Description
A carved angel with dark, shoulder-length hair looks upwards between two tall, pale wings with overlapping feathers. It wears a reddish robe with a pale neckline and holds a large quartered shield in both hands. The upper-left and lower-right quarters contain pale birds above and below a pale horizontal band on red. The upper-right quarter shows two pale lions on red, while the lower-left contains three pale fish on blue-green. A pale border decorated with black ermine markings surrounds the shield.
Heraldry
Blazon: No reliable formal blazon can yet be given.
In plain English: The shield combines two coats of arms side by side within an ermine border. Both halves contain several pale animals, apparently lions, on red or blue backgrounds.
The general arrangement is visible, but extensive wear makes the original divisions, number and posture of the animals uncertain. It would be unsafe to convert the surviving appearance into a precise formal blazon.
Identification: RCHME: Quarterly (1+4) Gules, a fess between six martlets or; Buckeridge: BEAUCHAMP 2) RCHME: Gules, two lions passant or; Buckeridge: Gules two lions passant guardant in pale or DELAMERE 3) RCHME: Azure, three fishes in pale all within a border ermine, for Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury; Buckeridge: Azure three roaches naiant in pale; Buckeridge: Azure three roaches naiant in pale argent ROCHE within a bourder argent verdoy of holley leaves vert.
Condition
The heraldic design remains readily distinguishable, although the paint is worn and chipped in places, particularly around the shield’s upper-left corner, border and point. Fine splits are visible across the shield and within the wings, with several small holes and losses among the feathers. The robe has extensive patches of missing red paint, and the face and hands show surface wear. Dark fixing recesses remain visible on the arms. Cobwebs extend across the face, wings and surrounding timber.