Title:

Baron/Lord

First Name:

William

Last Name:

Fiennes

Memorial Type:

Memorial - Extant tomb effigy

Does the monument still exist?

Yes

Allegiance:

Yorkist

Condition:

Very Good

Condition Description:

Effigy largely undamaged

Memorial Notes:

William Fiennes, 2nd Lord Saye and Sele, was killed on 14 April 1471 while fighting for Edward IV at the battle of Barnet. The figure alongside him is not of his wife but an older effigy of his wife's grandmother Elizabeth Wykeham. The two figures were brought together at a later date which explains why we have a couple with the woman wearing a Lancastrian SS collar and the man a Yorkist collar of suns and roses.

The effigy used to be described as that of Sir Thomas Wykeham (d1443) and indeed some picture libraries call it that but it's clear from both the armour and the Yorkist livery collar that this is a much later effigy in a different style to that of Elizabeth. The effigy may have been moved to its current location during a restoration in 1846 to replace that of Sir Thomas; an early 19th cent account talks about a badly damaged effigy on the floor. The face does not appear to have been recut and seems to be an integral part of the whole . Interestingly both the armour and the face (which is clearly an 'ikon' ie a made-up image) are remarkably similar to two other effigies - Sir William Ryther (of Ryther in Yorks) and Sir Nicholas Fitzherbert (of Norbury, Derbyshire).