In 1812 George Richard 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke engaged in some property exchange with the ecclesiastical authorities. He pledged to build a new rectory and a stable block, plus the installation of some new paths around the church of St. Mary’s. In exchange he grabbed a small area of land between Lydiard House and the churchyard, re-routeing the ancient road and closing the South Porch, the entrance to the church since the 15th century.
Until the St. Mary’s Conservation Project began in 2016 the porch was a little used area, but with the conservation of a 15th century wall painting depicting a Renaissance Christ with long wavy blond hair, the porch is open to the public again; and clearly obvious in the porch floor are the three Hardyman family graves.
The Hardyman family lived in the parish of Lydiard Tregoze from at least the 17th century when Thomas Hardyman senior served as steward to Lady Johanna St. John at the Lydiard Estate. His son, also named Thomas, married Henrietta Pleydell in the church of St. Mary’s on October 25, 1704. Thomas was 30 and Henrietta 15.
Henrietta was the daughter of Edmund Pleydell MP for Wootton Bassett and his wife Anne Morton. The Pleydell family occupied Midgehall Farm, a property once owned by Stanley Abbey. The 14th century north aisle in the St Mary’s Church where two family memorial plaques hang, was known as the Midgehall aisle.
Thomas and Henrietta had five children. When Henrietta died in 1754 aged 65 she had survived three of them. Of the four slabs in the South Porch floor, three bear inscriptions – Thomas, Henrietta and Mary Hardyman. Thomas died in infancy in 1707. Henrietta in 1738 aged 29 and Mary in 1744 aged 33.
In her will dated November 6, 1751, Henrietta left £20 to the poor of the parish of Lydiard Tregoze. Henrietta repeats a bequest of £500 made to her in her father’s will that she wishes to pass on to her youngest surviving son Edmund. There is no mention of her son Walter who served as MP for Wootton Bassett 1710-1715. His memorial plaque was situated in the nave until a concealed niche was discovered behind it during the conservation project. The plaque which reads: Walter Hardyman Armiger/Many years in the Commission of the Peace/2nd October 1774 aged 69 was relocated to the South Porch along with that of his wife Jane, close to the graves of his siblings.
Henrietta made few personal bequests in her will. To Mary Dixon, daughter of John Dixon, apothecary of Swindon she left ‘my best Suite of Laced Linnen.’ The rest of her wearing apparel (‘except Velvets and my own needle work’) Henrietta left to Mary Smith, mantua maker of Marlborough, Elizabeth Dick, the wife of Mr Richard Dick of Wootton Bassett and ‘the two maid Servants attending my person at the time of my decease.’
But perhaps the most poignant reference in her will are the instructions regarding her burial.
‘I direct that I shall be Interred in the Parish Church porch of Lydyard Treygooze in the said County of Wilts in the Grave already prepared near that wherein my late Daughter Mary Hardyman is Interred.’
Mary’s memorial displays the Hardyman coat of arms ‘of a lozenge on a Chevron, between 3 escallops, as many wolves’ heads langued and erased.’
The inscription reads:
‘Underneath is interr’d/The Body of/Mary Hardyman/Youngest Daughter of/Thos Hardyman Esq/by Henrietta his wife/Who departed this Life/June 10th 1744/Aged 33.’
There is no mention of the mother who lies near her.
So, what is this gentlewoman’s connection to the St. John family, as of course, there must be one? Henrietta was the great-granddaughter of Charles Pleydell and his second wife Jane St. John. Jane is pictured with her five sisters, third from the right in the family portrait at the centre of the St. John polyptych. A memorial to Charles Pleydell, his first wife Katherine and second wife Jane St. John is situated above the door to the South Porch.
Images of the Hardyman and Pleydell plaques are published courtesy of Duncan and Mandy Ball https://www.oodwooc.co.uk/
Image of the Hardyman coat of arms is published courtesy of T. Cooper-Tydeman
The history of Lydiard House is woven through with the stories of remarkable women. Explore Frances Bevan's Good Gentlewoman articles and learn about the diverse and determined women of the St John family.
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