Old Catton, Norfolk, UK
Church of St Margaret,
Monument to Bussy †1719 and Mary †1730 Greene. Marble, 1745, Signed Robt Page Fecit. Commissioned by his daughter and executor, Mary. Now east wall of north nave, moved from south wall of chancel, east end in 1881.
The impressive monument would once have filled the south wall of the chancel, at the very east end, before it was moved by the architect R.M. Phipson in 1881 to make way for a new window. It is dominated by the beautiful veined grey pyramid, decorated with the family coat of arms on a scrolled cartouche, with oak leaves and scallops. The pyramid rests on the base which houses the inscription, now difficult to make out because of the pews, and frames the darker commemorative chest. This rests on lions’ paws and the upper tiers rise to an acorn, symbol of strength and growth and is flanked by two mourning youthful angels. One sheds a tear while wiping his other eye, his foot resting on a skull, while his companion clutches his hands in palpable grief.
The inscription is the only source of information about Bussy and Mary Greene. It included four of their children whose deaths dated from 1709 down to 1737. Both the impressive scale of the monument, with its accomplished handling of a range of colour within a deliberately limited palette, and its original position in the chancel underline the inscription’s reference to Bussy Greene as a gentleman of Catton, who died when he was fifty two years old.
Old Catton, Norfolk, UK
Church of St Margaret,
Monument to Bussy †1719 and Mary †1730 Greene. Marble, 1745, Signed Robt Page Fecit. Commissioned by his daughter and executor, Mary. Now east wall of north nave, moved from south wall of chancel, east end in 1881.
The impressive monument would once have filled the south wall of the chancel, at the very east end, before it was moved by the architect R.M. Phipson in 1881 to make way for a new window. It is dominated by the beautiful veined grey pyramid, decorated with the family coat of arms on a scrolled cartouche, with oak leaves and scallops. The pyramid rests on the base which houses the inscription, now difficult to make out because of the pews, and frames the darker commemorative chest. This rests on lions’ paws and the upper tiers rise to an acorn, symbol of strength and growth and is flanked by two mourning youthful angels. One sheds a tear while wiping his other eye, his foot resting on a skull, while his companion clutches his hands in palpable grief.
The inscription is the only source of information about Bussy and Mary Greene. It included four of their children whose deaths dated from 1709 down to 1737. Both the impressive scale of the monument, with its accomplished handling of a range of colour within a deliberately limited palette, and its original position in the chancel underline the inscription’s reference to Bussy Greene as a gentleman of Catton, who died when he was fifty two years old.