Hatchments are armorial shields painted onto a square- or ‘lozenge’-shaped frame. (In heraldry, the term ‘lozenge’ describes a diamond or rhomboid; its four sides are all equal but its angles are not square.) The background is painted sombrely in black.
The tradition of hanging these armorial shields or escutcheons in churches goes back to the 17th century and its roots extend further back still to the time when the family of a dead knight would display his helmet and shield in the church or family chapel. In those days, when a nobleman died his heraldic shield would be carried before the coffin.
From the early 17th century the practice of creating a funeral banner developed. The arms, helmet and crest of the deceased nobleman would be painted on rough canvas, hessian or calico, usually about three to four feet square and this was sometimes carried during the funeral procession. Smaller hatchments were sometimes painted on wood panels.
The Hatchments in situ before removal for conservation work
The hatchment might bear the family motto but more commonly it spoke of resurrection in the afterlife, bearing the legend Resurgam (‘I will rise again’).
The painted fabric would be tacked to a flat wooden frame, usually black, and displayed outside the family home. Following a suitable period of mourning, probably lasting up to 12 months, the hatchment would be removed and hung inside a church with which the family were likely to have had some connection, either as parishioners or benefactors.
The workmanship of these paintings varies considerably. Some were probably the work of local artists.
Not to be confused with hatchments are the rectangular paintings of the Royal Arms which were for the most part placed in churches at the Restoration, and this was compulsory. The Royal Arms were introduced into church decoration during Henry VIII’s reign when the Pope’s jurisdiction was repudiated by that monarch, who then made himself head of the Church of England. The coat of arms in St Michael’s are those of George III (see cover).
[In St Mary’s church Theydon Bois the coat of arms are James I, one of only four examples in the country.]
St Michael’s has one of the most important groups of Georgian funeral hatchments in Essex, and a George III Royal Coat of Arms.
Until recently, they were in poor condition and in some cases near collapse, so an appeal was launched to save them. Thanks to the generosity of many donors and grant-giving bodies, they have now been magnificently restored.
