the seven benefactors were buried, with wall paintings of each in an elaborate arcade, facing the pilgrim entrance, perhaps to remind visitors of the enduring respect that can accrue from such generosity. The shrines were destroyed and pilgrimages ceased at the Reformation, but in 1769, when the choir stalls were moved out of the Octagon, the wall was demolished and James Bentham found that the remains of the seven benefactors were still there, each in a separate compartment, although Byrhtnoth's was headless. All the clerics were estimated to be over tall, and Byrhtnoth's bones suggested that he stood at . On 31 July 1781 they were again re-interred, with considerable ceremony, at the far east end of the cathedral, in niches constructed within the gothic splendour of Bishop Nicholas West's Chantry chapel. Family Byrhtnoth was married to Ælfflæd, sister of the dowager Queen Æthelflæd of Damerham, making Byrhtnoth a kinsman of King Edgar by marriage. Byrhtnoth and Ælfflæd are identified to have had a daughter who married Oswig, who died 5 May 1010 in the Battle of Ringmere Byrhtnoth is reported to have had a daughter called Leofflæd, however she is not mentioned in any pre-Conquest source. This Leofflæd is likely the same as the daughter who married Oswig. Legacy In October 2006, a statue created by John Doubleday was placed at the end of the Maldon Promenade Walk, facing the battle site of Northey Island and the Causeway. The battle site itself has a National Trust plaque recording his 'heroic defeat and death'. As well as the Anglo-Saxon poem, The Battle of Maldon, J.R.R. Tolkien's short alliterative play, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm's Son takes place on the battlefield of Maldon and deals with the search for Byrhtnoth's body. In 2015 Timebomb Comics released 'Defiant! The Legend of Brithnoth', an original graphic novel based on the story of Brithnoth and The Battle of Malden, written by Andy Winter and illustrated by Daniel Bell. See also The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son References External links Maldon Battle and Campaign, Report compiled by Glenn Foard, 2003, for The UK Battlefields Resource Centre, Provided by The Battlefields Trust 991 deaths Anglo-Saxons killed in battle Anglo-Saxon ealdormen Anglo-Saxon warriors English heroic legends People from Essex Maldon, Essex