OXBURGH HALL | Visit to the Bedingfeld Ancestral Home (with Postscript, August 2020)

Oxford to King's Lynn, Norfolk.
A pleasant drive.

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y., September 21, 2018–On Sunday, September 16, after the Oxford Alumni Weekend, Alice and I went by car from Oxford to Oxburgh (pronounced OX-boro or even just OX-bru with a hint of a u) Hall near King's Lynn, Norfolk.

This Grade I (highest-rated) National Trust estate has been occupied by ten generations of Bedingfelds. It is now open to the public. The family lives in a closed-off portion of the building.

Alice and I with Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfeld (center),
the 10th Baronet (photo by Lady Mary Bedingfeld). 

The Bedingfelds were recusant Roman Catholics during and after the Reformation.

Certain post-Reformation monarchs, starting with Henry VIII after his break with Rome, considered it treasonous to adhere to a religion other than that of the Church of England.

Therefore Oxburgh Hall includes a "priest hole" where someone could hide from priest-hunters.

A Catholic priest had to be ready, in the event of a raid by priest-hunters, to slide down into a small disguised room. The room is reached via a trapdoor that blends in with the stone and brick floor. It is not something for the claustrophobe to contemplate. No doubt the avoidance of imminent death has a great persuasive effect for using such a hideaway. Unlike most other houses with priest holes, at Oxburgh Hall it is on display, although the National Trust in its zeal for the safety of its visitors has made it impossible to lock the trapdoor to the hole. 

A book on Heraldry by Sir
Henry, when he was Rouge
 Croix Pursuivant.

Built during the Wars of the Roses, Oxburgh Hall has castle-like features such as a moat, a formidable gatehouse, and turrets. But it was always intended to be a family home and it is lightly fortified – not a castle that would withstand an artillery attack.

It was completed in 1482 for Sir Edmund Bedingfeld, the 1st Baronet, ten years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue in search of China. The Bedingfeld family has lived at Oxburgh Hall ever since, nearly 540 years.

That the house still stands is an achievement in itself. It survived a huge fire during the English Civil War, periods of disrepair, and the threat of demolition.

The family’s Catholic faith and desire to preserve the memory of their forebears are a potent combination. Their tradition is expressed in Oxburgh Hall's architecture, furnishings, objets d'art, and gardens.

In front of the Customs House
 at King's Lynn, Norfolk.

The collections include the Oxburgh Hangings needlework by Mary, Queen of Scots, and Bess of Hardwick. The needlework was completed while Mary was imprisoned (she was locked up for 18 years), in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury. 

In 1586, Queen Elizabeth was given evidence that Mary was conspiring with those plotting against her. In 1587, Elizabeth put a stop to the conspiracy by signing Mary's death warrant. Mary was subsequently beheaded.

Sir Henry Edgar Paston-Bedingfeld, the 10th Baronet, served as Rouge Croix Pursuivant, York Herald, and then Norroy & Ulster King of Arms (the two formerly separate Kings of Arms were united in 1943, the year Sir Henry was born). When he was Pursuivant he was co-author with Lancaster Herald of the book Heraldry, the cover of which is shown above. The book appears in the heraldic bibliography I have posted.

Lady Bedingfeld drove Alice and me to King's Lynn, where we took photos and bought some lunch. I was especially interested in seeing King's Lynn because it is featured in my late sister Sheila's first book for children, Flip to the Rescue. The book says that there is a Seal's Rescue Inn there.

Afterwards, Alice and I headed to London by train, via Cambridge to King's Cross. A lovely and educational visit. The Bedingfelds couldn't have been more gracious in welcoming us to their home and showing us the port town.

Postscript 1 (August 25, 2020): Oxburgh Hall is being renovated, because the roof was weakening. During the renovation, new historical treasures are being discovered. Here is the story: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/oxburgh-hall-artifacts-trnd-style/index.html.

