Alabaster at Colwick

In the church of St.John the Baptist at Colwick is the massive alabaster tomb of Sir John Byron (d.1609) bearing his effigy and that of his wife, Alice.

This tomb is described by George Fellows' in his Arms, Armour & Alabaster Round Nottingham (Nottingham: H.B. Saxton, 1907) from which the following is drawn:-

Sir John is shown in plate armour with a skirt of lances of metal, a frill round his neck and wrists, a long chain round his shoulders and a short-hilted sword.  He sports a moustache and a long beard.

Both effigies - Sir John and Alice - show evidence of having, at one time, been coloured.

Round the edge of the tomb is an inscription recording the names of Sir John and Alice and those of their children.  Within an arch is a long, virtually illegible inscription in Latin.  On the panels of the structure, meanwhile, are some laudatory verses (nearly illegible) which begin "Let ffame wyth golden trumppetts blast" and three shields of arms.