(Vol. viii., p. 493.)
The tiles presented, in 1786, to Mr. Charles Chadwick, of Mavesyn-Ridware,
Staffordshire, are preserved in the church at that place. They form two
tablets affixed to the wall in the remarkable sepulchral chapel arranged
and decorated, at a great cost, by the directions of that gentleman towards
the close of the last century, when the greater portion of the church was
rebuilt. The north chapel, or aisle, containing the tombs of the Mavesyns
and the Ridwares, the ancient lords of the estates which descended to Mr.
Chadwick, was preserved; and here are to be seen two cross-legged effigies,
a curious incised portraiture on an altar-tomb, representing Sir Robert
Mavesyn, 1403, with other incised slabs and interesting memorials; to which
were added, by Mr. Chadwick, a series of large incised figures, which
surround the chapel. These last are not shown in the view given in Shaw's
_History of Staffordshire_, vol. ii. p. 191., having been executed since
the publication of that work; and it is stated that they were engraved by
the parish clerk under Mr. Chadwick's direction, being intended to pourtray
the successive lords of the place from the Norman times to the sixteenth
century, each in the costume of his period. There are also numerous
atchievements and other decorations attached to the walls; amongst these
are the pavement tiles from Caen, one of which bore the same arms as are
assigned to the family of Malvoisin-Rosny, and on that account probably Mr.
Chadwick placed these relics from Normandy amongst the enrichments of his
mausoleum.
In regard to MR. BOASE'S first inquiry, "Who was Charles Chadwick, Esq.?"
it may suffice to cite the detailed account of the family given by Shaw,
and the short notice of that gentleman which will be found in the _History
of Staffordshire_, vol. ii. p. 185.
On a visit to Mavesyn-Ridware in 1839, I was struck with the appearance of
these tiles; their design and fashion at once recalled those from Caen with
which I had been familiar in Normandy. Having ascertained their origin, I
took occasion to state the fact of their preservation at this church in the
"Notes on Decorative Tiles," communicated to Mr. Parker by me, and given in
the fourth edition of his useful _Glossary of Architecture_, in 1845: see
p. 367.
It should be observed that the number of tiles composing the two tablets
now to be seen is forty; whilst the number, as stated _Gent. Mag._, vol.
lix. part i. p. 211., and in a second letter from Mr. Barrett, in vol. lx.
part ii. p. 710., not cited by MR. BOASE in his Query, is twenty. MR. BOASE
is probably aware that the sixteen tiles from the Great Guard Chamber at
Caen, which supplied the subject of Mr. J. Major Henniker's memoir, were
presented by him to the Society of Antiquaries of London, and are now in
their museum, as noticed in the catalogue, compiled by myself, p. 30.
A coloured drawing of an heraldic pavement at Caen, taken about 1700, is
preserved in a volume of the great collection formed by M. de Gaignieres,
and bequeathed by Gough to the Bodleian Library. It comprises chiefly
drawings of French sepulchral monuments, arranged by localities; and there
is one volume, entitled _Recueil de Tapisseries, d'Armoiries et de
Devises_, in which may be found the interesting memorial of this decorative
pavement of tiles, which was destroyed during the fury of the Revolution.