To the east of this monument is another of alabaster to the memory of Frances the wife of Thomas Ratcliffe, Earl of Sussex, who distinguished herself by her humanity and generosity, and died on the 15th of April 1589. She is represented in a recumbent posture, resting on an embroidered cushion, dressed in robes, and with a coronet on her head.
Next to this is the monument of Francis Lord Cottington of Hanworth, who died on the 9th of June 1652, and of his Lady who died in 1633. This monument is of black touchstone, and remarkably different from every other in the Abbey, On the top is a circular frame of gilt brass, enclosing the bust of the Lady, and beneath is his Lordship on a table monument resting on his left arm, and over a satyr’s head is the inscription in English mentioning his Lordship’s titles and employments.
St. Nicholas’s Chapel contains several remarkable monuments: near the entrance is one of black marble, finely polished, to the memory of the Lady Jane Clifford, youngest daughter to the Duke of Somerset, and wife to Charles Lord Clifford and Dungarvan, who died Nov. 23, 1679. This black monument is adorned with cherubims and a scroll of alabaster, whereon is written a long inscription in English, containing an account of the Lady’s descent and marriage.
By the door on the same side, is a monument of alabaster erected for Lady Cecil, the daughter of Lord Cobham, who having married Sir Robert Cecil, son to William Lord Burleigh, Treasurer of England, died in child-bed in 1591. The Latin inscription is a dialogue between herself and husband, expressing their mutual affection.
At some distance is a magnificent temple of various coloured marble, erected to the memory of Anne Duchess of Somerset, wife to Edward Duke of Somerset. She died on the 16th of April 1618, aged twenty-eight. The inscription is in Latin and English, and contains a pompous detail of the noble lineage of this great Lady, her alliances and issue.
In this chapel is likewise a very expensive monument, erected by the great Lord Burleigh, to the memory of his wife Mildred, and their daughter the Lady Anne, Countess of Oxford, representing a stately temple built with porphyry, and other kinds of marble gilt. It is divided into two compartments, one elevated over the other. In the lower lies Lady Burleigh, in a recumbent posture, with her daughter Lady Jane in her arms; and at her head and feet are her children and grand-children kneeling. In the upper compartment is the figure of a venerable old man, supposed to be the Lord Burleigh, on his knees, as if at fervent prayer. The Lady Burleigh died April 4, 1589, aged sixty-three, after being forty years married, and her daughter, the Lady Oxford, June 5, 1588. On the tomb is a long Latin inscription, explaining the figures, and displaying their respective virtues and accomplishments.
The next monument I shall mention in this chapel, is that of the Lady Winifrid, married first to Sir Richard Sackville, Knt. and afterwards to John Paulet, Marquis of Winchester. On the base are the figures of a Knight armed and kneeling, and facing him a Lady in mourning also on her knees; behind whose back lies an infant on a baptismal font with its head supported by a pillow.
In the middle of the chapel is a fine raised monument of polished marble, to the memory of Sir George Villars and his Lady, whose son was raised by King James I. to the dignity of Duke of Buckingham.
In this chapel are two beautiful pyramids; the largest erected to the memory of Nicholas Bagnal, a child of two months old, overlaid by his nurse; the other to the memory of Anna Sophia Harley, a child of a year old, daughter to the Hon. Christopher Harley Embassador to the French King. She died in the year 1600, and her father, as appears by the inscription, caused her heart to be inclosed in a cup, and placed upon the top of the pyramid.
There are also in this chapel, a monument to the memory of the Lady Elizabeth Fanes, and one or two others, scarcely worth notice.