Leonia DeRains

6. Leonia de Raines

This effigy of a lady, thought to date from about 1220, was rescued from the Old Church by the Kirkby Conservation Society in 1977 and depicts a heart burial. It is considered to be an effigy of Leonia de Raines, the sister of Ralph Britto de Annesley, who gave the Norman church into the care of the monks of Felley Priory in 1158. Some versions give her name as Leonia de Raines, whilst others are more singular, but the Order of Service for her rededication uses Raines. The formidable Bess of Hardwick was one of her descendants.