Family Occasion
In deepest darkest Hampshire lies a hidden Saxon Norman church. Far from the maddening crowd, it nestles on a private estate. The local village was relocated long ago. Pheasants replaced the peasants. A charming – and just a little macabre – family monument dating from 1621 dominates the chancel. Sir Thomas Neale lies immortalised in alabaster between his two wives. Cosy. He worked at the Exchequer for Elizabeth I then James I. Below the resting effigies stand statues of nine of his 10 children. The four smallest – this is the macabre bit – carry skulls symbolising their deaths in infancy.
