The Lost Tombs of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and his Son William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon, in Tintern Abbey

The tombs of William Herbert, earl of Pembroke (d. 1469), his son William Herbert, earl of Huntingdon (d. 1491) and their wives, were lost after the dissolution of Tintern Abbey. A distant relative, Sir Thomas Herbert of Tintern (d. 1682), provided drawings of them in a family history, the ‘Herbertorum Prosapia’. Much doubt has been cast on the accuracy of these drawings. This article considers the career of Sir Thomas Herbert and the accuracy (or otherwise) of some of his other work; outlines the lives of the earlier Herberts; and concludes that, while the drawings are clearly not totally accurate, they may have some basis in fact or in local tradition.