Description:Watercolour by E.W. Tristram of wall painting in an elaborately moulded tomb recess in the south aisle of St. Andrew's Church, Clifton Campville. The recess is dated to about 1300. The image shows the Coronation of the Virgin as Queen of Heaven.
According to the church guidebook Stebbing Shaw suggested that the low arch on the south wall of the south aisle marks the tomb of Richard Stafford, who died in 1381. What Shaw actually says is that the arch had a painted inscription (no longer visible by his time, having been whitewashed): “Here lyeth the founder of this church”. Shaw does not specify who might have been so described. In any case, by 1381 the new Chantry chapel would have been built which would have been a more fitting resting place for such an important individual as Richard Stafford.
The arch has been dated to 1300 and the wall painting to the early 14th century, so it is possible that they are contemporary with each other. They would have been expensive and important additions to the church, perhaps the focal point of a traverse chapel (aligned to the one on the north side) which was later incorporated into the extended church plan.
If they both date from circa 1300, it is possible that they marked the tomb of Geoffrey de Camville, who died sometime before 1308. Geoffrey could well have been described as 'the founder of this church' since important additions were made to the church during his time as lord of Clifton.
William de Camville, the second Baron, was lord by 1308 and died after 1332 William de Camville apparently had no male heirs. His daughter Maud (also known as Matilda) married Richard Vernon of Haddon and Harlaston. The date of the marriage is uncertain but was probably around 1310. By 1322 William had given 260 acres of land in Clifton Campville to Maud and to her son Richard, who died in 1323.
The question remains, who are the people on the painting? The donors we can see are shown kneeling on either side. The woman in the painting is presumably Maud. She is depicted with a caul headdress. A caul was a net, worn as a hair covering, it consisted of a circular wire ribbon mesh onto which braids and ribbons were fastened.
The other figure could be Maud’s husband. He is depicted as a knight wearing ailettes on his shoulders. Ailettes were flat and rectangular in shape, usually decorated with heraldic designs. These were often made of leather or wood, although they could sometimes be made of parchment, quilted material or plate. They were attached by means of silk or leather cord. Ailettes are dated to between 1290 and 1325 and may have been more decorative than practical.
• The tomb commemorates Geoffrey de Camville, who died sometime before 1308
• Maud and her husband commissioned the painting following the death of their son, the young Richard, in 1323.
• Or perhaps Maud and Richard commissioned the painting as a token of
gratitude to William when he died, probably in the 1330s.
The heraldic shields were superimposed later, presumably after the Reformation since one of them obliterates the Virgin’s face. The addition of the shields emphasises the Vernon connection and was perhaps done when the tomb of John Vernon was placed in the church in the 1560s.
Caption information: Staffordshire Record Office Mediaeval Villages Research Group