The Last of the Brudenells: Monuments at Deene.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"

Was there a man dismay’d?

Not tho’ the soldier knew

Some one had blunder’d:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.” – Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade

When James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan led the charge of the light brigade in the Battle of Balaclava, he is reputed to have said “here goes the last of the Brudenells”, before advancing towards Russian guns. Even though he returned from the battle miraculously unscathed, this premonition, whether he really expressed it or not, proved to be correct. At St. Peter’s Church in Deene Park, Northamptonshire, the monument to James Brudenell and his second wife Adeline marks the end of his line of the Brudenell family.

The 7th Earl rests now among many of his forebears, starting with Sir Robert Brudenell, who died in 1531 and is commemorated alongside his two wives, Margaret Entwissell and Philippa Power, by elegant recumbent alabaster effigies. Sir Robert had a flourishing legal career, but it was his great-grandson Sir Thomas, who was created 1st Earl of Cardigan in 1661 following his support for the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. He died two years later, and a chest tomb was erected in his memory at St. Peter’s. 

Many of the memorials are no longer in their original position, even though the oldest part of the church dates to the 12th century and the current building uses much of the materials and layout of its 14th century predecessor. St. Peter’s was re-modelled in 1868-69 by Thomas Henry Wyatt and later re-decorated by Bodley in 1890. Their patron was the widow of the 7th Earl of Cardigan, and her motivation was likely to re-interpret the family church as a memorial to her husbands’ line with the intention to repair his somewhat tarnished reputation. 

The monument to her husband was executed by Joseph Boehm, a fashionable sculptor at the time who was also in favour with Queen Victoria, and depicts the Earl decked out in insignia of martial glory next to his beautiful, young wife, who gazes at him in admiration. The tomb incorporates heraldic elements from the Brudenell coat of arms, as well as scenes from the Crimean War. It is designed to echo the much earlier tomb of Sir Robert, and the monuments are arranged in such a way that all other family brasses, plaques and tombs are bracketed by the tombs of Sir Robert and the 7th Earl. Of the dynasty, which is encapsulated between these two monuments, the 7th Earl was by far the most eccentric member – and he has left his mark on history for better or worse. 

The earl’s biography is too colourful, contested and complex to be discussed in greater detail here, but there are certain anecdotes, which might help breathe life back into the cold marble effigies at St. Peter’s.

The 7th Earl was born to Robert and Penelope Brudenell, in much more modest surroundings than Deene Park. His parents were known as Mr. and Mrs. Brudenell to their neighbours and didn’t go by their titles and he was the only boy among six sisters. His father succeeded a childless uncle to the earldom of Cardigan when James was fourteen years old, meanwhile his mother became a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte in 1818 and once hosted a party so memorable that it was eternalised in a Turner painting. Her monument, by American sculptor Frederick Sievers, can also be found at St. Peter’s.

Young James suffered a head injury as a child, which made his parents worry that he would not be suited to academic achievements. He had a short stint at boarding school, which ended when he was punished for missing classes after he broke his hand in a fistfight and his father took him out of school to have him educated at home instead. Before inheriting the earldom, he went on grand tour, was practically given a seat in parliament by a family member, bought a seat in parliament after falling out with the aforementioned family member, got beaten up when trying to win votes fairly, and subsequently bribed his electorate.

In his early twenties he began pursuing the wife of a friend, only shortly after their wedding, broke up the couple and then married his former friend’s former wife. Unsurprisingly, the marriage was a disaster and the couple separated after only eleven years together. He continued to be a notorious ladies’ man and when his wife lay dying, he began an affair with a woman who was twenty-seven years his junior – Adeline de Horsey, the woman who commissioned his monument at Deene, herself a rather eccentric character. 

He spent much of the Crimean War on his luxury yacht in Balaclava harbour and missed several battles after troops were moved further inland, being in no hurry to leave his yacht. However, when he arrived back in England, he was adamant that he had spent the campaign in a “common tent”. 

Assessments of his conduct regarding the charge of the light brigade have varied over time and have ranged from celebrations of his obedience of orders and his courage to his condemnation as an incompetent, cowardly fool. 

If you are contemplating this monument, however, you should not miss out on the scandalous character of the young woman resting fashionably draped alongside Cardigan. After becoming Cardigan’s mistress Adeline de Horsey was shunned by polite society for the rest of her life but was acknowledged as a leading courtesan. Known for her beauty and possessing a life interest in the Cardigan estate she attracted many marriage proposals following the 7th Earls death. She eventually married a Portuguese nobleman, who was a descendant of John of Gaunt and subsequently styled herself the Countess of Cardigan and Lancaster, which greatly annoyed Queen Victoria, who liked to travel incognito abroad as “Countess of Lancaster”. After her second husbands’ death she became a merry widow, wearing thick make-up, smoking cigarettes in public and cycling around the village in her first husbands’ trousers. She also, apparently, kept a coffin in her house and would often lie in it and ask visitors for thoughts on her appearance. 

So, if you find yourself in front of the 7th Earl’s monument at St. Peter’s, you can remind yourself that you are looking at the likenesses of two people who lived rich lives and were, despite the scandal, likely rather well matched. 

You can visit St. Peter’s daily between 10am – 4pm and during the summer months, you can combine your visit to the church with a visit to Deene Park and Manor. The manor of Deene originally belonged to the Abbey of Westminster, but it was rented out for the first time in 1215 for an annual rent of £18 – according to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, this would now be equivalent to roughly £31,903.98. However, the rent for the manor of Deene never actually changed with inflation and after Sir Robert Brudenell acquired the manor in 1514, members of the Brudenell family continued to pay £18 a year to the abbey until 1970, when the family eventually gained possession of the manor outright. Despite the 7th Earl’s childless death there are still Brudenell’s at Deene today. Following the death of his widow, the estate passed to the descendants of his second cousin, who was a Brudenell-Bruce. However, an even later descendant reverted the family name back to Brudenell by Royal License. Nowadays, you can visit Deene Park in spring and summer and for special events in autumn and winter to learn all about the fascinating history of the manor and the family that has lived here for over 500 years. 

Sources:

Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The Charge of the Light Brigade. Available at: https://poets.org/poem/charge-light-brigade (Accessed: 26th September 2025)

Church Monument Society. Church Monument of the Month - September 2021- St Peter's Church, Deene. Available at: https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-we-do/blog/church-monument-of-the-month-st-peter-s-church-deene (Accessed: 26th September 2025)

Bank of England. Inflation Calculator. Available at: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator (Accessed: 26th September 2025)

Deene Park. History. Available at: https://www.deenepark.com/home/history/history (Accessed: 26th September 2025)

Anthony Barnes. St. Peter’s Church, Deene, Northamptonshire. Available at: https://cdn.visitchurches.org.uk/uploads/images/Churches/Deene-St-Peters-Church-Guide/Deene-St-Peters-Church-Guidebook.pdf?v=1730400039 (Accessed: 26th September 2025)

Wikipedia contributors. Deene Park. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deene_Park (Accessed: 26th September 2025)

Wikipedia contributors. St. Peter’s Church, Deene. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Peter%27s_Church,_Deene (Accessed: 26th September 2025)

Wikipedia contributors. James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brudenell,_7th_Earl_of_Cardigan (Accessed: 26th September 2025)

Wikipedia contributors. Adeline, Countess of Cardigan and Lancastre. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeline,_Countess_of_Cardigan_and_Lancastre (Accessed: 26th September 2025)