Postscript 2 (December 24, 2020): More discoveries from the renovation (a John Fisher Bible): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBznVgKEwbk&feature=youtu.be.

 

HERALDRY: Coat of Arms vs. Crest

All of the above add up to an "Achievement"
 of the owner's coat of arms.

Ian Senior (Trinity 1958) sends out an independent Trinity College alumni newsletter from time to time. It supplements the good work of the College's alumni relations and development team.

In Senior's previous issue he kindly mentioned my article on the Coats of Arms of the Oxford Colleges. In his article, seeking to sustain his readers' interest by varying his language, he uses the word crest as a synonym for a coat of arms.

This rouses Robert Parker (Trinity 1967) to write to Senior making clear that a crest is not a coat of arms. He says:

I too read John Tepper Marlin’s (Trinity 1962) article in Oxford Today with great interest, but the article is about “Coats of Arms”, not “Crests”! A Crest is a quite separate device, used for identifying one’s property, or as a badge (e.g., the Trinity double-headed Gryphon device on the Trinity College Boat Club tie), while the “Achievement of Arms” of the modern colleges, with which the article is concerned, are all full “Coats of Arms” - i.e., a shield, emblazoned.

Arms granted by the College of
Arms to the widow of a lawyer who
represented "ladies of the night".

Senior responds: "Glad to be put right on coats of arms, or could I also call them escutcheons? - Ed."

The answer to Senior's question is in the figure above. A coat of arms may include an escutcheon or shield (which seem to be synonyms). But it often includes other elements of the Achievement. When you, as an individual, go to the College of Arms and pay the $8,000 fee (upon approval of your application), you should expect to get The Works - a full Achievement with crest, motto and whatever else fits, plus the seal of one or more of the Kings of Arms, certifying that you have been granted the arms.

Windsor Herald demonstrated this at a talk earlier this week in New York City. He designed a coat of arms for a deceased attorney whose widow wanted to obtain for him a posthumous coat of arms. The bread and butter of the distinguished attorney's business was the defense of what Windsor Herald described delicately as "ladies of the night".

So we see on the shield at right a cut-off view, in two rows, of Six Ladies Dancing. The black (sable) vertical bars evoke the view from a prison cell.

The widow was pleased with this memory of her late spouse, which I have no doubt was easy for some Poursuivant to establish as unique.

From what I understand, while many people who apply are refused arms, Oxford alumni who have managed to stay out of jail – and maybe some who have done time in a good cause – can make a pretty good case for their being entitled to bear arms, in the heraldic sense, with the endorsement of the College of Arms.

Since I have a sentimental interest in the continuation of the institution, I encourage anyone who reads this and has a spare $8K that is getting laughably little interest from a bank to apply for a coat of arms. Cheaper than a Monet.

Comments: Coat of Arms vs. Crest Harris Manchester  Linacre

HERALDRY: The College of Arms and Windsor Herald

Nigel Armstrong-Flemming.
All photos by JT Marlin.

On February 7 this year, at the Pitt Dinner at Trinity College, Oxford, I met Nigel Armstrong-Flemming.

A few weeks later he kindly introduced me to Windsor Herald, an officer of arms at the College of Arms, also known as the College of Heralds.

The office of Windsor Herald is older than the College of Arms itself. It was reportedly created by Edward III in 1364 when a Pursuivant of Edward brought him news of the British victory at Auray. He was rewarded by promotion to Herald with the title Windsor.
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Celebratory Note: My article in Oxford Today on the Oxford colleges' coats of arms may be found here.
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In 1419, Windsor Herald was sent to the Duke of Brittany and has been maintained since then. The badge of office is the sunburst badge of Edward III royally crowned.

William George Hunt, Windsor Herald, out of uniform,
at the Armoury House in London. Photo by JT Marlin.

Best-known of Windsor Heralds is surely 17th century antiquarian Elias Ashmole, a Brasenose College, Oxford graduate.

