This remarkably fine stone effigy of a knight in a suit of chain armour is one of only three known instances in
England in which the visor is drawn down the face.
Cussans dates the monument 1160-1220 AD, and states that in 1200 William de Lanvalei was appointed Governor of
Colchester Castle and died in 1211. His son, also William, succeeded him in the governor-ship and died in 1217.
Whichever of these two the effigy represents, there is no evidence, as has been suggested, that he was a
Crusader. The theory that cross-legged figures denoted a visit to the Holy Land has long been disproved. It may be
well, briery to state the reasons why this idea is an impossibility: Several effigies of known Crusaders are not
represented cross-legged; several effigies of knights who did not go to the Holy Land are thus modelled; the
effigies of various ladies are cross-legged; many of the figures represented in this way are of later date than
the Crusades, some even as late as the 17th Century. The fact is that this attitude was purely a conventional
one and was for some time in vogue with English sculptors. It is also known on the Continent and, if it had been
a crusading symbol, it would surely be found throughout Christendom.
With regard to this figure there would appear to be a tradition that it does not represent a knight buried here,
but was brought here from either Temple Dinsley or Baldock. This is highly improbable. The only shred of evidence
that favours this theory being that the figure's base does not fit the recess but, in all probability, originally
stood on the floor of the chancel, as do those effigies in the Temple Church, London. Subsequently, when that part
of the church was rebuilt, a recess was made in the wall of the south aisle and the figure placed therein.
If the earthworks known as Walkern Castle are post Norman, their construction may reasonably be assumed to be the
work of one of the Lanvaleis, probably the ealier of the two. On the other hand, the site has long been known as
the Bury, and this usually denotes a Saxon homestead. The Manor House has always been on or near the site of the
present house at Walkern Park and, more probably, seems to have been the residence of the Lords of the Manor, both
Saxon and Plantagenet.
(Adapted from the writings of W.B. Gerish)
The style, workmanship and choice of Purbeck marble for the figure support a theory that the effigy could have
been made in the same workshop, near the present St. Paul's Cathedral, as the figures in the 12th Century Temple
Church, London.