Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/384

 293 KNIGHTLY EFFIGIES AT SAXDAVICH AND ASH. Roman and Anglo-Saxon antiquities, formed at Sandwich by D. Rolfe, Esq. ; a collection which, in itself of the highest interest, becomes a source of gratification from the courtesy with which it is exhibited by its possessor. Amono; the knio-htlv efiio:ies of Sandwich and Ash, are two which are especially curious ; one fi-om the armour being composed in part of scale-work, and the other fi-om offering an example, among the very few in monumental sculpture, of " ailettes" attached to the warrior's equipment. The Sandwich figure is preserved in the Church of St. Peter, at the west end of the nave. Though clearly of the first half of the fourteenth century, it has been traditionally assigned to Sir John Grove, who hved in the middle of the fifteenth. The statue originally reposed on an altar-tomb in the south aisle ; on the demolition of that aisle by the falhng of the steeple in 1661, it was exposed to every manner of depredation, whether fi-om the assaults of the weather, or " the tramphng of boys," and subsequently, at the instigation of the historian of Sandwich, it was brought within the body of the Church and placed in the situation it now occupies. The outer (or left) side of the figure having been much injured, saj^s Boys in his History, " I have reversed its position and brought to view the other parts, where the sculpture is remarkably sharp." Search was at the same time made for the remains of the knight, but none being found, it was concluded that they were removed into the interior of the Church at the demolition of the aisle. In Le Neve's Church Xotes, (begun in 1603,) the tomb is described as that of Sir John Grove, and on the tomb-side appear the arms of Grove, Septvans, St. Leger, Hilparton, Isaac and Sandwich, while the arms of Grove are repeated on the shield. (Add. MS. in Brit. Mus., No. 5479, f. 89.) As these arms were in paint only, their evidence is of no great value. From the effigy itself all trace of pictorial decoration has disappeared. The size of the remaining fragment is 4^ feet ; the mate- rial Caen stone. The art is somewhat rude, but the details are made out with great care. The figure does not seem to have suffered in the slightest degree since the tune of ^Ir. Boys, and it is now kept with the greatest care. The knight wears the quilted gambeson ; over that a hauberk of chain-mail : then a defence of scale-work ; and above that