The parish church here contains nine remarkable stone effigies of knights and ladies, representing several generations of the de la Beche family, who were the leading landowners of the area in the 13th and 14th centuries; all the statues seem to have ben carved at the same period (mid 14th century), as family memorials. They are unusually large, and hence are known as the Aldworth Giants; indeed, Sir Philip de la Beche, who lived in Edward II’s reign, was famous for his stature – though whether he was really 7 feet tall, as the effigy seems to indicate, is uncertain. At his feet is the figure of a dwarf, for, it is said, when at court he chose to always be accompanied by a dwarf, so as to seem even taller than he was. The statues were badly damaged during the Commonwealth period, but restored, as far as possible, in 1871.
There was originally a tenth effigy, in an arched alcove construction in the thickness of the church wall, near the south door, and opening to the outside; this alcove was walled up in 1798, and the effigy presumably hidden or destroyed in the process.
The royalist Colonel Richard Symonds, who passed through Aldworth in 1644 and was interested in antiquities and local lore, noted in his diary that there was formerly a parchment identifying all the effigies, but it had been removed in the days of Elixabeth I. He also commented specifically on the tomb in the exterior wall:
“May 2, 1644. Aldworth, vulgo (in the common speed) Alder. In ye end of ye S. yle (south aisle) did hang a table fairly written in parchment of all ye names of ye Family of de la Bechem but ye Earle of Leicester coming with ye Queen Elizabeth in progresse tooke it down to show it to her, and it was neuer brought againe. Ye common People call ye statue under ye outside of ye Churche John Euerafraid and say further that he faue his soule to ye Dieul (Devil) if euer he was buried either in Churche or in Churchyard, so he was buried under the Church Wall under an Arche.”
This is a trick often found in stories about men who have pledged themselves to the Devil in return for wealth or magic power. Symond’s rather cryptic note presumably implies that in the popular account this member of the family had been a magician, who always feared that the Devil would get him in spite of his cunning but was safe in the end.
Symonds also drew a sketch of one of the effigies inside the church and wrote on it, ‘The people call this statue John Strong.’ This means he almost certainly knew the local tradition which claims that ‘four Johns’ were buried in Aldworth church by the names of John Long, John Strong, John Never-Afraid and John Ever-Afraid.