‘To the most honourable and dread lord the king of Castile and Leon, duke of Lancaster, Thomas West and Alice his wife humbly pray, that whereas Nicholas Clifton was lately with the retinue of the said Thomas on the last voyage to France and Brittany; and then the said Nicholas was familiar with the said Thomas for some time, until the Sunday after the feast of the translation of Saint Thomas [7 July] last past, on which day he came to the said Alice at her manor of Testwood in the county of Southampton, to ride with the said Alice to a certain place; and upon this the aforesaid Alice, with her son Thomas and her daughter Eleanor and others of their meinie, went towards this same place, by abetment and counsel of the said Nicholas, the said Alice hav ing faith in him; and the said Nicholas led the said Alice to a great wood in the New Forest, where the said Nicholas, who was armed, had several other men at arms and archers by his ordinance and arrangement in ambush with the intention of ravishing the said Eleanor; and he went and approached the said ambush, taking them with him, and they made assault upon the said Alice and Eleanor and their meinie with drawn swords, bows and arrows drawn back to the ear, and ravished the said Eleanor, with most evil affray to the said Alice and her company, who thought that the great and treacherous insurrection had been renewed; from which affray the said Alice has taken such illness that it is likely to be the cause of her death; for which they pray remedy.’(1)

Due to this petition, the Statute of Rapes was passed in October of 1382, ‘and although it does not specifically name the case of Eleanor West, scholars believe that it undoubtedly was passed because of her elopement.’(2)
The second petition (February of 1383) made directly to the king (3) finally mentions Eleanor’s rape, and where Thomas and Alice ask that the aforementioned statute be applied to her.

‘To our most gracious and dread lord the king, and to his lords of this present parliament, we your humble lieges Thomas West and Alice his wife pray, that whereas the said Thomas and Alice, at the last parliament held at Westminster the Monday after Michaelmas last past, showed how Nicholas Clifton, with others, lately made horrible assault upon the said Alice, at Malwood in the New Forest, and feloniously ravished and deflowered their daughter Eleanor, and because of their suit a statute was made in the said parliament for punishing severely such rapes in time to come: may it please your most gracious and dread lordship that, because this statute and the penalty therein com prised were ordained because of the said felonious rape and at the suit of the said Thomas and Alice, that the said Nicholas and Eleanor be especially included in the said statute, to bear the penalty of the aforesaid statute prompted by themselves, as the intent of our lords was thus in parliament, and that they be disabled from having any manner of estate in land or rent as regards Nicholas, and Eleanor if she [assent] at any time, and that her father, or any other of her blood, can have suit to attaint him according to the form of the statute, notwithstanding that the said Eleanor be now covet of the said Nicholas.’
​

​So there we have it: two reasons for the change of circumstance - the ‘alleged’ elopement of Eleanor and the protection of the wealth of the family.(4)
​
I should not take sides; I know I said that this petition was a step forward in ‘establishing a framework to punish those who committed an act of rape and a significant event in the history of the Statute of Rape;’ of course it was; we must be grateful for that. I cannot help thinking, however, that the well-being of women in these cases was secondary.

The image above is an initial from the charter granting Gaveston the Earldom.The bird on the top is not a black bird but a Cornish chough, one of three icons of the county's coat of arms. It reflects the bird's importance in Cornish culture. In Cornish legend, it is said that King Arthur transformed into a chough when he died, with the red feet and beak representing his violent, bloody end.
In 1312, Gaveston too came to a rather grizzly end.

​On the 19th August 1382, Thomas Blount received his first royal commission; he was tasked with arresting and bringing to justice ‘those who had assaulted and robbed Alice West and her children’ and ‘ravished their daughter, Eleanor.’ For the Blounts, this was no ordinary order, for Alice West was the elder Thomas Blount’s step-daughter, and the half-sister of Thomas the younger. Eleanor, his niece, was just fifteen.

​An account of the order states

‘Thomas Blount the elder, Thomas Blount the younger and John Butus- thorn to arrest and deliver to the gaol of Winchester Nicholas Clyfton, Philip Oldefrende, Richard Attefelde, servant of Nicholas Pauncefot, John Hobel- dod, Roger Bordeaux of London, tailor, John Kelfeld, John Skypton, Goucelyn, servant of Nicholas Clyfton, and William Parkere, who lately rose in insurrection with a great company at Lynhurst, co. Southampton, assaulted Alice the wife of Thomas West, knight, Thomas their son and Eleanor; their daughter, and others, at Mallewod in the New Forest, and robbed them of a horse, value 191., a saddle, value 60s., a silver-gilt girdle, value 60s., pearls and other precious stones, value 131. 6s. 8d., and linen and woollen cloths, value 6l. 13s. 4d. in addition to which Nicholas Clyfton ravished Eleanor.’ (1)

In the medieval world, the word ravishment was used to cover the crimes of abduction or ‘taking away with no sexual violation’; it could also mean the ‘carrying away of a woman to violate her sexually.’ Confusingly, the Latin word raptus/rape also means to seize.

