Standing man wearing a tunic and codpiece

This unique figure represents a gentlemen or franklin, the lowest rank of nobility. They were numerically the largest group of the nobility, but unfortunately they left little impression on contemporary records because their sphere of influence rarely extended the boundaries of the parish in which they lived.

This figure together with a knight and man-at-arms would have been placed high on a screen in a great hall, still an important focus of noble living in this period. Linked to Kirkoswald Castle and Naworth Castle in Cumbria, they may once have held flags displaying heraldic devices of the Dacre family who owned both residences.