Dean of Canterbury Cathedral (1597 – 1615) – for more click here
The memorial was planned and executed nearly two decades before Neville’s death. It was originally sited in the Brenchley Chantry Chapel, on the south side of the nave, which was to be a place of burial for Thomas and other members of his family. It was removed to the Lady Chapel when the chapel was demolished at the end of the eighteenth century and later relocated to its present position in 1925.
The Dean is on the left kneeling at a reading desk and his brother Alexander on the right in the “fame devout posture”. Originally the monument had a canopy supported by three Corinthian columns, as described by Duncombe in 1783. The effigies are carved from alabaster. Paint has been applied to parts of the monument. Unfortunately the location does not allow a close look at the “black stone” used for the inscription and other decorative features. The Neville motto Ne vile velis (Incline to nothing base) is inscribed beneath the family coat of arms.
