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The Walker Monument South of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland

The Walker Monument South of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland


The Walker Monument, approximately twenty metres South of the Chancel of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland.
HEARE LIETH THE BODIE - part of The Walker Monument inscription


The Walker Monument, which is to the south of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland, is quite remarkable.  With regard to this type of gravestone, it is the oldest that I have seen in a local parish setting, by quite some margin.  There are some seventeenth century stone slabs at St Mary's church in Penwortham.  However, this is nearly a century older.


The Walker Monument, approximately twenty metres South of the Chancel of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland.
The Walker Monument - south of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland



The Walker Monument is approximately twenty metres South of the Chancel of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland.  It is a raised monumental slab that is probably from 1588.  It commemorates William Walker, who was the Clerk of the Parish of Leyland, and who died in 1588.  The sandstone, rectangular slab is on a low stone base, and the surface bears a very unusual life-sized primitive figure drawn with incised line of flowing simplicity. The margin has a continuous inscription round all four sides, beginning at the head.  This reads as follows:


HEARE LIETH THE BODIE OF

WILLIAM WALKER BATCHELOROF MUSICKE OF THIS

PARISHE OF LEYLAND FOR

THE SPACE OF XXV YEARES AND DYED THE XX APRIL 1588


(the name "Walker" now worn and almost illegible). 


The Walker Monument, approximately twenty metres South of the Chancel of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland.
The Walker Monument - south of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland


There are also inscriptions above the head of the figure:


Musica Mentis Medicina

Maestae

(translation: "Music the Medicine of a Sad Soul"); to the left

of the head the initials:

B

R:C


and below the feet another Latin inscription:


Nulla die

sine Linea


(approximate translation: "No day without a purpose"); and left

of this the initials:


W.F.

Esq


(probably William Farington).


The Walker Monument, approximately twenty metres South of the Chancel of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland.
The Walker Monument - south of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland


There is another aspect to the history that makes it interesting. It may have a connection with Shakespeare, since Shakespeare as a young man is thought to have been in the households of the Hoghton family of Lea and Hoghton and the Hesketh family of Rufford during the 1580s (ref. E.A.J. Honigmann Shakespeare: the 'lost years', Manchester 1985); William Farington of Worden has

been suggested as the model for the character of Malvolio in Twelfth Night; and the first line of this play ("If music be the food of love, play on") clearly echoes the first Latin inscription quoted above. 


At the time of an inspection, in June 1992, the monument was found to have been seriously disturbed (though not defaced). The slab had been turned at right angles and pushed off its base.  Thankfully, it didn't appear to sustain any damage and it is now back in its rightful place.


The Walker Monument, approximately twenty metres South of the Chancel of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland.
The Walker Monument - south of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland


I discovered it through the map on the Historic England website.  I have stood near it, if not next to it, on a number of previous occasions, and did not realise its significance.  It is a listed building, with a Grade of II* (sometimes said as 'two star').  Obviously, it is not a 'building' in the conventional sense, but there isn't a separate Heritage Category for say, listed gravestone or listed structure. 


The Walker Monument Approximately 20 Metres South of Chancel of Church of St Andrew, as listed on the National Heritage List for England.


https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1290442


~


Shakespeare, the lost years by Honigmann, E. A. J
Publication date: 1985
Internet Archive is a non-profit library

https://archive.org/details/shakespearelosty0000honi

Note: you are required to make an account to read the book, but it is free to do so and not too onerous a process

~




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Location: Church Rd, Leyland PR25 3EL, UK

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