Heraldry In The News!

A 200-year-old hatchment from a church in Norfolk, England, missing for 30 years, has been returned to St. Margaret's Church on the Felbrigg Hall Estate.

The return was made by a combination of efforts of PC Dane Wyatt from Essex Police's Rural Engagement Team, Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers in Stansted Mountfitchet, the Heraldry Society of England, and Historic England.

Thanks to the fine work by everyone involved, the funeral hatchment of Cecilia Windham, née Forrest, who died in 1824, the wiidow of William Windham, MP, has been returned to the church on the estate of Felbrigg Hall, where the Windhams lived.

Cecilia Windham's hatchment (above) has now been reunited with the family’s three remaining hatchments in the church, where, as PC Wyatt notes, "they can once again be appreciated as part of the area's rich heritage."

The two news stories (well, there is a third, but it's behind a paywall) covering this event in greater detail and better outlining the efforts made by the various individuals and organizations that aided in its identification and return can be found on-line at:

https://www.saffronwaldenreporter.co.uk/news/25584486.essex-police-officer-finds-stolen-funeral-hatchment/

and

https://www.essex.police.uk/news/essex/news/news/2025/october/auction-checks-recover-coat-of-arms/

A hearty congratulations is in order to all of the people involved in returning this 200-year-old hatchment to where it belongs. I, for one, am so very pleased that this piece of heraldic heritage has been returned to the church and can once again be seen by historians and heraldry enthusiasts like myself.