File:RobertChichester Died1627 PiltonChurch Devon.jpg

English: Monument in Pilton Church, Devon, to Sir Robert Chichester (1578-1627), Knight of the Bath, lord of the manor of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton, Custos Rotulorum and Deputy Lieutenant of Devon. The arms above show Chichester impaling in chief Harington of Exton, Rutland (for his first wife) and in base (supposedly, see below) Hill of Shilston, Devon (for his second wife), both of which ladies kneel opposite him within the monument, with his eldest daughter Anne Chichester (d.1627) (Countess of Elgin, whose sumptuous white marble recumbent effigy survives in Exton Church)) kneeling behind them. Above the shield is shown the crest of Chichester: a heron wings elevated an eel in its beak. Behind Sir Robert Chichester kneel his two young sons. The black panel above is inscribed in gilt letters as follows:

"In memory of S^r Robert Chichester Knig^ht of the Bath, Custos Rotulorum & Deputy Lieutenant of this shire & Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. He was a son of S^r John Chichester K^t by Anne daughter of S^r Robert Dennis of Holcomb. He married to his first wife Frances daughter and co-heir of John Lord Harrington of Exton in Rutlandshire by whom he had issue Anne who became the wife of Thomas, Lord Bruce. S^r Robert married to his second wife a daughter of Robert Hill of Shilston in this county Esq^r by whom he had issue two sons and one daughter. He died 1627 aged 48"

The arms supposedly of Hill of Shilston are shown here as Gules, a saltire vair, which appear in fact to be an approximation to the Arms of Hill of Hill's Court, Exeter, Devon: Gules, a saltire vair between four mullets argent (Source: Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.487). These are similar to arms of Hill of Houndston, Somerset (a branch of Hill of Hills Court), which show mullets pierced. The arms of Hill of Shilston in the parish of Modbury, Devon are given by Pole (p.487) and also by Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.486, as: Argent, a chevron between three water bougets sable Possibly the painting on this monument has been incorrectly restored.