[Lozenge shaped floor slab. Incised Roman caps. Black marble. 44 cm. x 44 cm. overall. -- In an article on "The Martins of Wilcote and Finstock", Hilary Walton of Finstock, notes that the two earliest slabs, to Thomas Martin and his son of the same name, have the date 1699, while the latest, to Edward Martin, is dated 1802. The same article points out that only one stone, that to Thomas Martin who died in 1753, gives a place of origin, Wilcote, but the North Leigh registers, which go back to 1572, show that the two 1699 stones refer to Thomas Martin, senior, of Finstock, and his son Thomas Martin of Wilcote. These registers take the family back to 1609, the earliest entry being the death of Elizabeth Martin, wife of John Martin, in that year. The wooden altar, which was erected in the Wilcote chapel in 1928 (and removed in 1997), covered several more stones, six of them being revealed when Finstock Local History Society were allowed to move the altar in 1978, Repairs to the floor when the altar was placed in position are thought to have obliterated the earliest stone of 1660 to Thomas Martin. Evidence that he is buried there comes from the will of his son John (1689), who gave instructions for his body to be buried "in the isle of the parish church of North Leigh, where my late father was buried." There are eighteen slabs in all, and it would appear that three branches of the family were living at Wilcote House, Finstock, and Long Combe in the 17th and 18th centuries, Wilcote Farm, also known as Barford's Farm, after a 16th century tenant family of that name, provides a link between the three families. Once occupied by the Willicote family, it was purchased by William Lenthall in 1592, and was sold to John Martin, yeoman, in 1610. It seems reasonable to assume that the Martins were among the many families who, at this time, rose in the social scale from yeomen to gentlemen. Thomas Martin is described as "yeoman" in 1610, but as "gentleman" in his will of 1660 - which he still signs with his "mark". ]