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Description
A carved and painted half-length figure at the east junction of the beams of Bay PV2. It faces forward, with dark shoulder-length hair, a blue collar and a pale robe. Both hands support a pointed shield quartered in red and pale grounds. The first and fourth quarters show a pale interlaced fret on red; the second and third have a red chevron on an ermine-patterned pale field.
Heraldry
Blazon: Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a fret Or; 2 and 3 Ermine, a chevron gules.
The shield has four quarters. The upper-left and lower-right each show a gold fret—interlaced diagonal pieces and a central diamond—on red. The other two quarters show a red chevron on a white field patterned with black ermine spots.
Identification: Audley/Touchet — high confidence. The Dictionary of British Arms (DBA) supports both components and their combination in the quartered arms of Lord Audley. No particular individual has been identified.
Earlier interpretations:
RCHME: “Audley.”
Buckeridge: “Audley qrt Touchet.”
DBA reference: Volume IV, p.91, for Gules, a fret Or, Audley; Volume II, p.268, for Ermine, a chevron gules, Touchet, including its appearance in quarters 2 and 3 of Lord Audley’s arms.
Tap for more details about the Audley/Tuchet families
Condition
The head, hands and shield are intact and the painted quarters remain unusually clear. The face, robe and beam decoration have local scuffs and small paint losses. Fine cracks and abrasions cross parts of the shield, but the frets, chevrons and ermine marks remain legible.