XI.—GOOD SHEPHERD'S MISSION HALL, BACK-ALLEY.
General description.
There is a large achievement of arms, consisting of a shield bearing the royal
arms, with garter, supporters, mottoes, helm with crest, and scroll work background,
fixed high up on the south wall in the mission church. It is a fine piece of work
about 8 feet high and 7 feet wide, carved in high relief, and very boldly treated, with
the spaces of background completely cut away, and is carved in soft wood and
coloured.
In the centre is the shield of elliptical shape bearing the arms of Charles II.—Quarterly: 1st and 4th grand quarters, France modern and England quarterly; 2nd
grand quarter, Scotland; 3rd grand quarter, Ireland. The garter encircles this and
bears the motto—HONI · SOIT · QVI · MAL · Y · PENSE. Above the
shield is the royal helm placed affronté, which bears as a crest a small lion statant
crowned with tail curled up over its back. Below along the bottom of the achievement is a
flat band, raised in the centre, bearing the motto—DIEV · ET · MON · DROIT.
At the sides are the supporters, on the dexter a lion rampant guardant, imperially
crowned; on the sinister a unicorn armed, unguled, and crined, gorged with a coronet,
and chain affixed. The background is foliage and scroll work, treated in the same
bold manner as the other parts. The original colouring is now all lost, the whole
surface being thickly covered with paint and varnish to make it look like oak; the
shield and bands bearing the mottoes were repainted about four years ago, but the
colouring is not quite correct.
These arms were obtained in 1660, upon the Restoration of Charles II., it
would appear in accordance with the order of the Council that the Royal Arms
should be set up in all churches throughout the kingdom (vide Bloxam's Goth. Arch.,
page 456). The following is the entry in the churchwardens' accounts for that year,
given by Dunstan—
|
| £ | s. | d. |
| Pd to Mr. Cartwright for carving ye King's Armes
in ye Church | 06 | 00 | 00 |
| Pd to the panter, Mr. Wright of Limehouse, for
gilding the King's Armes in ye Church | 03 | 00 | 00 |
They were set up on the west wall of the old parish church, near the belfry,
but were removed in 1818, owing to the erection of the children's gallery, and placed
against the south wall opposite the church door (see page 3). In 1833 they were
placed in the boys' school in Priory-street, and there remained until the closing of
the school, through the falling in of the lease, September, 1889. Owing to the
unusually large size of the Royal Arms (7 feet by 8 feet), the vicar of the parish, the
Rev. G. A. M. How, found the greatest difficulty in securing a suitable home for their
re-erection, and at last even caused them to be advertised for sale in the newspapers.
Mr. W. G. Clutterbuck, headmaster of the national schools, pleaded for their retention
in the parish, and for want of a better site suggested the south wall of the Good
Shepherd's Mission Hall, where they are now fixed.
Bibliographical references.
M. H. Bloxam, Gothic Architecture (8vo, London, 1859), pages 456, 457.
J. Dunstan, History of Bromley, page 83.
In the Committee's MS. collection is—
(1) Photograph of the arms.