History

In the chapel of St Nicholas in Westminster Abbey is a large monument to Winifred, Marchioness of Winchester. It is attributed to sculptor Garrett Johnson and shows an effigy of Winifred in a red, ermine-lined mantle wearing a gilt coronet. The main tomb is of alabaster and marble with columns and a lozenge of her coat of arms. In front, on pedestals, kneeling on red cushions, are her son Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst (later 1st Earl of Dorset), the poet, and her daughter Anne, who married Gregory Fiennes, Lord Dacre. There is also a figure of a baby girl on a small sarcophagus, being a child who obviously died in infancy . The Latin inscription can be translated:

"Here lies in her grave a most illustrious lady, blest first in her good and loving parents, who carefully directed her tender girlhood towards the love of true virtue, and to excellent deeds, adding an inward light to her outward dignity; after her youth, a yet happier period of life ensued, when, as a mature woman, she wedded a husband of ancient lineage, who traced his family, of ancient pedigreee, back to forbears who long preceded the victories of William and the battles against the Normans. Delightfully passed the days of her life in his company, until death seized him. After her husband's demise, she, sorrowing, long dragged out her life in gloom and grief; but at last better fortune returned to the widow, when the Marquis, that amiable master of excellence, took her in lasting marriage, and claimed her as his own. Yet now, thrice blessed, her spirit has passed beyond the stars, and she reigns with her dear Christ, whom she worshipped above all things"

She was the daughter of Sir John Brydges, or Bruges, Lord Mayor of London, and his wife Agnes (Ayloffe). Her first husband was Sir Richard Sackville (died 1566), privy counsellor and chancellor of the court of augmentations. By him she had Thomas Sackville who died in 1608 and had his funeral at the Abbey (but he is buried in his family chapel), and Anne. Her second husband was John Paulet, who became 2nd Marquess of Winchester but they had no children.

A photo of the monument and the weepers can be purchased from Westminster Abbey Library.

The Sackville family chapel is at Withyham in Sussex.

Further reading for the Sackvilles and Anne Fiennes:

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004.