Ashmole gave his extensive library to Oxford, which in return put his name on its museum, now the Ashmolean Museum (newly renovated and not to be missed, opposite the Randolph).

Windsor Herald today is William George Hunt, TD, BA (Southampton), FCA. We met at lunch at the historic Armoury House in London.

He then gave me a tour of the College of Arms, abbreviated by the fact that the library area is being renovated.

The College corporation is overseen by the Earl Marshal, a hereditary office held by the Duke of Norfolk, currently Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The College is composed of 13 officers or heralds:

• Three Kings of Arms (Garter, Clarenceux and Norroy & Ulster).
• Six Heralds (Chester, Lancaster, Richmond, Somerset, Windsor and York).



Elias Ashmole, by
John Riley.

• Four Pursuivants (Bluemantle, Portcullis, Rouge Croix and Rouge Dragon). 

The office of Garter was created in 1415 by Henry V.  Garter Principal King of Arms is Thomas Woodcock, CVO, since April 1, 2010; he succeeded Sir Peter Gwynn-Jones, KCVO.

In addition to these officers, seven officers extraordinary take part in ceremonial occasions but are not part of the College.

College of Arms, London. Photo by JT Marlin.

The College of Arms, a royal corporation that is empowered, among other things,  to give a "grant of arms". Without such a grant, no one can be sure that their coat of arms is unique or will not be copied with impunity. A coat of arms without a grant is called an "unofficial" or "hypothetical" coat of arms.

Windsor Herald in the Library, being renovated, of the
College of Arms.

Heralds may design coats of arms, but only the three Kings of Arms may grant them in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth countries.

The grant of arms certifies that the coat of arms is original and the College of Arms is ready to help stop someone else from using it, e.g., in a civil suit.

Before a grant is made, it is preceded by painstaking research to ensure that no one else has previously used such a coat of arms.

Scotland has its own independent heraldic authority, the Court of the Lord Lyon. Use of arms in Scotland is governed by criminal law and, for example, marks of cadency (for younger sons) must be used to insure that each coat of arms is unique to an individual.

Windsor Herald and other heralds have a skilled staff including the Poursuivants (apprentice heralds) and historic resources, including categorizations by type of "device" on huge numbers of coats of arms. The College of Arms is unusually well equipped to research a coat of arms before providing a design or a grant of arms.

It is a challenge to maintain these resources. The officers are appointed by the British Crown, which delegates authority to act on the Queen's behalf in all matters of

• heraldry and the granting of new coats of arms, 
• genealogical research and the recording of pedigrees, and



Note that all three Kings of Arms have signed this
grant of arms, as is customary.

• vexillogical questions, i.e.,  issues relating to the flying of flags on land and maintaining official registers of flags and other national symbols.

The College of Arms also consults on the planning of many ceremonial occasions such as coronations, state funerals, the annual Garter Service and the State Opening of Parliament.

Heralds of the College accompany the sovereign on many of these occasions.

Though a part of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, the College is self-financed, not supported by the British taxpayer. If you are thinking of adopting a coat of arms for family or institution, I urge you to go through channels and get a grant of arms. The grant fees, listed on the website of the College of Arms, are lowest, about $9,000 for an individual. The fee is higher for nonprofit institutions and is most expensive for profit-making corporations.

Founded 531 years ago (in 1484) by a royal charter from Richard III, the College is one of the few remaining official heraldic authorities in Europe. It has been located in the City of London since its foundation, and has been at its present address on Queen Victoria Street for 460 years (since 1555), which must be some kind of record.

Americans can contribute to support of the College of Arms through a Foundation administered by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. The foundation web site reports that it is registered as a 501(c)(3) corporation. I have made a modest gift to the foundation. To do the same, you can send dollar contribution checks, which are deductible from taxable income reportable to the IRS, to the Treasurer of the Foundation:

Robert W. Thompson, Treasurer

College of Arms Foundation, Inc.

58 Seneca Place

Oceanport, NJ 07757