Thorpe Market, Norfolk, UK
Church of St Margaret,
Monument to Sir Thomas Rant †1671. Marble. North aisle east end
The monument is one of three saved from the earlier church. A hipped inscription is framed by coloured Ionic columns. The coat of arms is set between consoles while the apron is decorated with a bunched hanging cloth. In style it is close to the work of William Stanton, notably the Monument to John Fountayne †1671 in St Peter and Paul, Salle, which has been attributed to Stanton.
Sir Thomas was the third son of William Rant of Yelverton. A lawyer he qualified at Grays Inn in 1629. Although a royalist he took no active part during the civil war, retiring, as the inscription notes, to Norfolk, where he acquired an estate at Thorpe Market, presumably to be close to the family holding of Coxford-Priory Manor. Although a court supporter he was elected to the Convention for Norwich in 1660, when he was knighted, he never stood again. By 1634 he had married Mary Burwell from Woodbridge. He built four almshouses in Thorpe Market.
M. W. Helms / John. P. Ferris, The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
detail of the top of the monument with coat of arms
Thorpe Market, Norfolk, UK
Church of St Margaret,
Monument to Sir Thomas Rant †1671. Marble. North aisle east end
The monument is one of three saved from the earlier church. A hipped inscription is framed by coloured Ionic columns. The coat of arms is set between consoles while the apron is decorated with a bunched hanging cloth. In style it is close to the work of William Stanton, notably the Monument to John Fountayne †1671 in St Peter and Paul, Salle, which has been attributed to Stanton.
Sir Thomas was the third son of William Rant of Yelverton. A lawyer he qualified at Grays Inn in 1629. Although a royalist he took no active part during the civil war, retiring, as the inscription notes, to Norfolk, where he acquired an estate at Thorpe Market, presumably to be close to the family holding of Coxford-Priory Manor. Although a court supporter he was elected to the Convention for Norwich in 1660, when he was knighted, he never stood again. By 1634 he had married Mary Burwell from Woodbridge. He built four almshouses in Thorpe Market.
M. W. Helms / John. P. Ferris, The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
detail of the top of the monument with coat of arms