​​Two petitions brought by Eleanor’s parents in October state.

‘ … Nicholas de Clyfton persuaded Alice West, her son, daughter and others of her household to ride out into the New Forest with him, and there he ambushed them with armed men, attacked them, and ravished their daughter Eleanor; because of this attack Alice is ill and likely to die. They request a remedy.’

This attack on Eleanor was one of 112 cases of rape and ravishment brought to court between 1382 and 1399.(2) In fact, it was probably the first case brought under Richard II’s amendments to Edward I's 1275 statute. (3) (4)
​
Thomas and Alice brought a second petition before Parliament three months later, referring to the outcome of the previous case - the punishment of those convicted of the rape.

‘Thomas West and Alice his wife, state that at the last parliament held at Westminster on the Monday after last Michaelmas, they complained that ‘Nicholas de Clifton at Malwood in the New Forest, and feloniously ravished their daughter, Eleanor, and because of the suit a state was made to punish such rapes in future.(5) They ask that the punishments included in that statute might be applied to Nicholas and Eleanor.’ The statute (6) mentioned in the text states: The penalties of the man and woman, where a woman ravished doth consent. In an appeal of rape the defendant shall not wage battle.’

Alice was clearly traumatised, and Eleanor - well, I cannot begin to imagine how she felt.

In this new petition, Alice and Thomas asked that Eleanor be included in said punishment. Clearly, circumstances had changed between the petitions. I don’t know what happened; perhaps it was time for all parties to think, to get things right. For Alice and Thomas, it was not just the fate of other young girls, but they had the future of their own daughter to consider. Poor Eleanor’s fate was to marry Nicholas Clifton. (7) Traditionally, the marriage of the man concerned and the victim after the offence was often seen as the best solution - virginity, being a sign of virtue, while losing your virginity before marriage was a sign of disgrace. So, Eleanor became Lady Clifton, and by 1395 she had two sons. I have to wonder what life was like for her, for the Cliftons had a history of violence and insurrection.

Nicholas’s father was William Clifton of Clifton, Westby and Goosnargh. In 1337, he was accused of ‘taking possession’ of twenty marks belonging to the Abbot of Vale Royal, and ‘forcibly obstructing the rector in the collecting of tithes within his manors.’ He is also stated as ‘inflicting certain injuries upon the hunting palfrey’ of the same rector.

Nicholas Clifton, described by Froissart as a ‘young knight’, came into his inheritance in 1365. From 1389 to 1392, Clifton was a lieutenant of John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, probably holding the post of Governor of the Castle of Ham in Picardy (8) and where he may have met Thomas Talbot, who in 1393 led a rebellion in the north because of threatened loss of Richard II’s claim to the throne of France. Whether Clifton was part of this I haven’t discovered; however, he certainly led a rebellion of his own. His antics were suspiciously troubling for an order to ‘bring him before the king and council in the chancery, as he had disregarded a previous summons.’

Nicholas Clifton was a man to whom violence came easily; that probably started way before he met the family of Thomas West. He must have been a sweet talker too; how else did he persuade Alice to venture into the New Forest? Clifton’s actions were certainly made with malice aforethought.

Thomas and Alice’s petition was a step forward in establishing a framework to punish those who committed an act of rape - a significant event in the history of the Statute of Rape.

This episode in the life of my Blount family was not a one-off. Alice Blount was kept indoors by her mother for fear of abduction following the death of her first husband; and they would have known of the abduction of Margaret Audley by her husband’s uncle.

​​How very frightened must these women have been.

