The Heraldry at Astley Hall

By order of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I, landed families in Lancashire and Cheshire were visited during 1567 by Norroy King of Arms William Flower accompanied by Robert Glover, Portcullis Pursuivant. 

They were visited again in 1613 during the reign of James I by Richard St George.  

Their task was  confirming the genealogy of the families to support their right to bear coats of arms.  In the words of the time the visit was to "correcte, cumptrolle and refourme all mann' of armes, crests, cognizaunces and devices unlawfull or unlawfully usurped, borne or taken by any p'son or p'sons.  They were authorised to pull down or deface arms that were displayed without the authority of the Crown or belonged to another family.

Timothy Duke
Norroy and Ulster King of Arms

Today the position of Norroy, now Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is filled by Timothy Duke and families to the South of the River Trent are the responsibility of Clarenceux King of Arms.

 The Lancaster Herald in Ordinary

Robert John Baptist Noel

The Lancaster Herald first appeared in 1347 when he made a proclamation at the Siege of Calais. They were retained by the Earls and Dukes of Lancaster.

***********************

In ancient times it was vital that followers  in battles knew their leaders.  The closed helmets hiding their faces made it essential that images, or Coats of Arms,  would be used and recognised by their mainly illiterate followers. The ‘coat’ of arms developed during the Crusades when Knights in Armour wore a surcoat, an emblazoned fabric coat over their armour to deflect the harsh sun of Asia Minor and the Byzantine empire. They would also wear an emblazoned 'lambrequin' hanging from the helmet protecting the nape of the neck.

The Dering Roll

The earliest record of Coats of Arms dates to somewhere between 1270 and 1280 with the Dering Roll which records about a quarter of the English baronage at that time. 

It is now on display at The British Library who purchased it in 2008 to prevent it being sold abroad.

From the Charnock’s in the 16^th century to the Tatton’s at the beginning of the 20th century the families were armigerous and their coats of arms can be seen both inside and outside Astley Hall.

Chorley
arms

The images would carry a coded message of family alliances such as the Chorley family coat of arms on the first floor in Astley Hall.  Presumably brought from Chorley Hall, which lay to the north east of Astley, when it was demolished in 1817.  

This carved image bears the arms of the Chorley family quartered with that of the Walmsley family of Lower Buckshawe.

  

The builders of Astley Hall, the Charnock family, had the blazon, or description, of their coat of arms recorded during the William Flower visitation.  

Shield: Argent, on a bend sable, three cross·crosslets of the field.

Crest: A lapwing proper. 

Motto: Soyes content.

Blazons are written from the arms bearer’s point of view, from behind the shield, the mirror image of how they are depicted :  A silver (argent) coloured shield, crossed from top left to bottom right with a black stripe (bend) decorated with three cross-crosslets ( crosses with the arms of each cross crossed ). 
The lapwing crest proper ( a lifelike representation ).  

The lapwing denotes strategic thinking from the birds tactic of leading predators away from the nest. The motto in French is ‘Be Happy’.  

The Cross Crosslet is a symbol of a world mission for Christianity leading to its alternative name of Mission Cross. 

The magnificent plaster ceiling in the great hall also carries a variation of the Charnock arms, Quartered  firstly with the bend bearing the cross-crosslets and secondly with moline cross surmounted with a crown for the Molyneaux family of Crosby who came from Normandy following the Norman Conquest.  

The Charnock Coat of Arms can be
seen quartered with the arms of Molyneaux on the timber framing of the house facing the lake. 

The heraldic blazon reads:  Quarterly: first and fourth, argent, on a bend sable three cross-crosslets of the field,  Second and Third cross moline flurt gules.

The Lapwing crest can also be seen on carved on the headboard of the bed in the Cromwell room.

                       

Also on the chimney breast of the east wall of the timber framed part of the  Hall is a  carved stone coat of arms.

 Is this possibly a rather crude interpretation of the Farrington Coat of Arms.  The blazon reads, 'Gules, three cinquefoils, argent' though this has, in addition, an 'Escutcheon of Pretence' overlying the chevron.


If you know the answer to this conundrum please do add a comment.

Alice Farrington married Captain Robert Charnock who had taken part in the defence of Lathom House during the English Civil War.   William Farrington, a Commissioner of Array, had been the principal adviser to the Countess of Derby.  In the absence of a regular standing army it was the duty of Commissioners of Array to raise troops.

The Brooke’s of Norton Priory and of Mere in County Chester came to Astley when Peter Brooke married Margaret Charnock, heir to the Charnock family estates.  

Their coat of arms is recorded in “The General Armory of England, Scotland and Wales”  published in 1884 by Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms.  

The blazon for their coat of arms reads, Or, a cross engrailed per pale gules and sable. The crest a brock or badger proper.  The badger indicates tenacity and protection because of the way the badger will protect its young. In addition to the shields display at the top of the main staircase their crest can be seen on the stained glass window overlooking the courtyard.   This window is thought to have been brought from Norton Priory though the crest looks more like a pig than a badger.

We may take a look in detail at the Arms of the other families in the future.

I am indebted to many authors for sharing their knowledge including:

The International Association of Amateur Heralds;  

Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, ‘A Complete Guide to Heraldry’;  

Charles Boutell & J P Brooke-Little (Norroy King of Arms 1980) 'Boutell's Heraldry'; 

Sir Bernard Burke ‘A glossary of terms used in heraldry’;

John Burke and Sir Bernard Burke, ’The General Armory’;   

Sir Bernard Burke, ‘A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland’ 

If you enjoyed the blog please share with your friends on Facebook.

You can support the work of the Friends of Astley Hall by making a donation

from your phone:

Text Astley 1 to 70085 to donate £1

Text Astley 2 to 70085 to donate £2

Text Astley 5 to 70085 to donate £5

or any amount you may choose

Thank you so much for your help

Talks about Astley Hall….its park and its people are available to community groups with 10 miles of the Hall.  To enquire use the contact from by clicking the three bar ㆔ symbol at the top of the page or, if not visible, click the arrow and then the three bar symbol.