Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1854-10-26

LOHuOu MUGS dAu euO3iCS iuhAAShCo viz
following interesting account
ga few weeks ago, in clearing out an
old chapel at Nuncham Regis, Warwick.
shire, which had been pulled down. al
but the belfry tower, forty years since,
we thought it necessary to trench the
whole space, that we might more GER
tainly mark out the boundaries of the
building. as we wished to restore it ii
some measure to its former state. Il
had been used as stack yard and de.
pository for rubbish by the tenants Of
the farm on which it was ever since its
dilapidation. We began to trench al
the west end, and came on a great many
bones and skeletons, from which the
cofins had crumbled away, till, finding
the earth had been moved, we went
deeper and discovered leaden coffin,
quite perfect, without date or inscription
of any kind. There had been an outer
wooden coffin which was decayed, but
quantities of the black rotten wood
were all around it. We cut the lead
and folded back the top, so as not to
destroy it; beneath was a wooden coffin
in good preservation, and also without
any inscription.
As soon as the leaden top was rolled
back, a most overpowering aromatic
smell diffused itself all over the place
We then unfastened the inner coffin
and found the body of man embalmed
with great care, and heaps of rosemary
and aromatic leaves piled over him.
On examining the body more closely,
we found that he had been beheaded.-
The head was separately wrapped up IN
linin, and the linen shirt which covered
the body was drawn quite over the neck
where the head had been cut off. The
head was laid straight with the body,
and where the joining of the head and
neck should have been it was tied round
with broad black ribbon. His hands
were crossed on his breast, the wrists
were tied with black ribbon, and the
thumbs were tied together with black
ribbon. He had peaked beard and a
quantity of long brown hair, curled and
clotted with blood, round his neck
The only mark on anything about him
was on the linen on his chest, just above
which his hands were crossed; on 1t
were the letters II. B. worked in tlack
silk.
On trenching towards the channel,
we came on four leaden coffins, laid side
by side, with inscriptions on each. One
contained the body of Francis, Earl oi
Chichester, and Lord Dunsmure, 1858
the next the body of Audrey, Countess
of Chichester, 1862; another the body
of Lady Audrey Leigh, their daughter,
1910; and the third the body Of Sir
John Anderson, son of Lady Chiches-
ter by her first husband. We opened
the coffin of Lady Audrey Leigh, and
found her perfectly embalmed, and III
entire preservation, her flesh quite
plump, as if she were alive, her face
very beautiful, and her hands exceeding.
ly small and not wasted. She wa;
dressed in fine linen, trimmed all ovel
with point lace, and two rows of lace
fiat across her forehead. She looked
exactly as if she were lying asleep, ant
her beauty was very perfect, even he
eyelashes and eyebrows were quite per
feet, and her eyes were closed; no par
of her face or figure was at all fallen in
We also opened Lady Chichester's cof
fin, but with her the embalming had
perfectly failed. She was a skeleton
though the coffin was filed with aromatic
leaves. Her hair, however, was az
fresh as if she had lived; it was long
thick, and as soft and glossy as that o
child, and of a perfect auburn color.
In trenching on one side where the
altar had been, we found another leader
coffin with an inscription. 1t contained
the body of a Dame Marie Browne
daughter of one of the Leighs, and o
the Lady Marie, daughter of Lord
Chancellor Brackley. This body wa;
also quite perfect, and embalmed princi'
pally with very small coffee-colored
seed, with which the coffin was nearly
filled, and it also had SO powerful per-
fume that it filled the whole place
The linen, ribbons, &C., were quite
strong and good in all these instances,
and rem aimed so after exposure to the
air. We kept piece out of each cof-
fin, and had it washed without its being
at all destroyed. Young Lady Audrey
had earrings in her ears, black enam-
elled serpents. The perfume of the
herbs and gums used in embalming
them was so sickening that we were al
i'll after inhaling it, and most of the
men employed in digging up the cOffin'
were i'll also. Ny object in sending
this is, if possible, to discover who the
beheaded man was. The chapel is OF
the estate of Lord John Scott, who in
herited it from his paternal grandmoth'
er, the Duchess of Buclench, daughter
of the Duke of Montague, into his
family. Nuneham Regis and other pos
sessions in Warwickshire came by the
marriage of his grandfather with the
daughter of Lord Dunsmore, Earl o
Chichester.
II - oflar avn