Suffolk Heraldry Society to tell story of monarchy from 11th century to present day in Bury St Edmunds St Edmundsbury Cathedral exhibition

Heraldry has been part of England's royal heritage for almost a thousand years. Down the centuries successive kings and queens have chosen distinctive coats of arms to signify their status and power.

And royal heraldry through the ages has been chosen by enthusiasts in Suffolk as the perfect way to celebrate the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

From May 2 to 16, the cloisters of St Edmundsbury Cathedral will be lined with colourful illustrations in an exhibition staged by Suffolk Heraldry Society.

The story of the monarchy from the 11th century to the present day will be told through a noble art form that encompasses history, science and genealogy.

While the use of symbols to focus ideas goes back almost as far as humanity itself, heraldry instantly brings to mind medieval knights and the age of chivalry.

And, said Suffolk Heraldry Society’s president Gerry de Roeper, there was a very good reason for that … to avoid being killed by your own side in battle.

“The whole thing goes back to the days when knights in armour couldn’t be recognised, so they painted their arms on their shield so their own people would recognise them,” he said.

The first recorded mention of a coat of arms in British history was the one presented by Henry I to his new son-in-law, Geoffrey of Anjou, in 1128, although arms consisting of a gold cross and doves on a blue background are attributed to Edward the Confessor whose reign ended in 1066.

Edward’s arms are the earliest in the exhibition. Society member Bob Elliott, the artist who has produced the heraldry illustrations, said it would contain 20 coats of arms, and four ‘achievements’.

The achievements are the entire armorial display consisting of the coat of arms, motto, crest – the part at the top – and supporters which are the creatures on either side holding the shield.

Taking pride of place on an easel will be the achievement of Charles III with its supporters of a lion and a unicorn.

Bob is a former art teacher whose passion for heraldry began when he was in the RAF in the late 1950s, when a book caught his eye.

“In a bookshop in Hull near where I was stationed there was a book with all these shields on it. I bought it and it became my bible,” he said.

“I came to Suffolk in 2007 and joined the society in 2011, and within a year they had me on the committee.”

Ken Mudd, another committee member, has done the annotations explaining each piece of art.

The retired pharmaceutical scientist from Little Finborough has been a member since 2018, when he saw a newspaper advert for the society.

“When I was a little boy I had toy soldiers and some of them were knights in armour. There was something about the beauty of all the bright colours,” he said.

You used to get things like that on the back of cornflake packets which we could make up. And when I was at school the art master was interested in heraldry, and I was interested because of the peculiar language.”

Illustrations of The Queen’s Beasts – 10 heraldic statues including lion, greyhound, griffin and dragon, each supporting a badge or arms of a family associated with the ancestry of Queen Elizabeth II and created for her coronation in 1953 – will also feature in the exhibition.

Heraldry, with its royal pedigree and ancient traditions, can appear a mysterious archaic world far removed from everyday life.

But if you take the trouble to look it is everywhere. Just think of the three lions of England that appear on royal arms from the reign of King Richard the Lionheart at the end of the 12th century.

They are also forever associated with England’s football teams – with the depictions adapted to resemble lionesses for the women’s squad.

It pops up in our streets too, on buildings, pub signs, and village signs. Probably the most prolific sources are churches where it often appears to commemorate members of notable families.

The language of heraldry does set it apart, though, still based on Norman French and so precise that it can only be interpreted one way. With colour, red is gules, blue is azure, green is vert, black is sable and purple is purpure.

Metals used as colours are decribed as ‘or’, which is gold, and ‘argent’ is silver, but they are often represented as yellow and white.

The lions of England are ‘passant’ – meaning striding, and ‘guardan’, which is positioned sideways but turning their heads to face the viewer.

Among the work carried out by Suffolk Heraldry Society since it began in 1977 is a comprehensive survey of all the heraldry in the county’s 500 Anglican churches.

Ninety-five per cent of them have heraldic monuments and all the information is held on 50 A4-size booklets and on diisc.

Each booklet covers one of the ancient administrative areas called hundreds, consisting of several local parishes. Full colour guides are now available for St Edmundsbury Cathedral and Long Melford church.

One aim of the society, which is a registered charity, is ensuring these echoes of the past survive through the restoration of heraldry in churches in the county.

“We find that there is the need for work to be done on painted funeral hatchments, some of which are 200 or 300 years old, but worthy of preservation from the point of view of local history,” Gerry explained.

“We have also recorded what we call ‘street heraldry’ which is any heraldic material that can be seen from the roadside which is held in A5 booklet form.

The society was founded by Lorraine Greenoak, from Leiston, an enthusiast who wanted to encourage awareness and interest in heraldry with special emphasis on Suffolk. Its badge showing a crown of oak leaves and acorns is a play on her name.

Today it is chaired by Roger Fouracre, and its patron is the Duke of Grafton. Gerry, a retired agronomist who joined in 1986 is a past chairman as well as president. His family has its own coat of arms, and they can can trace their origins back to early 9th century Spain in the time of Charlemagne.

“The objective was, and still is, to bring together people with an interest in heraldry, and to introduce it to those who knew nothing of the subject,” said Gerry. “The emphasis is on Suffolk, which is rich in heraldry, but we also look at national and international aspects of heraldry.”

He and society secretary Dee Scotcher stress the benefits of joining the group rather than trying to study the subject on your own.

“Unless you get togther with people you can’t really get the benefit of the organisataion and the spirit of what we are trying to do,” he said.

And Dee, who developed her interest in the subject after retiring from a long career in the NHS, added that while you could get information from computers or libraries, knowledge and understanding was a different thing.

“Our really knowledgeable members knit everything together,” said Dee, who finds heraldry combines her love of history with art, in which she has a degree.

There are currently around 45 members who come from all over Suffolk and further afield including some from other countries like Japan, Germany and the USA. Monthly meeting are held at the Quaker Meeting House in St John’s Street, Bury.

At one time heraldry was the preserve of the aristocracy but now this is not the case. Anyone – unless you are a convicted criminal – can apply for a coat of arms.

Heraldry as we recognise it today is administered by the College of Arms in London. The college consists of the heralds, who are members of the royal household and supporting staff such as scriveners and researchers.

It is controlled by the Earl Marshal of England, the Duke of Norfolk.

There are three Kings of Arms – the Garter Principal King of Arms is the most senior. Clarenceaux is responsible for the area south of the River Trent, and Norroy and Ulster takes care of the area further north.

Anybody wanting to apply for a coat of arms has to apply to the college. That includes individual, companies, and organisation like councils.

“They will ask you about your background, achievements and genealogy, and from that they will ask what would you like in your coat of arms,” said Gerry.

“People have no idea what complexities that creates. It will be up to the herald to make sure that what you have chosen isn’t in use by somewhere else. As there are 50,000 coats of arms in this country the heralds have their work cut out

“The choice of design can cause weeks of research at that college, where the records are kept. It’s a legal thing. Heralds are the equivalent of solicitors. They all have to be approved by the monarch.

All that means it is also expensive. A personal coat of arms costs more than £8,000, double that for a non-profit organisation, and treble for a company.

Dee says that every coat of arms tell a story, and Ken gives the examples of West and East Suffolk.

“West Suffolk has Edward the Confessor’s arms at the bottom because the original abbey of St Edmundsbury was in his charge.

“East Suffolk has the Ufford family arms, and two lions’ faces from the De La Poles family – they were the earls and dukes of Suffolk. There is also a viking ship because of their importance in East Anglia, and a sun because it’s the most easterly county in the country where the sun rises first.”