty pudding, garnished with slices of gingerbread”. The monument is now completely concealed by the Church organ.’
Strangely, her husband – the politician and 4th Baronet Sir William Brownlowe (November 5th 1665 – March 6th 1701) – only survived Dorothy by 1-2 years! Nevertheless, despite his ‘grief’ – and the money he had splashed-out on Lady Brownlowe’s ‘Tomb’ in Sutton – Sir William (within a few months of parting with Dorothy) soon married Henrietta Brett (1681-1718) – the sister of Col. Henry Brett, who had married Anna Mason (Dorothy’s sister) – the notorious Countess of Macclesfield, (the divorced former wife of Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield). Henrietta was only 19-20 years old in 1700 when she married Sir William – the latter passing away aged just 35-years old the following year (in 1701)! Indeed, when Henrietta died in 1718 – she was only 37-years old!
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 