History

The tomb of Sir Thomas Vaughan, of Tretower Castle, Brecon in Wales, is buried in St John the Baptist's chapel in Westminster Abbey. A grey Purbeck marble altar tomb stands in an arched canopy, with space at the west end for a priest to kneel and pray. His shield of arms (re-painted) appears above with two defaced shields in the arcades - a saltire, for Vaughan, quartering a bend engrailed between three fleurs de lys. On the top of the tomb chest is a three foot brass of Sir Thomas, dressed in plate armour but with no helmet or gauntlets. His head rests on his crest of a unicorn's head and his sword hangs from the middle of his belt. The feet of the brass have been broken away as have shields above the figure and on the top and side of the chest. In the 1680s a Latin inscription around the rim was still readable and can be translated: 

"Thomas Vaughan, treasurer to King Edward the fourth and chamberlain to his first born son. Rest in Peace. Amen"

with each word divided by badges of the rose and sun. It is possible that the tomb was erected by his daughter Elizabeth (died 1515), wife of Sir Edward Stanley, later Lord Monteagle.

Thomas was private treasurer to Edward IV and chamberlain to his son Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward V). He was beheaded at Pontefract Castle soon after the king's death by order of the Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III. Shakespeare mentions his arrest and death without trial in Richard III.

A photo of the tomb and of the engraving of the brass can be purchased from Westminster Abbey Library.