Close to the path leading to Tawney church porch is a prominent brick and stone chest tomb. Until recently, it was smothered by a decades-worth thatch of ivy.
In a happy consequence of the Coronavirus lockdown, a friendly neighbour in need of fresh air and exercise took a handsaw to the ivy and revealed the whole tomb.
The inscription on the top and side of the tomb is quite worn and entirely in Latin.
Translated into English, it reads:
Here lie the remains of
EDWARD TURNOUR
S.T.B.
For [24] years unworthy Rector of this parish church
This is written by order of the deceased
He died on 3rd July in the year of our
Lord 1691
at the age of 52
The aforesaid Edward Turnour took as his wife
Ann, daughter of Richard L - - - -
of the county of Wiltshire Esquire,
by whom he produced children
Anne, Edward and Elizabeth
Originally the inscription finished at this point. Later, more was added to commemorate Elizabeth’s family (although they are actually buried elsewhere):
She [ie Edward’s daughter Elizabeth] married in the year (…) Thomas Le[w]is
of Soberton in the county of Hampshire Esquire
whose only daughter Elizabeth married in the year 1730
the most distinguished Lord Other, Earl of Plymouth
who left one son, the most honourable
Lord Other Lewis Earl of Plymouth
Set into the north side of the tomb is a stone plaque with a Latin inscription, in memory of the Rector’s eldest daughter Anne, who had died years before her father as a 9-year-old child. This may be her original gravestone, reset on her father’s tomb, or the opportunity was taken to commemorate her when it was built in 1691.
Anne Turnour
Daughter of Ed[ward] Turnour
Rector of this church
Is buried here
A:D
1680
The solid construction of the tomb means that it has lasted longer than any other memorial in the churchyard. On the other side of the path is a ledger stone tomb, belonging to a later long-serving Tawney Rector, Lewis Prance. The two clergymen appear to stand guard over the approach to the church, silently observing those who come and go today. The convenient flat top of Turnour’s tomb has at times been used as a display table at Flower Festivals, a book rest at churchyard services and occasionally a seat for the weary. So in a way Edward Turnour is still serving his parish more than 300 years after his death.
S.T.B. stands for the Latinised degree Bachelor of Sacred Theology, a term nowadays only used by the Roman Catholic church.
Edward’s family were keen to point out that the term ‘unworthy’ was not their choice, but Edward’s own display of Christian humility. Edward had become Rector in 1667, after the religious and political turbulence of the Civil War and Commonwealth period. Following the return of monarchy in 1660, there were three rectors who had died in quick succession. So Edward’s 24 years in Stapleford Tawney probably brought his parishioners some welcome stability.
From the parish records:
Anne was baptised 4th December 1670 and buried 27th May 1680
Elizabeth was baptised 14th April 1672
Edward was baptised 25th March 1677
The rector’s descendants were obviously very proud of their aristocratic connections. The curious Christian name Other is still used by the current Earls of Plymouth, though nowadays only as a middle name.