1
Calendar Patent Rolls 1381-1385
2
Emma Hawkes: Preliminary Notes on Consent in the 1382 Rape and Ravishment Laws of Richard II
3
Rape Act 1275
4
The suggested punishment for these heinous acts in the 11th century was castration and blinding; this was later changed to imprisonment and a fine.
5
The petition highlights the ‘legal and social context of the time, as well as the efforts to address the issue of sexual violence. It is a testament to the concerns of the time regarding the protection of women and children from sexual assault and the desire for legal action to ensure justice.’ Thomas West and the Statute of Rapes, 1382. Oxford University Press.
6 Ric. II. Stat 2

7 I bequethe to Sir Nichot *Cliston knyght, and to Alianore his wif, my doughter, and to Thomas Clistofi here sone - The will of Lady Alice West of Hampshire 1395
8
History of the Fylde of Lancashire

​Edward I ordered that six month old Gwenllian be sent to Sempringham Priory, where it is noted that she arrived ‘in her cradle.’ Gwenllian was never rescued, and no rebellion was made in her name, so she remained in this isolated priory for fifty-four years until her death on the 7th June in 1337.

How long did it take for her to be forgotten by her own people I wonder, and she ever speak Welsh? A charter to the priory states that money was given for her keep, so it is likely that she did know who she was. However, nothing is known of Gwenllian’s time in Lincolnshire, but we do know that she was there because priory records list her as Wenilane ~ her signature shows that she referred to herself as Wentilane.

When Edward hid Gwenllian from those Welsh rebels who might use her as a figurehead, he also hid her cousin Gwladys, the daughter of Dafydd ap Gruffud, at the Gilbertine Priory of Sixhills near Market Rasen. Gwladys died in 1336.

​Research-wise, I feel I am going round and round, like being on one of those children's roundabouts in a park. I want to get off, but I am afraid that if I do, I may miss something fascinating; if I don’t, I will never move on!

My historical playground is the stretch of coastline known as the Axminster to Lyme Regis Undercliff (itself part of the Jurassic Coastline), which has been described as an area of outstanding beauty. I mean, who would want to stop looking at views like this, or learn about its ‘mosaic habitat’ of woodland, scrub, cliffs and a seashore littered with boulders, seakale and rock samphire.

​How can I move on when I read a description such as this:

‘Here you must calculate every step and nicely test the mossy hummocks before fully trusting them; finally emerging upon an open plain midway between the sea below and tall cliffs above; a plain where rocks of every shape and size have been hurled down in extraordinary confusion. Here, the explorer requires not a little of the suppleness and agility of the chamois, and growing at last weary of bounding hazardously from crag to crag, climbs with extraordinary labour, past monstrous grey, ivy-grown spires and pinnacles of limestone, up a winding footpath in the face of the cliff, to where the Whitlands Coastguard station looks down upon the tumbled scene. From this point, the coastguard path lies along the cliffs' edge, to where the cliffs die down to the waterside in the deep coombe in whose woods the sea comes lapping at Charton Bay. Here, a limekiln, that looks romantic enough for a castle, stands on the beach, with the dense woods climbing backwards, and in the sky the roofs and tower and chimneys of Rousdon.(1)

William Braose, 4th Baron Braose was the most famous of the family. He had been one of King John's most loyal supporters and was charged, in 1201, with the capture of John's nephew, Arthur of Brittany. This action, and the fact he owed money to the king, would be William's downfall - Arthur disappeared never to be seen again, and William suspected that John had ordered the fifteen year old boys death.  ​

King John, in turn, was also suspicious of William, and became increasingly concerned about his loyalty. Within five years of the disappearance of Arthur, John's paranoia grew to the point that he ruthlessly hounded the family. History doesn't say whether William used his inside knowledge of the situation with Arthur to his advantage, but it is thought that his wife Maud Valery may have said too much about what she knew. Whoever said what to whom, the king took it out on Maud, imprisoning her, along with her eldest son in a cell either at Windsor or Corfe castles, where they were left to starve to death. William had previously fled and died in exile in France. ​

William Braose, Ist Baron Braose feature in the life of my ancestor John Umfreville

Medieval grants were often documented through charters, which required confirmation. The confirmation process involved witnesses and seals to make the grant official. Confirmation grants, such as those issued by the Braose family in the 13th century, served to officially recognise and legitimise ownership, rights and privileges. They served to maintain the social order and prevent future disputes.

