Come Ye Blessed...
REARSBY
THE CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS
Church Post Code LE7 4YE
The Heathcote study recorded two Vale of Belvoir Angel gravestones in the church grounds here. I have enclosed photographs of the two along with an extra one, which differs greatly in style but which still features the Belvoir Angel.
The stone is to one William Hubbert who was murdered in 1712 at the age of 22 years. The stone itself is battered and faded in places, and the inscription is difficult to read. With some help from the good folks in the Belvoir Angels Facebook page, we came up with the following...
Willm the son of Edward Hubbert by Mary his wife was buried Oct 10th 1712 Aged 22 years A fatal knife his mortal body slew The murdering hand of God’s Vengeance will pursue From shades serene tho Justice took her flight Shall not ye judge of all ye earthly Right With doleful sighs a sad heart rending groans Each age and sex his innocence Bemoans’
Of the stones that still survive, this is one of two that are memorials to murder victims. The other id at Old Dalby, again in Leicestershire.
The second stone recorded by the Heathcote study is to one Rebecca Stanage. The angel here is badly damaged , with the left hand win as we look at it pretty much absent. This is still finely crafted, with some fine detail in the wings but the stone as a whole is very basic compared to others of this type.
There is no symbolism at the top and no epitaph towards the bottom of the stone; just the basic details of the deceased, which read as follows..
'Here lyeth the body of Rebecca Stanage the daughter of Thomas Stanage by Ann his wife who departed this life July 16th 1722 in the 5th year of her age'.
The third stone here can be found very close to the south porch, and was not included in the Heathcote study. I have included it here as it does contain a couple of Belvoir Angels. The style of this stone is far different than what we see in a 'typical' Belvoir Angel stone.
To start with the angels themselves; they are to be found top left and right. They are depicted 'in flight' rather than the wings being straight out. There is a little fine detail in the carving, but nothing like the depth of detail that we see in others of this type.
Both angel's faces appear to have suffered deliberate damage at some point over the years.
The stone is inscribed 'Here lyeth the body of Robert Harrison who departed this life the 26th day of March 1711 in the 50th year of his age'.
As with the gravestone to Rebecca Stanage above there is no symbolism at the top and no epitaph at the bottom. Just the basic details of the deceased.