The Wentworth Family Monuments

Effigies of Thomas Wentworth and Margaret Gascoigne dated 1587

The Old Holy Trinity Church in Wentworth is a redundant church, in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. I have visited it many times over the years and, as far as I know, it is open to the general public every day - or accesible via a keyholder.

A general view of the interior of the Wentworth Chapel

Although its mediaeval origins are seen in the 2 bay arcade, with its octagonal columns and capitals,  it is the monuments to various members of the Wentworth, Watson and Fitzwilliam families that I think are of most interest here - with the workmanship and materials being of the finest quality.

An effigy of a member of the Gascoigne family c.1460

The large chest tomb of 1587, which holds the remains of Thomas Wentworth and his wife Margaret Gascoigne and the remains of earlier effigies of the Gascoigne family c. 1460 – which were removed from Monk Bretton Priory – provide fine examples of intricately carved alabaster, the former with a dolomitic limestone base and columns.

The chest tomb to Thomas Wentworth dated 1587

A later monument to Sir William Wentworth who died in 1614, with depictions of his wife and children, is also alabaster, but here some of the figures have been painted, which is a practice that I have seen in similar kinds of tombs of this age in other churches.

Sir William Wentworth and his family dated 1614

The large wall monument to Sir Thomas Wentworth, the 1st Earl of Strafford who was beheaded in 1641, is of what appears to be a pale grey limestone with no colour markings with a dark grey polished variety forming the inscription but, due to the arrival of a group led by a Churches Conservation Trust guide, I wasn't able to closely examine it.

Sir Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl of Strafford

The last major wall monument on the north wall of the chapel was dedicated by William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford, to his wife Henrietta who died in 1685 and is signed '1689 Strafforde'. The materials are again similar to the monument to the 1st Earl and Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, in his account of the church, suggests that both were made at about the same time.

William Wentworth and his wife Henrietta