East Sussex Church Monuments - 1530 to 1830 - Archive of Photographs
by Professor Nigel Llewellyn

(224) SEAFORD, St. Leonard

Norman (at West end); the East end of the church was rebuilt in 1861-2 by John Billing - Nairn & Pevsner (603); Lower, 'Memorials of ... Seaford' (SAC 7 73-150); plan in SNQ (XIII 39); paving reported to be poor in 1686 (Ford 54); ledgers have been removed to accommodate a new floor; murals dating from c.1800 relocated on West tower walls; Horsfield (Sussex I 280) notes only Addition (8); the lack of 16th and 17th-century monuments might be attributable to Seaford's economic decline following the changed course of the River Ouse, and although there were 70 families in the parish in 1724 and a population of 847 in 1801; for a view of gravestones at Seaford, St. Leonard, see BL Add. MS 5676-77.

224A Mural monument for Elizabeth HIGGS, d. 1830

-  Tower, South wall, high.

-  c.60(W) x c.75(H)~Good; faded.

-  M.I. (7 lines, engraved) fills unframed white tablet set on a dark grey cretaceous backplate.

-  Elizabeth Higgs, d. 10 Mar 1830, aet 39; wife of Joseph Higgs, a master in the Royal Navy.

224B Mural monument for Esther ATKINS, d. 1807

-  Tower, North wall, high.

-  c.70(W) x (H) unknown~Very good; faded.

-  M.I. (engraved) fills tablet set landscape-wise; delicate inlaid, pink (rance?) edging; cornice and base mouldings; above, a pointed pediment; at top, escutcheon on circular plaque; below, ornamental apron with rance decoration.

-  Esther Atkins, d. 15 Apr 1807, aet 31; wife of George Atkins, Esq., paymaster of the 2nd Somerset militia.

224C Mural monument for the sons and families of Thomas and Naomi HURDIS, c.1821 [?]

-  Tower, North wall, above head height.

-  108(W) x 97(H)~Very good.

-  A black baseplate with pointed top; M.I. (engraved, black) fills white marble tablet; above, cornice and pointed pediment; 2 flat corbels; signed (lower right): 'J.BACON F.t LONDON'.

-  Rev. Thomas Hurdis, D.D., canon of Windsor and canon-residentiary of Chichester; his wife Naomi; their issue - Rev. Thomas, vicar of Seaford and vicar of Barcombe, d. 1779, unmarried; William Ditch Hurdis, d. 1785, unmarried; James Hurdis, M.D., d. 8 Oct 1816, aet 77, his wife, Ann, d. 3 Jan 1795, aet 48, youngest daughter of Samuel Clarke, of Hailsham: their issue – eldest son, Thomas Bowyer Hurdis, merchant in the East India Co. and judge of the Sudder Court, died at Fort St. George, 16 Nov 1808, aet 38; his wife, Catherine, lost at sea, 1809, daughter of Nathaniel Thomas, alderman of London; second son, Midshipman Henry Samborne Hurdis, R.N., died at Cape Town, 6 Nov 1795, aet 19; fourth son, Captain James Courtail Hurdis, 2nd battalion 19th regiment, East India Co. Native Infantry, died Cannamore, 16 Aug 1819, aet 38; and fourth daughter, Harriot Thomas Hurdis, died at Dindigul, East Indies, 9 May 1802, aet 19.

224D Mural monument for Colonel John CARNEGIE, d. 1823, his wife, Catherine, d. 1824, and his sister, Margaret, d. 1828

-  Tower, North wall, East of 224C, at head height.

-  95(W) x 78(H)~Very good.

-  M.I. (13 lines engraved black) on a white marble tablet; black baseplate with straight top; cornice; 2 small corbels.

-  Colonel John Carnegie, formerly of 11th Light Dragoons, d. 29 Sep 1823, aet 67; son of Sir James Carnegie, of Southesk, Bart.; his wife, Catherine, d. 25 Dec 1824, aet 71; his sister, Mary, d. 6 Feb 1828, aet 67, eldest daughter of Sir James Carnegie.