Washington, Church of St. Mary the Virgin, effigy of priest

HER Number:
12209

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Washington, Church of St. Mary the Virgin, effigy of priest

Place:
Washington

Map Sheet:
NZ35NW

Class:
Commemorative

Site Type: Broad:
Commemorative Monument

Site Type: Specific:
Effigy

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
Surtees refers to two medieval monuments which had once lain in the churchyard but had 'long since perished'. The second was an effigy of a clergyman or priest inscribed 'Hic jacet Alexander de Biddicke'. In 1962 when some outbuildings of the rectory were being demolished, a low-relief effigy of an ecclesiastic, probably a deacon, was discovered. This is probably the Alexander de Biddicke stone. It has been trimmed and has lost its inscription. The slab is now set against the internal face of the south wall of the chancel.

Easting:
3108

Northing:
5658

Grid Reference:
NZ31085658

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Peter F. Ryder, 1985, The Medieval Cross Slab Grave Cover in County Durham, Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No. 1, p 118; H.C. Surtees, 1820, History of Durham, Vol. II, p.43 (reprinted 1972)