The picture on the left is a representation of the brass of Sir Robert de Setvans at the Church of St. Mary at Chartham, near Canterbury. The image on this page is of the actual brass and therefore shows half of the right foot missing which is true to the original. On the majority of copies, the right foot together with other half of the animal at his feet, usually represented by the upper half of a rather insipid looking lion, is incorrectly replaced. I happen to know this is fact because I am lucky enough to have an original brass rubbing which I took at the Church in Chartham about 20 years ago. In addition to this, the original is somewhat large and my copy is mounted in a frame which measures 7ft. 6ins. by 2ft. 6ins. Anything smaller than this has been taken from a reproduction brass and not from the original Church brass which is one of the earliest in England and dated at 1306.

This brass is one of four "major" or "distinguished" brasses of Knights wearing chain mail in England and the only one in Kent. It is the only one of the four where the Knight is not wearing a helmet suggesting that he died at home in his bed rather than on the battlefield. As an extension of this possibility, I have also heard it said that the animal at his feet, rather than being a lion, might actually be a dog, a representaion of the family pet. The whole figure represented by the brass, was constructed in sections, and the piece by the foot broke off the third or bottom section. It was lost so long ago that no-one actually knows the truth about the actual design.

Church brasses were made from flat sheets of brass and then usually put into recesses shaped to fit the brass on a stone slab or tablet. They were secured by brass pins. In the case of Sir Robert de Setvans, the whole image is made up of three separate sheets of brass. The strange looking "emblems" on the surcoat and shield are winnowing fans suggesting a close association with the farming area of Milton where this Knight lived.

Although the County of Oxfordshire has more Church Brasses, I believe that Kent has the largest number of "figure" brasses in England. "Non-figure" brasses include copies of coats of arms or other inscriptions relating to the deceased.

The Church of St. Mary Magdelene at Cobham is extremely well known for its large number of fine brasses. At Maidstone there is a whole series for six generations of the Beale family. At Hever there is a particularly fine brass of Sir Thomas Bullen (or Boleyn), the Father of the unfortunate Anne Boleyn, wearing the robes of a Garter Knight. Goudhurst Church has two brasses of members of the well known Kent family of Culpepper.

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at Oxford has an extensive collection of brass rubbings from across England, numbering approximately 3,000. However, I don't think that they are presently on display. This is rather unfortunate as many country churches now have to be kept locked because of theft and vandalism which means that the brasses cannot often be seen. The Ashmolean has a listing of Kent Brasses and consequently it is hardly worth me reproducing that list here.