The Breretons of Cheshire, England

The above can be translated as follows:
The Breretons of Cheshire
dicta capella ecclesia parochialis
facta fuit, antecessores dicti
Gulielmi Brereton militis, hujus
ecclesia de Brereton patroni, in
hac cancella sepulti fuerunt, proeter
eos qui in externis regnis
et comitatibus moriebantur.
Copyright © B. F. Brereton-Goodwin 2001 (brereton.faye@gmail.com) January 2013 (website edition)
Page 28 of 58
In ancient times when this Church of Brereton was a donative chapel (i.e. presented by a patron without reference to the
bishop) within the parish of Astbury, the ancestors of William Brereton, knight, Baron of Malpas, who erected this
monument in 1618 AD, had been buried in the Churchyard of Astbury, where ancient monuments of some of them still
remain at this date, marked in English with the words Knightes burialls. But after the said chapel was made a parochial
Church, the ancestors of the said William Brereton, knight, patron of this Chapel of Brereton, were buried in this chancel,
except those who died in kingdoms and countries abroad.
Sir William Brereton Monument
In his book, The Story of Brereton Hall, Arthur Moir 45 states that there is a magnificent Brereton Monument (1618) on
the north wall of the sanctuary. The flambuoyant carvings surround a table which records, in Latin, the exhumation of the
remains of Sir William Brereton's ancestors from Astbury churchyard and their re-interment in the chancel of Brereton
church. The Brereton arms, with twelve quarterings, are particularly fine. The family crest (the muzzled bear) is featured
several times in the surround, as is the Brereton shield (two horizontal black bars.) Above the monument are certain pieces
of funerary armour from the Brereton family: a helmet (surmounted by a black muzzled bear's head), a pair of gauntlets, one
spur and a decorative band.
Moir’s also reported in his booklet that: I dimly remember that tattered silk hanging from the wall in the chancel in
Brereton Church, but it has since disappeared. My father in his capacity as churchwarden of the church had the armour and
gauntlets restored from their dilapidated condition and cleaned by experts in 1905. Today there remains a pair of
gauntlet, a helmet, rowel (spiked revolving disc) spur and a decorative band. There is also a muzzled bear
featured above and below the funerary armour.
Monument to William Smethwicke and Frances Colclough Smethwicke
Another interesting monument, located in the south aisle, is that of William Smethwicke and his wife, Frances
Colclough. Both figures were painted and have Jacobean ruffs. The hands would have been clasped, a hood is
thrown over the lady's head and a book placed on each side of her. The hands, however, have been broken off
(according to the Parish booklet - presumably by puritan enthusiasts, who found pious gestures offensive).
Under the male figure on a tablet of black marble is inscribed:
Here lieth interred the body of William Smethwicke, of Smethwicke, who mindful of his death, erected this monument for
himself and his wife, pious to God, pious in good works.
William Smethwicke was born October 1 1551 and died June 6th, 1643. He and Frances were married for 58
years, a remarkable achievement in those days.
45 Arthur L. Moir, Prebendary of Hereford Cathedral (Dedicated to the Staff and Scholars of Brereton Hall School) The Story of Brereton Hall,
Cheshire (Reproduced by Johnsons of Nantwich Ltd., 1989)