​​It was at this time that freehold estates turned into what we now know as parishes, and along with the development of these parishes new towns appeared, and this in turn heralded the arrival of the borough - places where tenements created by rural lords were to be held in burgage - that is, buildings/land held by payment of rent. The burgage system originated before the time of the conquest and had a real impact on English towns and cities. The growth and prosperity of the town of Tetbury in Gloucestershire, can be credited to William Braose, 4th Baron Braose, who relinquished his feudal rights in his manor and established ten burgages. The merchants who held them are named in his charter.​

The family of Valery held Tetbury from 1148 until they were deprived of it in 1197 during the tenure of Thomas Valery. It was then granted to William Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, probably on his marriage, c1166, to Maud Valery. ​(1) However, Tetbury was confiscated in 1208 following a major fall out with King John which resulted in the cruel deaths, in 1211, of Maud and her eldest son William, (2) In October 1216, Margaret Braose (3) was granted (4) ‘three carucates of land by King John, to be cleared and cultivated, in the forest of Aconbury, to found a religious house there for the salvation of the souls of her father, her mother and her brother' (5) and from which the nuns received rent from the Tetbury burgages at a rate of £148d annually.  ​

The family's holdings were restored to them following the king’s death in 1216, and the ownership of Tetbury ping ponged between members of the Braose family and several other nobles until 1226 when it was granted to John Braose, the grandson of the 4th Lord of Bramber. John held the manor until his death in 1232 when it reverted to the crown during the minority of his son William, later 1st Baron Braose. William came of age in 1254; he held the manor until his death in 1291 after which it passed to Peter, his son by his third wife Mary Roos.  

​​The original charter of William Braose was first confirmed by his brother Reginald. In 1230, it was confirmed (6) by William’s son John. In 1268, a further grant was made, possibly by William’s stepmother, to the Tetbury burgesses - "to hold to them also y liberties and ffiree customes contained in the Britain Law, in a ample manner as the burgesses of Hereford had or used." (7) John Braose died in a riding accident on his estate at Bramber in 1232, leaving William, 1st Baron Braose as his heir. He had married the daughter of Llywelyn the Great and had served under both Henry III and his son Edward I.  

One of the first things Edward did when he became king in 1272, was to make sure that the crown profited from growing trade. In 1278, he ordered an enquiry examining liberties within his realm. Under the Statue of Gloucester, he declared ‘We must find out what is ours, and due to us, and others what is theirs, and due to them.’ It was under this statue that in 1287, he brought a Writ of Quo Warranto (8) (by what warrant) against William ‘for the liberties he claimed in Tetbury.’ William’s case was brought under a Court Leet ‘where upon it was found that Tetbury was an ancient borough town and that in the same he had a market and fair’ (9)  

On the 20th January 1290, a year before his death, William inspected the charter made by his father to the nuns of Aconbury Abbey, and two days later, in London he confirmed and put his seal to it. (10)  
 
‘...In that village which lies in the village of Tetbury, the burgage of Reginald Palmer (11) is ten and eight pence, and a stipend. Of the burgage of Richard Hiredmon twelve pence, Of the burgage of William the Hunter ten and eight pence: Of the burgage of John Cooper twelve pence: Of the burgage of William Rufus two pence: Of the relict of John Godin twelve pence: Of the burgage of Richard de Themeld five pence: Of the burgage of Thomas five pence: Of the burgage of the relict of Rad. five pence; of the burgage of John de Machim five pence: And of the two forelands, fifteen pence; namely, of the foreland of John W..., which lies before the church land, eight pence; and of the foreland of Roger Brumier, which lies behind his burgage, eight pence; to be received from the hands of the aforesaid and their heirs on the day of the blessed Andrew the Apostle, so that all these priests Burghs and their heirs, are all intending to answer the priests of the house of the Hospital of Aconbury by reason of the priests of the burgages and the liberties granted in my town of Tetbury from all the zeal of the church, and from all the exactions, and from the demands; and they have full liberties in my town of Tetbury, and in the common pastures fruitful tenor of the privileges of the house of the Hospital of John, of the land of Jerusalem, ,......’ I desire that these donations of mine, ratified and valid, may remain, having confirmed my charter to the above; and I have confirmed by my signature; these witnesses are John de Umfreville; (12) then steward; Magistrate Richard de Burleia; Geoffrey de Chaplain, then procurator of the House of Comeberi; Stephen Chaplain of the same place; Allan Chaplain of Tettebiria; Roger de Wathtiam; Philip de Tettebiria; William de Redmerton; Walter de Upton; Joanna Deacon who wrote this Charter and many others.’ (13)  ​

 Feoffees of Tetbury 

 
​

Quite a bit of what we know about the 14th century bishops can be found in their registers; however, Thomas Bytton’s is missing, and this may account for the little we know about this man’s life and career. It would seem, from what is known, that he was a decent man and well thought of among his contemporaries. The clergy who, after his death, asked for the faithful within his dioceses ‘to pray for the soul of the good memory of Thomas, formerly Bishop of Exeter.’ In his will, he asked that one penny be given to 10,212 poor people.

