Brass Tomb Approximately 4 Metres South of Chancel of Church of St John the Evangelist is a Grade II listed building in the County Durham local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 June 1988. A C17 Tomb.
Brass Tomb Approximately 4 Metres South of Chancel of Church of St John the Evangelist
- WRENN ID
- ruined-quartz-kestrel
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- County Durham
- Constituency
- Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor MP: Alan Strickland (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 14 June 1988
- Type
- Tomb
- OS grid reference
- NZ 262 314
- Coordinates
- 54.67751, -1.59461
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The brass tomb, located approximately 4 metres south of the chancel of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, is a chest tomb dedicated to three children: John, Jane, and Elizabeth Brass, who were murdered in 1683. The tomb was restored in 1789 through public subscription, although it was actually carried out by George Wood. It is constructed from sandstone ashlar and features a slab with moulded edges resting on roll-moulded corner slabs, adorned with rusticated panels that mimic coursed masonry.
A long inscription on the tomb recounts the murder committed by their father's servant, Andrew Mills, along with details of his execution and hanging in chains. The inscription concludes with the lines: "Reader remember Sleeping/we were Slain / And here we sleep till we must/rise again / Whoso sheddeth Man's Blood / By Man shall his Blood be shed / Thou shalt do no murder." Notably, the word "executed" has been scratched out, allegedly by the family of the culprit.
Additionally, a fragment of stone inside the church contains part of the original inscription.
Local climate
Brass Tomb Approximately 4 Metres South of Chancel of Church of St John the Evangelist receives an average of 800 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 55% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 92% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 84% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
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- 5 Group of 7 Tombchests and 3 Headstones Including Those of W Johns, S Filgey, M Fuge, D Panter and S Arthur 10-18 Metres South of South Transept of Church of St Materiana
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