, by whose father probably it was preserved at the
demolition of the Priory, and conveyed to Isfield, his manorial estate.
At the expense of Dr., afterwards Sir William, Burrell, it was removed
from its obscure station, and placed upon a suitable shrine, in the
vestry-pew of Southover Church, that being the nearest convenient spot
to its original station. The stone is of black marble, sculptured in
very high relief. The lower end had been broken off before its
discovery at Isfield. Around the rim, and along the middle, is the
following inscription:
Stirps Gundrada ducum, decus evi, nobile germen,
Intulit ecclesiis Anglorum balsama morum,
Martir (is hanc aedem struxit Pancrati in honorem)
Martha fuit miseris, fuit ex pietate Maria;
Pars obiit Marthe, superest pars magna Marie.
O pie Pancrati, testis pietatis et equi,
Te facit heredem, tu clemens suscipe matrem.
Sexta kalendarum junii lux obvia carnis
Fregit alabastrum (superest pars optima coelo).
(_Conjectured words in parenthesis_.)
"Another leaden coffin, full of bones, but without any inscription, has
also been found, longer than those of the founder's, having a
semicircular top, and six large rings of 3-1/4 inches diameter attached
to the outsides.
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