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Groombridge manor house in Speldhurst parish was
the home of Wallers from 1360 until 1607, and they became the
dominant landowners of the neighbourhood. Sir Richard Waller
(died 1461) had charge of a French royal hostage for more than
twenty years and is said to have lavished much money on St Mary’s
Church. His descendant Sir Walter Waller (died 1599) was commemorated,
with his wife and children, by an elaborate alabaster monument
in the church’s chancel.
In 1791 a fire destroyed St Mary’s with all its monuments.
After an interval a less elegant church replaced it, and the
three painted panels in the Waller window formed the top part
of the new east window. Made in the early nineteenth century,
they have been attributed to James Pearson or his wife Margaret:
we do not know the exact date or who commissioned them. The
panels were saved when that building was demolished in 1870,
and reinstalled in the vestry of the church which stands on
the site today.
The window shows Sir Walter and his wife Anna kneeling at prayer,
figures which could have been drawn from an Elizabethan tomb
sculpture. Above the knight is the Waller coat of arms, now
badly damaged; the arms to the right are those of Anna’s
family, the Chutes. The centre panel, depicting Abraham and
Isaac, appears to be based on a sixteenth or seventeenth century
oil painting. The walnut tree and shield together form the Waller
crest: the escutcheon is that of the French royal princes and,
although the evidence is confusing, it seems probable that Sir
Richard Waller’s prisoner personally granted the family
this additional emblem. |
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