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St. Mary’s contains one of the finest collections of memorial brasses to be found in North London. They are only a fraction of the great number the church probably possessed before the troubled days of the Reformation, when countless brasses were torn up and destroyed. William Litchfield’s brass is a good starting point as he was Vicar of Willesden in the early years of the 16th’ century. He is wearing a cassock, surplice and cope, which were the conventional processional vestments of a priest in those days. He was a Doctor of Law, and is therefore entitled to wear a fur hat, often referred to as a "Pointed Pileus". He has a long fur scarf hanging down in front which is called an "almuce". When this brass is rubbed, the almuce comes out white. This is because it was originally filled in with a coloured material to represent the fur. Over the years this filling has worked loose and come away, thus leaving the deep groove in the brass. The prayer for the soul which followed the inscription on many monumental brasses has, in the case of this brass, been cut away. This is probably due to the Reformation when such prayers were removed to prevent the entire destruction of the memorial.The Margaret Roberts brass (1505) is situated on the north side of the Chancel. It was removed with the other brasses from the centre to the side when the church was restored in 1964. The tiny figure is wearing a short gown over which is a dress and full skirt trimmed, perhaps, with ermine at the wrists and cut almost round at the neck. A broad embroidered belt, elaborately decorated, is buckled loosely at the waist. Her head-dress is known as the "kennel" or pedimented shape, and it confines the hair beneath a kind of cap. The cap is stiffly wired to keep its shape and has long sides known as "lappets" which hang down past the shoulders. Unfortunately not very much is known about Margaret Roberts, except that she was one of the Roberts of Neasden House, but her minute brass is probably the most be |