Sir Gawen Carew and his confusing tomb

This time Devon’s Tudor Time Traveller visits Exeter Cathedral and the elaborate tomb of Sir Gawen Carew.

Exeter Cathedral is a treasure house of history and I often visit to wonder at the skill of ancient artisans and to gain insights into past lives.

This is the magnificent Carew tomb in the Cathedral’s Chapel of St John the Evangelist, also referred to as the Chapel of St Mary Magdalen.

Sir Gawen Carew, commemorated here, died on 25 March 1584, aged around 80. During his long and eventful life he had been a courtier, soldier, and sea captain. He had also played an active part in Devon affairs as Justice of the Peace, Member of Parliament, and as Sheriff of Devon from 1547 to 1548, and Deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall and Devon in 1569.

Three times married Sir Gawen Carew, who lies here in his armour, is a person of significant interest in my research into the life of Kat Ashley.

Sir Gawen Carew (c1503 - 1584)

Let’s take a closer look at the Devon adventurer who was one of Kat’s uncles. His portrait is on display at National Trust Anthony - photo from a visit in 2024.

Gawen, the fourth and youngest son of Sir Edmund Carew, was probably born at Mohun’s Ottery in Devon. It’s hard to pinpoint his exact date of birth, but it was likely around 1503. After his father’s untimely death at the siege of Thérouanne in 1513 Gawen was brought up in the household of Henry VIII’s cousin, Henry Courtenay. In 1525, the year the king created Henry Courtenay Marquess of Exeter, Gawen is mentioned as receiving livery in Courtenay household accounts.¹ Although the Courtenays were conservative in their religious beliefs, Gawen would in time become a strong supporter of the Protestant faith.

Gawen’s first marriage to Anne, widow of Sir John Shilston and sister of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and a close friend of the king, kept him in court circles. But royal favour did not always keep him out of trouble. In April 1538 he was confined in the compter, a small city-run prison primarily used to hold debtors and other minor offenders, after a man died during a brawl involving Gawen and his servants. However he was soon back in favour and in March 1540, following the dissolution, he received substantial grants associated with Launceston Priory. He promptly demolished many of the priory buildings and sold the stone, but retained interests in Launceston which he mentions in his will.

Gawen’s first wife died and by July 1540 he had married Mary Wotton, the widow of Sir Henry Guildford, comptroller of Henry VIII’s household and a knight of the garter. Mary was one of the most prominent women at court in the 1530s and later became close to Katherine Parr, the king’s sixth and last wife.

Gawen was among the party welcoming Anne of Cleves, and his career as a soldier began when he accompanied the 3rd Duke of Norfolk to the Netherlands in 1543. He went on to fight in King Henry’s Boulogne campaign. During 1545, the year in which he received his knighthood, he captained the Matthew Gonson in naval engagements, and was present when his nephew, Sir George Carew, went down with the Mary Rose during the Battle of the Solent.

Along with another nephew, Sir Peter Carew (the elder), Sir Gawen was at the heart of efforts to suppress the western rebellion in opposition to Edward VI’s new prayer book. At the Battle of Fenny Bridges near Honiton, Sir Gawen ordered the attack before being shot in the arm by an arrow. During the reign of Queen Mary Sir Gawen was imprisoned for a time following the 1554 uprising against the queen’s marriage to Philip of Spain.

Mary, who continued to be referred to as Lady Guildford, died on 17 September 1558. After Elizabeth’s accession Sir Gawen was appointed Master of the Henchmen, and by 1560 he had married again. His third wife, Elizabeth, née Norwich, had served in the young Elizabeth’s household or some years. Gawen retired from court in 1565, while Elizabeth continued to serve as a trusted Lady of the Queen’s Bedchamber until her own death in 1594.

The Extravagant Tomb

In his will Sir Gawen appointed Elizabeth, his sole executrix, and as we might expect he detailed the buildings and lands he held in Cornwall and Devon.² However, before he makes any bequests, the first item in his will concerns his burial. He instructed Elizabeth to spend £40 on a tomb which was to display his arms and those of all of his three wives. It appears Elizabeth may have overspent a little.

The tomb was completed in 1589, but an inscription installed during restoration in 1857 wrongly refers to the woman lying beside Gawen as his second wife.

Mary has her own tomb at St Mary’s Church Kentisbeare, Devon, not far from where she and Gawen had lived at Wood Barton.³ It is Elizabeth who lies at his side.

In addition, another inscription runs round the cornice.

Both inscriptions, which were added during the Victorian restoration, are now thought to mislabel the monument’s lower figure.

For many years it was believed the cross-legged figure of a knight in armour squashed in on a low shelf beneath Sir Gawen and Elizabeth represented one of Sir Gawen’s nephews, Sir Peter Carew (the younger). He was the elder son of Gawen’s ’s brother George, a high profile churchman who became Dean of the Chapel Royal under Elizabeth 1. Sir Peter (the younger) died in Ireland in 1580.

It is now considered more likely that the cross-legged knight, a style of effigy popular in the 1300s, represents Adam Montgomery de Carew, the supposed founder of the family.

his three marriages brought Sir Gawen no children. In the event of Elizabeth’s death, in his will, he names George Carew of Loughlin as the next inheritor of his estate. This is Sir George Carew, later Earl of Totnes, the brother of the above mentioned Sir Peter (the younger). Sir Peter (the younger) had been captain of the garrison at Leighlin and George deputised for him there for a few months in 1576. After Peter’s death and by the time Sir Gawen made his will, George was lieutenant governor of county Carlow and vice-constable of Leighlin castle. (The place name is incorrectly spelt in the will.)

George Carew, Earl of Totnes, would later follow up investigations into the Carew family history in Ireland, something that had also obsessed Peter Carew (the elder) in his last years. With that in mind I wonder if it was George who added the reclining figure squashed in at the bottom of the tomb now identified as an Irish ancestor.

(All photos of the Carew tomb in Exeter Cathedral are my own, taken during visits in 2021 and 2022.)

1. Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 4, 1524-1530, No 1792 (ed. J S Brewer, London, 1875).

2. The National Archives; PROB 11/68/433, Will of Sir Gawen Carewe of Wood, Devon.

3. I hope to visit St Mary’s, Kentisbeare, soon.