Bytton was elected for the position of Bishop of Exeter in 1291 and consecrated on 16th March 1292 he held this position for sixteen years. He died on 21st September 1307 being John Arundell's guardian for under a year. His wardship was transferred to Walter Stapeldon.

The new Bishop of Exeter, unlike Bytton, was disliked during his time in the post on account of his corrupt and greedy ways. He was considered ‘beyond measure eager, and during his office greatly affected by wealth’, and this can be seen in his guardianship of Arundell. No sooner was he holding the wardship than he was selling off parts of his inheritance. One of the first to receive anything was his brother! A few years later, Stapeldon sold the wardship to a local noble, and later, having no real connection to the boy, was still attempting to make a profit from the arrangement of his marriage into his own family.

To cut Walter Stapeldon a bit of slack, he did have a lot to contend with once Isabella of France and Roger Mortimer arrived to overthrow Edward II.

​Under the system primogeniture, the eldest son inherited the family estates and the youngest were required to make their own way in the world, either studying law or taking up a position within the church. Walter Stapeldon was educated at Oxford University, he is first mentioned there in 1286 where he is described as a ‘master’, this suggests that he had already graduated with a degree from the university. In 1300, he can be found in an official capacity under Thomas Bytton, Bishop of Exeter. Within five years he was a canon and precentor at Exeter Cathedral, and by 1306 he had graduated as a doctor of canon and civil law. These qualifications led to a career in royal service where he went on several diplomatic missions in Gascony. Following the death of Thomas Bytton in 1307, it was Stapeldon who was his successor. He was consecrated at Canterbury on the 13th October 1308 and enthroned at Exeter early in December. John Prince, in the Worthies of Devon, wrote of Stapeldon's enthronement "Before him Sir William Courtenay, Knt, his steward; after him followed abundance of gentlemen of place and quality. The whole street whereon he walked was covered with black cloth, which, as soon as he was passed over, was taken up again, and given to the poor. When he came to the entrance into the close of the cathedral, called Broadgate, he was received by the canons and vicars choral in their habits, who, singing the Te Deum as they went along, led the new prelate to the church with great pomp and solemnity, and placed him in the episcopal throne. Thus ended, they all hasten to a splendid feast, prepared by the bishop for abundance of nobility, clergy, and others, at the expense well near of one year's value of the bishoprick, which in those days amounted very high." ​

​In 1294, Stapeldon can be found as rector of Aveton Gifford in Devon, and he appears in several records in connection with his home country and the neighbouring County of Cornwall.  As Bishop of Exeter Stapeldon he was granted several wardships - an appointment as guardian of fatherless minors of English nobles. One young man was eight year old John Arundell of Lanhurne in Cornwall whose father had died between 1306 and 1309. Arundell's wardship had been granted to Stapeldon in 1309, an he was quick to sell some of his charges land. One of the first recipients was his brother Richard who received an acre of land and the advowson of the Church of St Columba in the town of St Columb Major, and Stapeldon himself would later recieve, in the form of a 'gift' the whole of the town itself. ​

In 1311/12, a case was brought against Stapeldon by Thomas Lercedeakne and heard at the Court of Kings Bench by William de Bereford. The case was most certainly linked to the wardship of Arundell. This plea mentioned selling the wardship for £100 and certain lands that went with it, it is likely that a promise had been made, monies paid and then Stapeldon attempted to renay on the deal or extract more money. Stapeldon lost the case and was forced to 'remit and quitclaim' costs. Just over a year later Walter Stapeldon did sell the wardship of John Arundell to the aforementioned Thomas Lercedeakne for £100 (3) Wardships were a lucrative business, and Stapeldon made one last attempt to profit from this family. In 1316 he tried twice, unsuccessfully, to marry John Arundell to his own niece Joan Kaignes (4)

​On the 12th November 1320, after being made Lord Treasurer of England in the September, the king granted him the power of hue and cry (5) in the county of Cornwall. The king's favour also brought him the lordship of the Hundred of Budleigh in which he was able to grant two new fairs in in the town of Crediton and one in Ashburton, Chudleigh and Clist, and it is written of him that there is ‘ample testament to his dilgence in visiting he diocese, and how attentive he was to the adminstration of holy orders’ (6) One of his last duties in the West Country was in September of 1324 when he was at Lawhitton (7) where, on the 9th August, he addressed the Dean and Chapter of Cornwall, stressing the need to enforce standards and order within the church. He also pointed out the neglected state of several of the parish churches, ordering the clergy to look into the substantial repairs needed. At the same time, he granted the village a Wednesday market. 

