Katherine and Joan: Tombs, Memory, and the Responsibilities of Interpretation

My photos from this morning: To get remotely decent images involves standing on tip toe ( I am over six feet tall) and sticking my camera through the railings!

I am currently undertaking research into the tombs of Katherine and her daughter Joan, with the aim of better understanding both their original form and the subsequent history of alteration, movement, and interpretation. In the course of this work, I have identified nineteenth-century correspondence in the Lincolnshire Archives relating to proposals to “restore” the tombs. In practice, these proposals amounted to a speculative recreation in a highly ornamental neo-Gothic style which, even by contemporary standards, risked imposing a visually intrusive and historically misleading narrative onto the monuments.

What survives today, however, raises a different set of concerns. The tombs as presently displayed are poorly labelled and difficult to view, and they do little to communicate the historic and cultural significance of two women who were central to both the story of Lincoln Cathedral and the wider dynastic history of England. Their importance is not immediately legible to visitors, and the current presentation offers little sense of context, biography, or continuity.

Issues of access and interpretation further undermine the visitor experience. A chair permanently obstructs the view of the tombs, a frequent and avoidable frustration for those wishing to engage with the monuments, while the associated interpretative material is sparse, visually unengaging, and of limited explanatory value. From a heritage perspective, this represents a missed opportunity to support informed understanding and meaningful engagement with the site.

It is well established that the chantry itself has undergone significant alteration. The canopy visible today is not original, and documentary and visual evidence confirms that the tombs, which were originally positioned side by side, are now arranged end to end. The precise date and circumstances of this reconfiguration remain unclear.

What can be stated with confidence is that as late as 1640 the tombs still occupied their original positions. This is demonstrated by the drawings produced by William Dugdale during his systematic recording of English ecclesiastical monuments in the years immediately preceding the Civil War (Dugdale, 1656). Dugdale’s work was undertaken in anticipation of iconoclastic damage and has long been recognised as a vital source for monuments that were later altered, displaced, or destroyed.

The subsequent relocation of Katherine’s and Joan’s tombs appears to be undocumented. By 1809, however, an illustration by the architectural draughtsman John Buckler shows the tombs already arranged in their current end-to-end configuration (Buckler, 1809). This suggests that the alteration took place sometime between the mid-seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries, representing a substantial intervention in the spatial and visual coherence of the chantry for which no explanatory record has yet been identified.

Taken together, this raises important questions about curatorial responsibility, interpretative transparency, and commemorative intent. I feel strongly that there is a compelling case for the cathedral to do more to recognise and present these monuments appropriately: to acknowledge their complex material history; to make visible the changes they have undergone; and to tell the stories of Katherine and Joan in a way that reflects their historical significance. These are not marginal figures, and their memorials should be interpreted and displayed accordingly.

⸻

References (Harvard style)

Buckler, J. (1809) Views of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln. London.

Dugdale, W. (1656) The Antiquities of Warwickshire Illustrated. London: Thomas Warren.

Further reading this afternoon has proved fruitful, The Monasticom vol iii of 1672 shows the tombs in their current position. This is likely as a result of clearing up the mess created in 1644.

This appears to confirm that the tombs have been in this position from at least this date.

The next question being were the bodies moved with the tombs!

   The Monasticon Anglicanum is a seventeenth-century record of England’s religious buildings, compiled by William Dugdale

   It preserves early descriptions and images of churches and monuments that were already changing or disappearing.

Interior of Lincoln Cathedral (Angel Choir) as recorded in the seventeenth century. The image shows the cathedral interior by the time of Dugdale’s Monasticon Anglicanum and provides general context for the later position of the Swynford tombs.

Image: Wikimedia Commons (after Wenceslaus Hollar).