The Nevill Heaume at Birling: The Helmet in Addington Church, Near Wrotham
nlRLIN'G CHURCH.
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'.l'HE NEVILL REAUME AT BIRLING.
BY F. H. ORIPPS-DAY.
Biding Church lies nestled under the chalk hills near the
Pilgrims' Way, and near by, within the parish, is situated
Comfort, a, Georgian farm house, partly built of the stones
of the ancient manor house. It was in the old house that
in 1586-7 Henry, 4th Baron Bergavenny, died. He was
buried, like his father, the 3rd Baron, in Birling Church.
Birling Manor became vested, about the ninth year of
Henry VI., in Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of
Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester. She had manied
Sir Edward Nevill, sixth son of Ralph, Earl of Westmorland,
by Joan his second wife, t,he daughter o:f John o:f Gaunt,
Duke of Lancaster. This Sir Edward Nevill did homage for
the manor in 1485, and at the bhth o:f a son, George, at
Raby Castle, in 1440, he bore the title o:f Baron Bergavenny,
but was not summoned to parliament until ten years later.
He died in 1476 and was succeeded by his son the abovenamed
George, 2nd Baron Bergavenny, who had been
knighted at Tewkesbury in 1471, and summoned to parliament
in 1482. He died in l 492, and was hm·ied at Lewes,
leaving issue. The elder son, George, afterwards 3rd Baron
Bergavenny, was bom about 1471 and was a distinguished
soldier, fighting in Cornwall under Henry VII. and in France
under Henry VITI. He died in 1585 and was buried (like
his son the 4th Baron) in Birling Church, leaviug· a son, the
4th Baron Bergavenny, and a second son, Sir Edward Nevill,
:friend and companion o:f Henry VIII., a great juster; of
him it is recorded that at a tournament held at Richmond
in 1510 he" hurt Master Compton sore and he was like to
die;" at Greenwich as "Joyeulx Penser" in 1511 he wa.s
one of the challengers at the justs held in honour of the birth
318 THE NEVILL IiE.A.UME AT BIRLING.
of a prince to Henry VIII. and Katherine of Ara.gon-justs
described at length in Hall's Chronicles nnd illustrated in
the Tournament Roll n.t the Heralds' College. He was again
one of the most noted of justers at the great ftes held in
Paris in 1515 and at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520.
He lived near by, at Addington. He was beheaded in 1538
for his share in the well known political intrigues of the
time. This short historical summary furnishes a possible
clue to the first ownership of the fine tilting heaume, which
is now preserved in Birling Church. This beaume is of
wonderful workmanship and superb condition. It is of
English make, and consists of two parts. The tilting visor
is most beautifully forged, varying in thickness in order to
giv the greatest resistance where the blow of the lance
would strike. It bas on the right side a trap which has the
edge turned outward to turn the lance head. There are fom·
holes on either side, for air and hearing. Th..e skull-piece
has a fine keel and the whole heaume is in perfect condition.
It was formerly decorated, and its weight is 15 lbs.
6 ozs. The wooden crest which it benrs, the bull of the
Nevills, is a fine specimen of ,Jacobean carving.
If the heaume was made about 1480, a date which some
experts would assign to it, it could have been fashioned for
the 2nd Baron Bergavenny, who, as already noted, was born
c. 1440, and it may have come down to his eldest son,
since bequests of armour were of frequent occurrence,
especially in the Bergavenny family ; and, as this 3rd Baron
Bergavenny was buried in Birling Church in 1535, it might
have been given to the church, a vP-ry common pl'actice from
the earliest times. On the other hand, as the younger son,
Sir Edward Nevill, was such a, mighty juster, it is not
unreasonable to suppose that it once belonged to him, £or
he lived near by and it may, as soon as the scandal of his
political execution had faded out of min