being of two pieces tongued and grooved. He replaced the lid and filled up the grave.  

At some stage, probably in the later 20th century, the effigy was raised up on blocks, presumably in an attempt to keep it dry. The clue to all this is the presence at ground level of a polythene sheet. In 1899, Trueman published a plate of the chapter house with the effigy at ground level.

The effigy itself has been described as a fine early 13th effigy of an ecclesiastic, and the work of the same artist who created the effigy found in the North transept. Be that as it may, the precise nature of the effigy is a matter for puzzlement, and his identity totally unknown. The issue is as follows.

The figure is wearing a cassock and rochet, not a monastic habit. St John
Hope consulted an expert called Bloxam, who said first that the effigy represented a lector or exorcist. However, when he saw a sketch of the effigy, he said it was an abbot. Then a modern Premonstratensian canon regular (Revd F.M. Geudens of Crowle, Doncaster) said it was a cantor with a service book. However, Hope said it was not a lector because that office was appointed weekly, not a cantor because he was not important enough to have an effigy in the Chapter House and not an abbot because he carries no pastoral staff, as on the seals of Coverham, Newhouse, Alnwick, Torre etc. and on slabs at Dale, Welbeck, Blanchland etc. Hope concluded it was a claustral prior as opposed to a conventual prior (the man in charge of a priory); this position was second in command of the abbey, and a claustral prior would have carried a staff too. Hope latterly changed his mind and plumped for an archdeacon. Having waded through all that, you may have some inkling as to why the owners call him Fred


In the 1878 excavation St John Hope found in the Chapter House a large portion of an heraldic achievement from a monumental brass dated at about 1470; this consisted of a helm and most of the mantling, but the crest and shield were missing. The material seemed to be zinc. Another piece had a lady's head in a wimple on the flip side and dated from around 1360.

The site museum on the site of the Chapter House is now in quite good condition, thanks to work sponsored by English Heritage with a contribution from the owners and completed in 2009. In 1969, some work in the museum had been done by Ilkeston and District Local History Society: their newsletter of August 1969 mentions Mr Bentley and Mr Scopes cleaning and making new showcases. The owners currently fight an ongoing battle with mildew on the high ceiling, which has to be scrubbed off by hand. The collection of floor tiles is now held in boxes behind grilles to reduce pilfering; it has been said to be the largest and most interesting collection in the county. Occasionally the owners unearth or discover new pieces of tile in the course of house and garden maintenance.