Traces of Past Empires

By pastempires

Coats of Arms, Chancel Wall, St Andrew's Norwich

This is the only surviving part of the earlier St Andrew's Church in Norwich, dating from before the rebuilding of the 15th Century.

This is the bottom of the Chancel east wall on St Andrew's Hill, and contains a row of shields thought to be connected with William Appleyard, the first Mayor of Norwich in 1403 and prominent member of the St Andrew's congregation.

Here you can see the:

* the double headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire - thought to be connected with Richard II's wife Anne of Bohemia (daughter Emperor of Charles IV and sister of the Emperor Sigismund), who married the English King in 1382 and died in 1394, thus giving us a possible last date for the shields.
* the three lions of the Kingdom of England
* the three crowns of East Anglia
* the towers and lion of the City of Norwich
* the Royal Arms of England

One thing to be noted, which I have not seen elsewhere is that the shields are in the carving appear to be hung from shield hooks.

St Andrew's Church is a magnificent 15th Century building in Norwich, and my father was churchwarden there for many years.

Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.