​Walter Stapeldon was ‘anxious for the enlightenment of the public mind and the extension of the circle of knowledge.’ For this purpose, he purchased Hart Hall (referred to as Stapledon Hall) in Oxford to house twelve poor students. Later it became Exeter Collage, here his intention was to educate clergy for his diocese, and during the first centuries the college drew students from mainly Devon and Cornwall.  

On a national level Stapeldon’s star was on the rise. He is known to have attended parliament, missing no sittings between 1313 and his death. In 1315 he was appointed to Edward II’s council and was one of the king’s most loyal supporters, and despite many of the country’s bishops disliking both Hugh Despencers, Walter Stapeldon was not one of them. Kathryn Warner (8) writes of Stapledon ‘Bishop Walter was sometimes seen in the 1320s merely as a creature of the two Hugh Despensers’ which she says was ‘unfair and inaccurate’ he was, she continues ‘too intelligent and able to be merely a yes-man of the king and his over-mighty chamberlain Hugh the Younger.’  ​

Walter Stapeldon’s support of the king and his favourites was ultimately his undoing. One of his early connections with the Isabella and Mortimer affair was in 1323 when he was ordered by the king to take over from Stephen Segrave, 3rd Baron Segrave, under whose watch rebel Roger Mortimer escaped from the Tower of London. Mortimer eventually fled to France, followed a year later by Isabella. Walter Stapeldon was disliked by Edward’s queen, and blamed when the king deprived her of money, and confiscated all her land's property, which included Cornwall. Stapeldon unpopular in London too, and in July 1325, he was dismissed as Lord Treasurer of England and replaced by William Melton.  He was accused, justly I think, of avarice and corruption (9) He was ultra modum cupidus et durante officio suo uehementer dives effectus (beyond measure eager and during his office greatly affectd by wealth) Despite that, and maybe to get him out of the way, Edward ordered that he accompany Isabella and Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward III, to France on his behalf to do homage to the new French king, Charles IV. It was while Isabella was in France that history tells us that she conspired with the exiled Roger Mortimer to overthrow her husband. Isabella and Mortimer’s invasion of England would lead to riots in the capital, the capture and execution of the Despencers, the abdication of Edward II and the gruesome death of Walter Stapeldon.  
​

Stapeldon’s death, on the 15th October 1326, was a horrific one. It appears he returned home from France in fear of his life, and in London he encountered a mob as he was riding home along Eldeadanes Lane with his steward John Padyinton and his nephew William Walle (10) Shouts of ‘traitor’ could be heard above the noise, terrified, the three men rode at speed to St Paul’s Cathedral but did not make it through the door because they were recognised  All three were captured and pulled from their horses, striped and beheaded (11) Walter Stapeldon’s head was presented to Isabella at Gloucester and bodies buried in ‘rubbish outside the new episcopal residence, afterwards called Exeter House, then in the process of erection’ (12) John Leland, the Tudor antiquary translated a French chronicle, written by William de Pakington in which he wrote ​"but after xi. weeks, at the request of Queue Isabel's lettres, the bishop's body was carried to the church thereby, ajid after to Excestre, and the two esquires' bodyes were carreyed to St. Clement's Chirch, and there buried."  

It was at Exeter Cathedral that Stapeldon was finally laid to rest. ​

​Walter Stapeldon was a generous benefactor of Exeter Cathedral, and his magnificent tomb can be seen in the cathedral to the left of the alter. Another spectacular piece of religious art, the eighteen metre high Bishops Throne, made of oak felled in Devon  was commissioned by Stapeldon in 1312.

​​​​Wallace was handed over to Segrave following his capture, and he had escorted him to London and been put at the head of the special commission to try him. He was also responsible for Wallace's custody during his imprisonment, had pronounced the sentence of treason against him and had attended his execution in London in the summer of 1305.

These were cruel times, and men like Wallace, who was deemed to be a traitor, met a barbaric death. His death was a punishment, but it was also a message. This message was the fate of his body, which was divided into quarters and despatched to Scotland for his supporters to see, and it was Segrave's job to transport Wallace's limbs to be displayed in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling and Perth.

John Segrave's came from a long line of important English Barons. His father had been wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Evesham and his great grandfather, Stephen Segrave was Chief Justicar and Controller of the Tower of London during the reign of Henry III.
​