CH14. Bronze standing figure with with inscription below mounted on a wood panel
Here lieth buried the body of JOHN ATLEE who / was in office of the High Constable of Elthorne / Hundred 36 yeares and deceased the last day / of November Ano 1599. In the faith of Jesu Christ / by whose blood and passion I hope to be saved.
John Atlee- High Constable of Elthorne
A brass mounted onto a wooden panel. This brass used to hang in the south aisle where the cafe area is now. When the alterations were carried out, it was moved to preserve it from the damaging affect of steam from boiling kettles. It’s most likely not the first time it has moved, as it would have originally been on the church floor marking the place of the tomb of John Atlee but was moved during the Victorian restorations. Let’s hope it is now settled in its current place and won’t have to be moved again!
The brass shows a male standing figure with this inscription below:
Here lieth the body of John Atlee who was in office of the High Constable of Elthorne hundred 36 years and deceased the last day of November 1599. In the faith of Jesu Christ by whose blood and passion I hope to be saved.
Hillingdon was in the Hundred of Elthorne, a hundred being a way of dividing up counties dating from Saxon times. This system lasted until the 19th century and is said to be based originally upon areas containing one hundred families. Hundred courts were held at regular intervals to dispense justice and to raise taxes. John Atlee as high constable was the most important hundred official, with numerous duties and responsibilities concerned with maintaining law and order and managing parochial affairs with the church-wardens.
Do take a moment to look at this brass, I particularly love John Atlee’s Elizabethan outfit including a ruff. His shoes however don’t really match my idea of Elizabethan footwear, I thought pointy toes and heels were all the rage although having done a bit of googling, I think John Atlee is shown wearing his more practical outdoor shoes which would have been made of hardened leather or even wood.
Christine Bartlett