Nestling at the foot of Firle Beacon on the south downs lies St Peters Church in Firle village very close to Firle Place the ancestral home of the Gage family.
It's a flint built 13th Century Church but evidence suggest that the present site is much older, even before 1066.
There are 3 Alabaster tombs with effigies dating from 1595 in the Knave and contain, John Gage(1556) and his wife Phillipa, he was constable of the Tower of London and responsible for planning the execution of Catherine Howard.
His son Edward (d1569)and his wife Elizabeth, he was responsible for planning the burning at the stake the protestant martyrs in Lewes during the reign of Mary Tudor. Edward had two wives, 9 sons and 5 daughters, a very busy man!.
Lastly another John (1595) grandson of the first John, he had two wives too but not such gory credentials. Also buried in the family plot is Thomas Gage, he of the American war of Independence fame or infamy because he had a bit of a failure and was replaced. Firle is one of the places we visit on our tours.
The church has a list of the parish vicars dating from 1197. There is also a John Piper window installed in 1985 in homage to William Blake's Book of Job in memory of Henry 6th Viscount gage and depicts the tree of life in heavenly Jerusalem.
Today would have been Elvis Prestley's 75th Birthday if he was still alive. I mention this because there is a gargolye of Elvis at Canterbury Cathedral. Really there is, one of the stone masons a few years ago was an Elvis fan and chisseled the likeness on a replacement stone gargolye during renovations and it's still there high on the roof.
www.tudorhistorytours.com
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